mopalia
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This is much better than the typical courtroom drama - there's plenty of action outside of court, and the court sequences are crisp and to the point - it doesn't drag, there are multiple mini-plots, mostly romance, but also a bit of good versus evil in the form of spoiled rich kids. It's a well-textured drama.
The main romance is sweet and all the plot lines wind up nicely. The story is interesting and kept me engaged. The music has highs and lows - some bits are completely overblown (really, we know something important just happened - you don't need to blast up with a full symphony, heavy on the strings, to make the point). I don't think I'll want the OST.
For me, the main draw was the quality of the acting. Sung Dong Il is always a treat to watch, and all the guest appearances were wonderful. If character development is important to you in a drama, this is worth your time.
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Solid low-key drama
This was a great drama for me - I love tech, engineering, and Jung Jae Young - so what's not to like? As usual, he creates a laid back character that it takes a while to get to know. The plot is surprisingly devious, full of business intrigue. The cast is excellent throughout. This isn't a drama that will grab you with fireworks, noisiness and unnecessary frills and flashy effects. It relies on character development and story line to draw you in, so it's not for the impatient. Watch a few episodes and then decide if it's for you.Was this review helpful to you?
Sorry I watched it
This is tagged as " Comedy, Law, Romance, Crime, Drama" and it was, initially. There was a rather uneasy blend of crime and comedy, but the humor was quirky and the soundtrack provided a lot of good laughs. I initially hadn't planned to watch it because I hate most Mafia dramas (I went to school with children of real Mafia bosses, so it's not a world I find amusing) and because I'm not very impressed with Song Joong Ki's acting (bring on the haters!). Song was better than I expected but still not great - he simply doesn't have the gravitas I expect from a consiglieri. And I never felt any romantic vibes between him and Jeon Yeo Bin; they were pretty cold fish until the hastily tacked on end scenes.But he real issue is that it went from a nice hidden treasure drama to a vicious revenge drama with over-graphic hate and sadism. There was nothing likeable about Vincenzo, who showed himself to be a purely evil as the psychopath he was trying to bring down. And what happened to all the gold? Was anything worthwhile done with it, or were the tenants just sucked into Vincenzo's world of revenge and greed? In the end, he corrupted them all.
The star performance was, of course, was Ok Taec Yeon, who went from a bumbling office assistant to an evil psychopath seamlessly and believably. It was a great performance. In the end, I felt sorry for him, a clearly troubled defective human being, while I disliked Vincenzo immensely. If you enjoy cruelty and revenge, you might like this. But don't be deceived by the lighthearted moments in the beginning - this drama is nasty.
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Run away, fast, now!
If you haven't watched any K-drama for the last ten years, this is a must watch. It will introduce you to almost every over-worked trope in the genre. One by one, you can tick them off - amnesia, getting hit by a truck, false identities, adoption, abandonment, unmarried pregnancies, cancer. Did anyone have Altzheimer's? I don't remember, the whole drama made me wish I could have selective Altzheimer's and forget it all.It actually starts out well, with good characters and a nice plot. But as soon as the amnesia hits, it becomes absurd and labored. Did they change writers mid stream? Was there a crisis in the writer's life? It's pure garbage from then on.
The only thing I'm keeping from this drama is the lovely theme song, Love Always Run Away," sung by Lim Young Woong. For the rest - I wish I could have the hours I wasted on it back. Don't start, it's good at first but fails completely later.
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Don't waste your time
The two leads created the most depressing characters I have ever seen. I don't think either of them smiled until the end of the last episode. I was smiling then, too, because I didn't have to watch any more of this. I hadn't realized it was only 12 episodes, so I'd decided to drop it. The music was unremarkable, although the finale song was nice.I suppose the point of this is to shed some light on the abuse of trainees, especially sexual favors demanded. It's a retelling of the tragedy of Sunny, Jang Ja-yeon. If you are new to K-drama, look her up on Wikipedia. As such, this show brought no new insight, and it's a retelling of something that happened 12 years ago. It offers no solutions or productive actions. Between the borrowed (stolen) plot, dismal performances and so-so music, this isn't worth your time. It certainly wasn't worth mine, and if there had been much else to watch while this was running, I wouldn't have bothered.
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The acting overall was excellent, The music was good, especially the song by K. Will, whose voice has the capacity to make you want to weep no matter what he's singing about. But it was spoiled by over-use, and by the end I was sorry I had downloaded the song. Maybe I can listen to it in a couple of years.
Some people seem to really like the show, others, like me, found more to dislike. IF it weren't for Lee Min Ki, I wouldn't have lasted more than a few episodes. YMMV.
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A watchable spy story
I usually don't care for spy stories - by the 4th or 5th episode the plots get so convoluted that I lose track of what's going on and by the 6th episode I just don't care any more. But because hope springs eternal, I gave this a try and I'm glad I did.First, I am a fan of Im Joo Hwan. He tends to end up in second lead roles, especially if the role is evil or generally a horrible person. I was really pleased with the complexity that was written into this role for him, and as usual, he delivered a lot of misdirection as to whether he was a good guy or a real scum. The ending for his character was totally satisfying for me and worth the watch.
I liked Eric Mun more than I have in the past. And Yoo In Na was a nice surprise - although she is pretty active, I wasn't really aware of her before, but she got my attention here. Overall, the cast and the acting were excellent.
The story had enough twists and turns to keep me bingeing, but it never got overly confusing. Easy to follow but engaging - that's the best! I didn't actually notice the music, so on one level, that's a good thing, since I really hate shows where the music seems to want a starring role.
Overall, a good watch, nice for bingeing. Nothing record breaking or earth shattering, just a good solid K-drama rom-com. Which is no small thing.
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What goes up must come down
I was quite taken with the first episodes. They were funny, and I had a lot of hope that this would be a cheeky. slightly risque (for Korea) exploration of male sexuality. Sadly, it quickly devolved into a predictable romance. I got tired of Yoon Shi Yoon looking - and being - so pathetic (although I think he does pathetic and hang-dog better than anyone else). It dragged for several episodes, and then magically wrapped up far too quickly. Overall, I felt it was not worth the time. Once you've seen the opening, it's downhill from there.Was this review helpful to you?
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Great portrayal of Silicon Valley
I've seen a lot of reviews that pan the ambiance this show creates for startups. I'm writing here mostly to say, they nailed it! I lived in Silicon Valley (Mountain View and Sunnyvale) from the time that Google had one building, leased from Silicon Graphics, until just a couple of years ago. I had many friends who worked at Google. I attended focus groups and workshops there, and ate in the famous cafeterias. I knew people in other startups and used an incubator for a while with a group I worked with. I had a close associate working for a self-driving car start-up. Start-ups are regularly bought for big money just to grab the talented programmers for a couple of years, and everyone ends up wealthy. It happened to someone I know. The images created in this drama were so accurate that it was like being back there again. So when I say that they got the ambiance right, I know what I'm talking about.That said, it's not much like that any more - the renown Google food has deteriorated, the people aren't having fun any more, and it's become largely tech rat-race.
AS for the story, it's ok. There were things that didn't go the way I had hoped, there were loose ends. Although I watch a lot of K-drama, I don't pay any attention to the fan wars or other stuff that surrounds them, so I'm blissfully ignorant about all that. I loved seeing Kim Hae Sook, one of my favorite actresses. I looked forward to every episode, and I was sorry it ended. There are plenty pf reviews out there that dissect the plot and everything else in painful detail, so read those if you want to know about that stuff. But if you want to visit the world of tech startups in the early days, this is a great place to do it. They got it right.
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The plot is OK, and the actors did a good job. i didn't particularly care for the lead couple, but that's a matter of personal taste (I'm really tired of emotionally constricted men and "I can't do anything right" women). I did love the airport security couple, they were played to perfection. I hope there is more of Kim Kyung-Nam and Lee Soo-Kyung in the future. Ro Woon also created an delightful "guy who won't get the girl" character. (If you think that's a spoiler, you haven't watched enough K-drama!) So no complaints about the cast. The writing was engaging, and the plot was promising and almost certainly planned to have a better ending.
I didn't notice the music especially, which means it was at least not annoying. But overall, I think the best character was the airport cleaning robot, at least he got some decent closure at the end - even if it was pretty tacky.
My apologies to the cast, the writer and the director, who got really screwed by whomever decided to chop this off.
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You really have to watch the whole thing because how it fits together is subtle and revealed slowly, episode by episode. It's possible to watch just one episode at a time, but you'll want to re-visit this restaurant again as soon as possible. This really ranks as one of my all time favorites. The dishes that the people request each has a personal story, and these are eventually woven into the overall story. This isn't a boy-meets-girl with a tight (and predictable) plot, it's more like a series of short visits with people you'd like to know better. A great show for anyone wit the patience to pay attention and come back over and over.
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