Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

There's so much rich writing here. This is not a drama to zone out on. It keeps your mind hopping, challenges your values, and opens the doors of legal learning, in a fun and intruguing way.

Every twisty situation was magnetic, every character was played masterfully. The cast chemistry crackled. The male lead? He's no pretty face, but MAN, he's spellbing and masculinly hot. No lie. He explodes with charisma, and has a voice that melts...well you know what. Good grief!

He did another legal drama called A New Leaf, that was never completed.
I was left hanging, but this totally makes up for it.

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Pointless Torture

JKY: Was he hoping to pull off a PBG, Encounter-esque drama, as a farewell-fer-now ? FAIL.
- whats up with his manager? Why give him such a crappy script to consider? BUT..
- WORDS OF ENCRgMNT: "Never mind JKY, you're young and gorgeous, and talented. I wont remember you for this!" "NWBU - BE GONE from my mind!" PHFT!
- The right project and the right female lead and cast will put him right back on track, as soon as he gets back!

SHK:. - Girl your acting coach LieS. to. you! Change up. Do something.
- Hire a face massuer, loosen up those cheek muscles daily.
- How about playing a mean 마마/MAMA in a Saguek? 100%
***
This is an easy drama to review. - Save yourself, and your precious time, SKIP this or have BIG regret like we did, OR watch and suffer, like...

Best words to describe the MC: Empty, hollow, devoid of emotion, Devoid of chemistry, Devoid of passion, devoid of warmth, DEVOID periodt.

Best words to describe the story and writing: Half baked, forced, pretentious, boring, stiff, poor.

How I ttruly feel about this drama in 2 words:. Disappointed, Sorry.

Finally,
I Feel bad JKY had to finish this drama...y'know ..."Contracts 'n all" ..well at least I hope, thats how he felt inside. Pretty sure he knew there was no chemistry. Its SO obvious. CASTING! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

2.5/10. The drama thumbnail was well done.

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Cdramas, especially the historicals have come a long way for this English international viewer/addict, since starting out a mere 6 years ago. Watch this drama for a slightly unique plot line, the rather good and good looking cast and also the very good acting. BUT MOST OF ALL, watch this drama if you're in the mood to see lots o' "real" kiss scenes with great chemistry in a one season drama (Cdrama Jiayou!). Lot's of great lip locking in this one. Lots. The scenes also make sense so they are not off-putting or gratuitous. If the actors didn't genuinely like each other IRL (not necessarily talking relationship wise), then the leads are some dang good actors. I found myself actually double taking in my mind and saying "woe! another one?" Sheesh, must have been tons of chapstick and breath mints on hand lol. These actors were also FR eeeeeeezing on this set the whole time but managed to give off lots of kissing heat in spite of it lolz. Talent goals, props and admiration.

This is what stood out the most to me and so I highlight and note this drama for it. Other than that very specific detail, you're getting a well done story with everything you've come to expect and love from an RC historical done up mainland style. Repeat. Tons of sugary lip locking. Nuff said, Enjoy. :)

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5/10 This is one to skip if you don't want to have that annoying  aaargh! feeling in your throat and that ugh! feeling in your chest.  Gads!  I had a real empty feeling after this drama, ..like I just watched freakin air and smoke curling for an hour then it rained.  You're left feeling that something isn't right when nothing is wrong.  Actually all the chemistry was with the leads and not with the bride at all.

1. best guy friend likes Bestie girl from childhood
2. she takes her Bestie guy for granted and blows him off
3. so he finally finds somebody else
4. Then wouldn't you know it?  Bestie girl suddenly wants Bestie guy PASSIONATELY and guess what he does?........
5.  The male lead was ok.  A stand up guy. :/  but I feel like his lines were all about battering me and his Bestie with how "Wonderful, exquisite and perfect" his girl was.  "I was adrift for so long, now I'm finally getting married. Yay!"  (:/ ugh!  Gads.
6. All the chemistry was with the Bestie and there was none with the bride though the writers did their best to try to convince me there was.  This guy should definitely be kissing his Bestie.

The PROBLEM with this drama is the writers make it so that I end up  kinda-sorta  wanted him to dump the fiance.  (we don't even know her  anyway) cause we feel for this lead who has done that Jackass thing that  we have all done at some point and time in our lives and end up  regretting terribly - take our nearest for granted until it's too late  and we lose them to whoever or whatever.  We want to correct that  mistake through this drama ;) and as I watched  (though granted, the  heroine is light and fickle and so very wrong)  I rooted for her :P  The writers put me  65% on the antagonist's side for this one and I don't actually know why.   It's an odd feeling when actually, I should be laughing her to scorn, thumping her Bestie guy on the back for "showin' her!"  and congratulating the Bride on her catch.

Another MAJOR mistake the writers made was not giving the bride any depth.  Because of that, she was like an intruder to me (although she technically wasn't). I found myself actually disliking an innocent person while sympathizing and also disliking the Bestie all at once for the stupidness she did in the past and present.     So weird!   This movie was not worth me dealing with those kinds of twisted emotions.  Definitely not.  :(

This would have been better as a drama series (although there are a trillion of them with this plot already).  I'd prob. give it a 6 -maybe.

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This political drama was sitting in my DFwatch list for so long I didn't even remember what it was about. On this boring Saturday I clicked on it and it was good enough to hold my interest for the entire day. It's a view of the intermingling of organized crime, legal prosecutors and utterly corrupt Politicians. Korea needs a new shining light to give back some hope to it's citizens.

I liked it because it gave me a more detailed (albeit) fictitious view into Korean politics. A lot of the other political dramas I've watched just didn't go into so many varied aspects of a "rise to power." The female lead was great. She played "strong female" really well. She was a woman who did it all. Mother, wife, teacher, girlfriend, President. Wow. How can this not be an interesting drama? Not silly President either. Her roll is smart, classy, well defined. There's no makjang here. Just good content. Watch for the absolute mayhem that broke out during the Bill voting session. It was so realistic, I wanted to watch with my mouth hanging open in shock and ROTFL at the same time. It's a well written, very well directed drama.

I believed every roll completely. The character growth of the 2nd male lead is fantastic. He was something else again. (I admit..I'm still a little twisted on how he evaded some pretty devious things he did. He was very wicked but he almost seem to have been rewarded). I'm not in total agreement with how he ended but, oh well.

The romance is deliberately low burning and (for this drama) it's completely appropriate. Trust me. It's simple, tasteful and mature. It suited very well. Whatever chemistry was needed between the OTP was there. That's all I ask for, however, the "Ajumma" label got old (no pun). He needed to just call her by name after the relationship was established.

The way this story was told was stark and real. The supporting cast are veterans and all were super! The action scenes were good and everything wrapped up nicely.
I tend to only rewatch RC or Med. dramas, so it's unlikely I'll watch this again but if you love politicals, It's very re-watchable. I would definitely encourage a watch of this drama. It's really very good.

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2.5
This was just a seriously bad drama that I watched regardless, cringing all the way through. :/ What can I say...Statutory holiday and pouring outside? One more drama to add to MDL? ....
Maybe Yang Jin Sung did it as a favor? Though she wasn't good here either. How could she be? The male lead definitely needs an acting mentor/coach (he's an ex-boy band member) and the writing/plot? - The leads fiance dies, then he finds her doppelganger and she...Holy smokes! It's what she does and how she/the writing explains away her decision, that I find horrid. Let's see: make-up, lighting, acting, plot..poor, poor, poor and lame. Go on and see for yourself. That's what I always do.
You may disagree with me but I doubt it.

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Reasons for 8.5 and not a 9.0?
1. As a drama fiend I find the standard movie length way too short . 2. I don't favor true crime stories.(prefer documentary) I've never re-watched a movie so that doesn't count ....So, an 8.5 is actually super high for me because I really can't see how anyone could go wrong watching this for an hour no matter what genre you like.

This is a great movie all on it's own, but if you like Legal, then you'll love this one. It's based on a true story. Which makes it even more riveting and touching. The cast is tops notch and the acting is stellar. The writing is very straightforward. This movie is not draggy or boring anywhere.
A young man is viciously and falsely accused and loses all hope in life after his sentence until a twist of fate in a lawyers life gives the wrongfully accused an opportunity for a new trial. Sounds simple. The movie is anything but. It shows the harsh reality of police, prosecutor and judicial system corruption. Your heart will bleed and teeth will clench. It takes you high with hope, then tramples you hard. The hero lawyer is not played in a dramatic showy way, he was very human a little jaded and down trodden but with a sense of justice that's still pure. I got a really good reminder toward the end, to be careful who I let my guard down with. People you think you know well will gut you without even a good blink.
It's a good ending in keeping of course with the real story.

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I give this one a 10/10 because I can see myself buying it. This drama really hits all my personal goal posts for movies of it's kind. A Jem! .......After getting used to the hourly pace of dramas, I'm not much into movies, but every now and then I wander around and a film catches my eye.... This movie displayed the unmatched power of Time and how helpless we are against it(him). Time is the star of this movie. He has a heartbeat here and was actually breathes! And the cinematography? Amazing.

THIS FANTASY CONCEPT IS NOT NEW but the twist and the way it was written is different.
I'm partial to Time-Fantasy dramas/films. But this is the first one I've watched where I felt that Time was the actual Star of the show and not the humans. It was a character without it having to take on human form. and that's really cool.
- The film moves from the normal, innocent childhood adventures of a 13 year old boy and girl and takes you into the nightmare of something fantastic and a little chilling, on so many levels that I'm still taken by the imagination of the writer. ! Not being great with words, if I try to explain more I'll spoil. But the two main characters go through a lot of turmoil because of the stopping of time.

Visually, I found it more profound because everything is pared down. In the beginning the film is stripped of all the white-noisy loudness and all the focus is on the story So, when they threw in the special effects it doubled the impact. During every slow-mo, my mind sped a mile a minute.

KANG DONG WON AT HIS BEST! but still felt like the second lead. Time just over powered him..heheh! I think of all the things I've seen him in. This one for me is the best. He's gotten so handsome with age too!
-The acting is the top. Child actor SHIN EUN SOO did a fantastic job, and the chemistry she had with both Lee Hyo Je (little Seong Min) and Kang Dong Won (Adult Seong Min) was great. Her intensity was solid and didn't quit even when her peer & sweetheart changed to an adult actor. She transitioned so well while remaining the same. Sounds confusing but It was amazing to watch. Oh, and not to worry, the ending falls in line with the whole story. You won't be in heaven but you won't be left wallowing in a pit either. You'll end this movie feeling like you just watched a piece of art and a damn fine film.

I gushed and went all biased with this review but that's what happens when a movie hits all my sweet spots. I'll be sure to look out for this writer in the future. I'll also be grabbing a few friends to re-watch and share this one for sure.

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This is one fantastic movie I highly recommend. I'm such a fan of Cha Seung Won. Packed with serious action and life struggles. Neither supersedes the other. You'll get both in equal dose. With all the very public high profile "successful?" gender switches that's been going on lately this drama is also a very timely one but you keep in mind this is not a Docu-drama on the subject of transgender. It's a cop and gangster movie. But CSW not you're typical Cop. This Cop has issues with his sexuality. But it's only 1 of a few story threads in this movie. Friendship, mob/gang war, it's here.

This movie sucked me in and didn't let go. The action is sharp and slick and on point beyond words my lower jaw just dropped. CSW's acting is so pure and true to the kind of life(style) he's trying to depict giving a small but clear insight into the struggles and sacrifices millions of people with this issue face everyday. To be honest this issue belatedly switching genders is not one I've ever turned my mind to. I hear and see it all around and pretty much dismiss it as it's not something I condone; But I don't have to condone something to try to understand it.and this movie was portrayed in a way that made me curious and drew it to the forefront of my attention :)

What caught my attention was how Cha Seun Won used his smallest finger to play a big roll in this movie. A raised pinkie seemed to be what the Directors decided to use as a subtle hint at the persistent feminine mindset of the main character when he was in male mode. We all know it's silly. But in this case I thought it was a good call. They chose not to over-feminize (my new word) a person whose main roll in life is a bad-ass hero cop. This most masculine looking man with a beautiful face didn't need to be seen as "trying to hide" a swishy walk or striking dramatic femme-poses instead I think the dignity was kept for the M & F portrayals by remaining subtle with the body. After all, the wig dress and make-up was more than enough for us to get the picture. CSW goes all in for his dramas. He's One of my Favorites! I'm never surprised at any of the projects Cha Seung Won takes on. He's mastered his craft so well. The rest of the cast were wonderful as well.

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I began to get so frustrated with this series but in the end after all is said and done, I have to admit the whole thing hit me as a classic with depth. Perhaps it's that depth that I found itchy after hundreds of modern k-drama makjang and the almost rigid k-drama RC formula I've been gorging on. Although I found it a bit slow paced, I enjoyed seeing such a beautiful but harsh love played out so skillfully by the two main leads. The acting was phenomenal. This is really one of those quality dramas that make you feel like you're watching in a theater with popcorn, an occasional pop sip and an arm around your shoulder instead of from a laptop or a computer screen while lying in bed or on lunch hour at work.

I have to say I have yet to encounter a more jaw dropping character than the one played by Park Shi Yeon in this drama. This character actually turned my stomach. It was so disgusting to watch really. A different type of head space was needed to pull it off really but she nailed it. Oh Yeon Soo's Character was so meek in contrast but thank God she ended on a note of strength. The husband, o God the husband was a nasty dog with absolutely no redeeming qualities. SO WHY WATCH? A Bittersweet life is worth watching for the acting and The very passionate love that plays out. But just beware of the really slow old style pace.

ON THE PERSONAL:
This drama addresses a topic that I will forever find intriguing in that there will never be an answer that will satisfy anyone. Suicide. This very young man found a reason to live but even that reason itself became more of an impetus to complete what he originally decided to do after all. (I hope that makes sense :) Suicide is very a psychologically lonely and introverted decision and that is the reason why it has such a high success rate. If a person feels cornered and feels there's no way out of his suffering/situation and most importantly if " they feel" alone in their suffering (even if the reality is otherwise) nothing can stop them. It's also culture/religion/spiritually related as well. If they feel they'll be in a better place and finally at rest or that they can come back and start all over then why not? Thank heavens I wasn't raised that way. I've been in situations that screamed overdose cure on a daily basis but in the end, I know things would be worst all round if I took the life I was given so I bite down and plunder on by watching K-dramas! hahaha! ;)

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8/10 Crazy FANTASTIC STORY regarding the BUTTERFLY EFFECT . So tempted to up this to a 9/10 for the ending alone. But I won't. ;)

WHAT I LIKED
You really need to pay attention in order to follow the relationship twisties.
- GREAT DRAMA to eat up some of your valuable time with because you have to think while you watch lol.
- OST-Gary Chaw: During the course of this drama I discovered a fantastic music artist! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Tubed and download an unbelievable video from this guy that gave me goosebumps and that was so INTENSE.
in fact all his Mvids seem to message with intensity about life. Great Poet. LOVE!
If you care to check him out just cut and paste:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETCyOYqHXrQ
- AWSOME ENDING.
-It's a rewatch because I KNOW will have to. Even though I scored it so high.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
-mmmmm...PACE. Sometimes I felt I wanted to PUSH the story forward by force. and it made my FF finger twitchy in some places..THEN I'd have to rewind because I needed the info to continue understanding the story properly. That finger still twitched though! lol.
_________________________________
Finally: JUST KNOW THAT THIS DRAMA was WORTH what my IT was and this may be the case for you as well! :)

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6.5/10
WHAT I LIKED
- Story concept is good
- I could listen to Docs voice FOREVER AND EVER then 1 more day.
- The characters each had a nicely fleshed out story that made sense and had depth.
- There are situations and circumstances that most age groups can relate to.
- Within this drama are 2 beautiful gems that I was surprised and happy to find!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- I'm NEW to J.drama so I'm still getting used to the over-the-top/cartooned style Directors seem to favor for the characters in most of the ones I've seen so far (unless they are hard action etc.) They didn't do it much with this one but I admit I'm biased against it and even a little of it makes me cringe. THAT'S NOT TO SAY I WON'T WATCH A DRAMA THAT HAS IT THOUGH. :)

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This Classic is a Cinderella drama I've been putting off for ages and finally decided to buckle down and watch on this rainy Saturday morning. This Cinderella and her Prince suffered from evil people and family who would do anything to pull them apart and they did!. (do anything and everything I mean). There is a massive amount of angst but In the end they held up! There's great chemistry between the leads who are seasoned Actors. Actually all the Actors in this drama were fantastic and played they're parts well. I hated who I should and liked who I should. I liked the whole drama overall and will probably rewatch it for the entertainment value . :)

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