4
16
1
5
1
1
1
First things frst: This is a series I would *only* recommend to those who are already familiar with the way Thai PBS makes its series and like it -- it's definitely *not* a series for newbies.
Because not only does the drama happily mix different genres, it also meanders through the episodes without a clear theme or obvious goal. I was so much that I felt that the plot was nowhere and everywhere at once until episode seven or so.
I suspect that the initial intention was to make a series to showcase different types of massage and their use; and this is where the drama is best. It's almost like a meditative documentary in these scenes. If the main goal was to educate viewers about (Thai) massage, then it did a good job!
This contrasts with the overall vibe, which is a comedy combined with slice-of-life, with the occasional dip into lakorn as well as more sober scenes when social issues are addressed. The plot's direction is completely unclear until the first half of the series is almost over, and even then, it occasionally diverts into sub-plots.
Where the screenplay is a comedy, it's a really good (Thai-style) comedy, and the serious issues are presented in a way that doesn't make light of them. It's the mix that will likely put the uninitiated off.
The main cast does a good job, even if the Thai way of "age is just a number" casting made it hard for me to accept the casts relationships. Both Yaajai and Chart are close to fourty (their actors were 31 and 45 at the time of release, repsectively); Pop, who is maybe somewhere around thirty, or slightly younger, maybe even in his mid-twenties, is played by an actor who is four years older than Nest ("Yaajai") and this makes him calling her ป้า (and later น้า, then เจ๊ ) incongruous.
The thing is, all actors look their age (which is not a bad thing in itself!) but it made it very hard to accept their respective status with each other.
However, if I think about it, I feel that the actors were still somehow right for their roles. Nest Nisachol ("Yaajai") had the hardest part, as she had to switch between over-the-top comedic acting to serious and calm; Kimmon Warodom ("Pop") is excellent (if a bit too pale) as uneducated, sincere but sassy respectful motorcycle-taxi-driver-come-masseur; Oh Anuchit ("Chart") is the sensible father figure with a secret; and Mim Rattanawadee plays a solid teenaged daughter who has her own burden to shoulder.
Without them, the series would have been not as enjoyable for me.
Something that also continuously distracted me was Yaajai's lipstick, which didn't follow the lines of the lips but went over and under them. It concealed her beautiful cupid's bow and looked horrible overall. Maybe it was to make her look older? Because I have seen this style of applying lipstick only on middle-aged and older women who try to make their lips look larger.
Overall, I liked it more than I thought at the beginning, I had no trouble at all to continue and watch until the (too saccharine) end. I do think the screenplay would have benefitted from a clearer underlying common theme -- there were some I would have liked to see explored: like the stress menial labour like driving, cooking, etc., i.e. work that usually is done by the lower class, has on the body, or the importance of human touch for well-being vs. the need for consent. (There was one scene where Yaajai was definitely disregarding boundaries in one scene, and unfortunately it was played for laughs.) -- both themes that could have easily been tied together with the promotion of massages.
I would not necessarily recommend this one. If I did, then only to those who are already familiar with Thai PBS productions and like them.
Because not only does the drama happily mix different genres, it also meanders through the episodes without a clear theme or obvious goal. I was so much that I felt that the plot was nowhere and everywhere at once until episode seven or so.
I suspect that the initial intention was to make a series to showcase different types of massage and their use; and this is where the drama is best. It's almost like a meditative documentary in these scenes. If the main goal was to educate viewers about (Thai) massage, then it did a good job!
This contrasts with the overall vibe, which is a comedy combined with slice-of-life, with the occasional dip into lakorn as well as more sober scenes when social issues are addressed. The plot's direction is completely unclear until the first half of the series is almost over, and even then, it occasionally diverts into sub-plots.
Where the screenplay is a comedy, it's a really good (Thai-style) comedy, and the serious issues are presented in a way that doesn't make light of them. It's the mix that will likely put the uninitiated off.
The main cast does a good job, even if the Thai way of "age is just a number" casting made it hard for me to accept the casts relationships. Both Yaajai and Chart are close to fourty (their actors were 31 and 45 at the time of release, repsectively); Pop, who is maybe somewhere around thirty, or slightly younger, maybe even in his mid-twenties, is played by an actor who is four years older than Nest ("Yaajai") and this makes him calling her ป้า (and later น้า, then เจ๊ ) incongruous.
The thing is, all actors look their age (which is not a bad thing in itself!) but it made it very hard to accept their respective status with each other.
However, if I think about it, I feel that the actors were still somehow right for their roles. Nest Nisachol ("Yaajai") had the hardest part, as she had to switch between over-the-top comedic acting to serious and calm; Kimmon Warodom ("Pop") is excellent (if a bit too pale) as uneducated, sincere but sassy respectful motorcycle-taxi-driver-come-masseur; Oh Anuchit ("Chart") is the sensible father figure with a secret; and Mim Rattanawadee plays a solid teenaged daughter who has her own burden to shoulder.
Without them, the series would have been not as enjoyable for me.
Something that also continuously distracted me was Yaajai's lipstick, which didn't follow the lines of the lips but went over and under them. It concealed her beautiful cupid's bow and looked horrible overall. Maybe it was to make her look older? Because I have seen this style of applying lipstick only on middle-aged and older women who try to make their lips look larger.
Overall, I liked it more than I thought at the beginning, I had no trouble at all to continue and watch until the (too saccharine) end. I do think the screenplay would have benefitted from a clearer underlying common theme -- there were some I would have liked to see explored: like the stress menial labour like driving, cooking, etc., i.e. work that usually is done by the lower class, has on the body, or the importance of human touch for well-being vs. the need for consent. (There was one scene where Yaajai was definitely disregarding boundaries in one scene, and unfortunately it was played for laughs.) -- both themes that could have easily been tied together with the promotion of massages.
I would not necessarily recommend this one. If I did, then only to those who are already familiar with Thai PBS productions and like them.
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