Romance by Romance (Movie) (2023)

Didn't like the FL at all!

It's short and doesn't take too much time involvement, but while I was watching it, I kept wondering how soon before it was going to be over. Overall, my complaints were with the writing.

1) My biggest gripe is the way the FL is written. Desperate, clingy, immature - I got the feeling that she was more afraid of being alone than anything else. To try to hang onto someone that doesn't want to be with you is so sad.
2) Cha Hun's acting was really bad. His face remained emotionless, his movements were wooden, and watching him try to act was just uncomfortable.
3) FL and her best friend - he's stuck with her through NUMEROUS relationship disasters. Their relationship was cute to watch, but her having that many ex-boyfriends would give me pause before getting involved with her. She's kind of a "love the one you're with girl." Basically, I had a hard time believing in a romantic relationship between them.

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Simple, heart warming, friends to lovers . Loved it.

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Korean romance movie with a run time of 119 minutes.

First I will provide a unique synopsis then review.

 Synopsis

 After having multiple romances end at or before the 100 day relationship landmark, Ha Joon (Lee Eun Bi) has a tendency to cling on to the relationship even when her boyfriend wants to break up.  Which is why, when her current boyfriend, Nam Tae Ryeon (Cha Hun) wants to break up before their 100 day anniversary, she strikes a deal with him to delay the break up until her birthday.  They come up with a “break up grace period” agreement where they both see each other, just more casually and less frequently, while they consider and possibly pursue other romantic interests.  The deal ends when they find someone else, or when it is her birthday, whichever comes first. 

 Ha Joon wants to make Tae Ryeon change his mind so she makes another agreement, with her best friend, Kang Jin whom she has known since college.  Reluctantly Kang Jin (Kim Jin Woo) agrees to be her fake flirtatious dating relationship with the goal of making Tae Ryeon jealous so he will realize he still has feelings for Ha Joon. 

 This sets up a love triangle that is sure to not come out the way any of them expected.  Once Kang Jin starts his flirtation with Ha Joon in front of Tae Ryeon in the place they all work, Tae Ryeon finds himself immediately jealous.  And he decides he wants Ha Joon back.  But, Kang Jin realizes that he liked Ha Joon since college and the feelings he had never went away.  So rather than Kan Jin simply making Tae Ryeon jealous he decides to confess his feeling to Ha Joon which sets Tae Ryeon up as his romantic rival.

Will Ha Joon choose the safe and comfortable relationship that makes her heart race, or the risky but exciting relationship that makes her heart race?

 Review

I loved this movie!  I like heart warming romance and this was certainly that.  I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a quick, but very well developed Korean romance.  I highly recommend it and would watch it again. 

Spoiler

 This is one of those rare movies/series where the 2nd guy actually gets the girl.  He isn’t a classic second guy in that he gets more airtime than 1st guy but the role he plays is second guy.  One of my favorite tropes is friends to lovers.  It showed just enough of their back story to get a clear sense for when their feelings started. 

I typically root for the main couple to get back together but, in this case, you could clearly tell 2nd guy was a better match for the lead girl. 

#RomancebyRomance  #LeeEunBi   #ChaHun  #KimJinWoo

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