4
Shasha
Stuck in....
This review may contain spoilers
Can we seize the chance?
Why is this drama called Love All Play when even the subs say Going to you at speed of 493? I guess it is easier to remember but it is such a boring title: makes you think of all those insipid c dramas....
Love All Play is not a drama about badminton. It features badminton heavily but if you hope to learn something about the sport, the rules and the gameplay: go watch something else! The badminton training centre serves just as the backdrop for a slice of life story of a redemption of a fallen prodigy.
There are too many characters called Park here so I won't even try to mention them here. It took me about half of the drama to sort the main leads out. They are both damaged individuals.
The FL made a mistake a few years earlier which made her a pariah in the badminton community. But her love of the game was too strong to keep her away so she is willing to suffer all kinds of bullying and rejection in order to win the right to train and play. She's overly cheerful, replying to insults with a big smile which seems frustration and annoying until she declares to prefer to smile when she wants to cry! Her tenacity finally wins her teammates over. She used to be best friends with another woman from the team, she loved her and at one point she declared that her friend was her first love. The FL is bi?
The ML grew up in the domineering shadow of the star, overly talented big sister so much that he felt neglected by their parents. With his sister away due to an injury it is finally time for him to shine.
The story is well written, the topics dealt are balanced and fairly treated: guilt, redemption, love, talent, family. Unfortunately, nothing is outstanding in this drama.
The acting is correct though the chemistry is missing across the board.
There is a slight "criticism" of korean society or rather the repetition and confirmation of usual society norms: the whole family is responsible for a mistake committed by one of its members (the FL), a divorced woman with a child is not allowed to get into a relationship because she's THE MOTHER and therefore it is unseemly, a father getting berserk because his 25yr old daughter wants to date, across the board virgins who never dated (because family and sport, of course!).....I wish someone would show us the current generation of Koreans rebelling against these awfully strict and coded societal norms. This is not the case here!
The badminton matches were filmed with brio but we could not actually see a match just the players running and beautifully jumping in order to catch the shuttlecock. Moreover, the venues where the competitions were held were completely void of the audience. So it is either COVID restrictions (the drama takes place in 2022) or they didn't have the budget for extras. Whichever may be the case, the empty seats were gloomy and ridiculous!
The music was boring: one funky song playing endlessly but luckily it is not a song good enough for it to be memorable.
This was not a drama to be remembered: even though I binged it and the actors were cute, I'd recommend it as a light slow burn watch.
Love All Play is not a drama about badminton. It features badminton heavily but if you hope to learn something about the sport, the rules and the gameplay: go watch something else! The badminton training centre serves just as the backdrop for a slice of life story of a redemption of a fallen prodigy.
There are too many characters called Park here so I won't even try to mention them here. It took me about half of the drama to sort the main leads out. They are both damaged individuals.
The FL made a mistake a few years earlier which made her a pariah in the badminton community. But her love of the game was too strong to keep her away so she is willing to suffer all kinds of bullying and rejection in order to win the right to train and play. She's overly cheerful, replying to insults with a big smile which seems frustration and annoying until she declares to prefer to smile when she wants to cry! Her tenacity finally wins her teammates over. She used to be best friends with another woman from the team, she loved her and at one point she declared that her friend was her first love. The FL is bi?
The ML grew up in the domineering shadow of the star, overly talented big sister so much that he felt neglected by their parents. With his sister away due to an injury it is finally time for him to shine.
The story is well written, the topics dealt are balanced and fairly treated: guilt, redemption, love, talent, family. Unfortunately, nothing is outstanding in this drama.
The acting is correct though the chemistry is missing across the board.
There is a slight "criticism" of korean society or rather the repetition and confirmation of usual society norms: the whole family is responsible for a mistake committed by one of its members (the FL), a divorced woman with a child is not allowed to get into a relationship because she's THE MOTHER and therefore it is unseemly, a father getting berserk because his 25yr old daughter wants to date, across the board virgins who never dated (because family and sport, of course!).....I wish someone would show us the current generation of Koreans rebelling against these awfully strict and coded societal norms. This is not the case here!
The badminton matches were filmed with brio but we could not actually see a match just the players running and beautifully jumping in order to catch the shuttlecock. Moreover, the venues where the competitions were held were completely void of the audience. So it is either COVID restrictions (the drama takes place in 2022) or they didn't have the budget for extras. Whichever may be the case, the empty seats were gloomy and ridiculous!
The music was boring: one funky song playing endlessly but luckily it is not a song good enough for it to be memorable.
This was not a drama to be remembered: even though I binged it and the actors were cute, I'd recommend it as a light slow burn watch.
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