"Now, We Are Breaking Up" starts off a with a bang (pun intended), filled with sizzling chemistry between the leads, but the story soon starts to meander, wobble, then get repetitive. For those wondering "Now, We Are Breaking Up" essentially translates to "Let us both agree that this relationship will end eventually, so during the entire time we're together we will be in the process of breaking up." It's kind of a lame idea that gets played as a "deep thought". The two leads spew similar not so "deep thoughts" in voice overs where they pontificate about living and loving in the here and now. (Honestly, it's a mystery this stuff made it out of the script room.)

Ha Young Eun seems one dimensional, and Song Hye Kyo's acting is flat. Jang Ki Yong's performance is a bit lackluster too. But there are some bright spots. Perhaps the brightest is the delightful relationship between the 2nd leads, dingbat Hwang Chi Sook and lovesick Seok Do Hoon. (If only they'd been given more screen time!) Other relationships explore interesting ground too. When philandering husband Kwak Soo Ho discovers that his wife Jeon Mi Suk is seriously ill, the realization of how much she has sacrificed for him to be where he is becomes a punch in the gut. Ha Young En's self-righteous, tone deaf father comes to a similar realization when her mom demands a divorce, regretting her years of self-sacrifice and longing for roads not taken. Chi Sook's dad, the gruff CEO Hwang, turns out to be surprisingly interesting and insightful, but other characters (Jae Guk's mom) are almost kdrama tropes.

One final note: Song Hye Kyo is absolutely lovely, but she's now a lovely 40 something. She has about reached her expiration date for carrying this kind of romantic melodrama with a leading man 11 years her junior. I for one would like to see her romance more mature leading men in their 40s or 50s, and perhaps even play a mother figure.