Oh! My Assistant (Movie) (2023)

Just Like the Series, Very Boring

The movie/series: See my full review for the series about the storyline, script, and acting. All of it applies to the movie too.

The movie: Overall, they did a great job editing the series into a movie version. However, I wish they had fixed the weird editing choice from episode 7 because it does seem out of place and affected the mood for the next scene.

Random Notes:
You basically can skip the series and watch the movie version because there was very little that was edited out. As I stated with the series, you can wait to watch the movie until you have some time to kill and have nothing better on your must watch list.

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Loved the Movie Version Even More

I really loved this series, which got a lot of luke warm reviews with many comments directed to not believing late 20s guys wouldn't be aware of their sexual orientation. That's a fair complaint but certainly earlier generations were so far in denial that they got married, raised a family, and only later in life accepted their preference. I suspect that still goes on today, even with younger people. For me, this seems like a pretty realistic plot and we're spared a lot of the cliches of BL/Gay cinema. No one dies (always with the subtle message that straying from the "straight" path will lead to a life of misery or violent death). These are adults with established careers rather than college engineering students. There aren't endless scenes of anguish about coming out to parents, although there are two flashback scenes with each lead recalling a homophobic encounter with school classmates. I won't repeat my full review of the episodic version, except for a few highlights: The Korean film industry sets a high watermark for production values and I love the quirky, fast-paced direction of this piece. Nothing seems padded here. All three of the male principals are absolutely great together. Like other Korean BL dramas, this one is pretty timid. We get a couple of shirtless scenes and some lightweight kissing. There is one rather amusing scene where the main lead has trouble walking due to some sexual excitement. But this drama definitely doesn't push beyond conservative sensibilities. Aside from that the only real plot weakness is the unresolved fate of the third guy in the love triangle, but maybe there's a sequel where we meet him again? Anyway, this is one I could rewatch many times. Highly recommended.

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