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strawgal
UK, East Anglia
What a good watch, old fashioned drama fun
I have watched so much this year, high concept, big buget, head line stars, that have not pulled half the weight as this. Its retro, do mature women wear chiffon in the day, completely over the top, bitchfest fun,The writing and direction mean from from the first couple of lines of any charector, you know who the are and the actors play it up to the hilt.
OK its not realistic, its over the top, but so well acted and directed, no scene does not add to the plot, and they have made the most of what budget they had. Just do not think too closely about about the plot. If you are not hooked in the first two eps its probabely not for you.
Entertainment value a 10
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Good idea, but the setting was not convincing. Could have been much more hard hitting drama
I really liked the idea of this, but the big hole was the female actors did not look like boxers, even athletes, sprinters have more muscles and abbs, Google female boxers and you will see what a World class female boxer looks like. Covering someone up with multiple layers of clothing and then stripping them off to box convincingly just doesn't work.Good story , but the things to make the setting real were just not there, and no matter how convincing the ML was as a whole it didn't work, and it didn't help that perhaps the most intersting part of the story, match fixing, was at odds with the fuffy young women boxer comeback, which was totally lacking in reality. The irony being that the most real aggression shown was when the ML was being beaten up.
Perhaps the K drama reluctance not let women any thing less than looking pale and perfect, but in a drama about womens boxing, thats just not the look needed.
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K drama noir, and not for the faint hearted
This is not a typical k-drama, its more in the style of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, and I think it will appeal to anyone to likes a drama that makes you think hard, even if its unpleasent.Its starts as what you think as a fairly standard modern plot, and leads you to think how ordinary people end up doing things, just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or had the wrong sort of parent.
Its ugley no holds barred acting, and Yeom Hye-ran should win awards for this, just watching is exhausting.
As a couple we binge watched over three nights, having seen the all of the Glory , I think its even more powerful because it is an every day tale, there is no filter, being bad is not made glossy, no smart houses, the actors often without make up.
There is some sort redemption at the end, which is perhaps the only light touch, but no man saves these women, they have to save themselves.
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One of those that made me smile, alot
This is reminded me of a 1940's screwball comedy, and really you have to forget it's supposed to be a high school rom com.Some of the comedy scene's, the one in the lift rivals Rachael and Samantha, are memorable. The rewatch value is mainly for those scenes.
Yes you have 20-30 somethings playing teenagers, and the sad backstory, The leads are all good actors, so its polished.
I never believe in love triangles, so the fact there was one is just a plot device and you have to go with it.
Who ever did the set dressing for the book shop and the family home deserves an award, I could smell the rooms, they looked lived in, so they were not acting in something that looked like a set.
Just submit to the genre and have some fun.
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It looks like a light romance but tackles serious themes.
It's beautifully shot, the ML's are attractive, so why did I end up crying at least three times, and feel drained after starting out what looked like a simple fantasy romance.It is a sweetly coated exploration of how bad things happen to good people just through making the wrong choice that at the time seems perhaps a reasonable one. There are villains, but perhaps the everyday compromises of life add to the evil of that villainy
At the start I thought how am I going to swallow this premise, but it worked, because it wasn't over done or over acted.
I understood why characters behaved the way they did, and the repercussions were believable.
I didn't want to skip anything, my only huge ?, was the restaurant ever going to make any money, and where did the money come from to fund it?
The ending gives some sort of resolution for nearly charector, perhaps too neat.
I can not give the story a 10, I think it needed a little more bite considering the subject, and the plot device of people not talking about the past in the equivalent of a small village is just not believable.
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An easily watchable 'family' drama.
I have had a binge of older and modern family drama recently and stands at the top so far of my list, not so much that there anything extraordinary in the charecters but it was all so well done.I found most of the charecters based on reality, where people to bad things to others in an effort to fill holes in their lives, and sometimes they are not bad people just reacting to their circumstances, which I find in real life often true.
The production values are great, things like set dressing and costume, and acting are natural and realistic.
There were some of the stock family drama charecters, like the MIL, and the 'cheating husband', but it so well written and handles the pressures of modern life on men and women so well I found it relatable. It tackles the issue of domestic violence and control but somehow manages to make the whole drama an easy watch. The roles of the parents and siblings in the family, the internal family resentments, normal and relatable and how often children are often treated diffently in a family by parents, just by lack of throught, or because they are the oldest, middle or youngest.
If I jave gripe it is why do they always make the ex husbannds such selfish monsters, I know in real life many men tend to walk away from relationships, but why does every ex have to be a thoughtless manipulative demon, In this the writing of men was better than most of the c drama I have seen, and for drama you need conflict, but why so extreme? Why does the 'hero' women just have to suck it up, be nice and cope, when even the most placid of us would have been screaming in a locked bathroom.
I think of its type its solid 9
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Truely bland
The main problem is the production and direction, no idea about the acting as they way they were directed boiled down to roughly two facial expressions per character.
The plot is basically a version of What is Wrong With Secretary Kim, but without any humor, or proper direction.
Its starts with how it is colour graded, bland costumes, looks like most of the scenes were shot in a disused modern railway station, there is a lot of walking.
The screenplay and script, There was a story but unfortunately the dialogue was sparse and the silences filled with one of the two facial expressions. A couple of the usual tropes. Perhaps if this was edited to about 8 eps, cut all the repetitive shots, and the making faces like they were sucking lemons, it could have some pace.
My score is for in horse dressage score terms is 5, sufficient, you just went through the motions.
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Enjoyable who done it and why?
I have no idea why this has such a low rating on MDL, its a very good story that starts out with a death where the main FL tries to work who did it and why, within a backround of complicated interlinked relationships.There are many twists and turns, it is well acted, has great production values and the script leaves to wanting to know more after every episode, I binged it in three days. I felt non of the episodes were fillers and each one added to the story.
The female charecters, even if they are perhaps flawed, each has a way of coping with their life, not always in a good way, but they are never appear passive victims. You may not like some of them but they are never boring, and you understand their choices.
The main ML and FL,s are great actors, so it makes it all believeable.
Some of the stories themes are unpleasent, so do not expect a fluffy watch, its like a modern Miss Marple, where through the FL we get to learn about the complex relationships and how lies can affect peoples lives long term,
If I had pick one hole, how on earth did she manage all that time to herself with children and a job, and the ending was nicely tied up, which is not like life, but its a drama.
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Mob family action drama, with a bit of a who done it and why, excellant script and acting.
I had no real knowledge of this apart from a few clips on Youtube and read a review from Rolling Stone Magazine, before watching this.There are are a lot of action dramas on Netflix at the moment, with big stars and budgets to match but few match the story telling in this, a script that makes you care about the charectors, and a plot which makes sense and for once a reveal which I didn't see coming. I gasped.
If you have watched a lot of movies its interesting to see some themes reused, like the Godfather the old boss controlling and trying to find a way to weed out people who are not loyal, and goad people, into action, to reveal their intent. At the centrea of this are the two ML charectors with a very different upbringing, expectations and outlook on life. One uses charm to get by, and the other to get by, he has to hide what ever weakness he has, and lives is a shell, they are both powerful and powerless in different ways. So their story is a emotional battle, and perhaps Porsche'sgood nature and naivety as to what is going on around him is exploited the most, and he has to readjust his mindset. You fail and end up dead, and to prove your value you have to battle. In a family where every move is plotted , like chess, people who can only react to situations they can not control get hurt, and the 2nd family are just collateral damage, who can also damage others.
There are so many charectors that are memorable, which is where the script and the acting are the strength, the interplay of the other family members and the body guards, I can not think of one drama where the body guards have a personality, and allowed to have there own story, with some telling dialogue, that adds to the plot. It very funny in parts as well, which comes natually in the story telling.
Its well shot and directed, the only scene I found clunky was the opening one, the dialogue was jarring, and it looked like acting.
I am normally bored with sex scenes in dramas, they are usually there to either attract an audience, or just fill five to ten minutes they do not have to provide dialogue for, and hold up the plot, the ones in this actually add to the plot, Pete who is caputured perhaps end up with Stockholm Syndrome, an his need to please his only defence.
If you look at the negatives, I think they were mainly budget driven, the special effects not that good, and you can always tell when there is not enough money for a good OST, they play the most suitable part of Vivaldi's the Four Seasons, the songs pleasent but not that memorable.
You could say the end was tied up too neatly, but there is enough ambiguity that it could unravel. If the victor writes the history, but when does the games end?
So well worth watching, I really enjoyed it, but do not expect some slushy BL romance,
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A rom com, that is actually funny, and clever.
If you have ever owned a dog or a cat as a family pet you get the humour in this, there is nothing more funny or appealing than your furry best friend. If you have not had a furry bestie, you may not get all the observational humour.It's the type of comedy that in less subtle hands could be cringe worthy, but it's not, it's under played. Beautifully shot and directed, there is a story, but it's not too heavy, and the short format means it moves along,
The casting is a huge part in this drama success, the actors really caught those core looks, that our devoted but often extremely annoying friends give us.
I think it's a definitely a cheer you up rewatch.
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Pefectly formed realistic short drama
I love the short format, and hate the fillers of lingering shots that go on forever but are just padding out telly schedules.This is really a simple story about real love and growth, and how trying something new, even if it is only a new cake, can lead to life changes. It's beautifully shot, acted, and believable, such a treat to like both characters, so you want to meet them in real life proper adult emotions not acting like teenagers.
Almost a ten, if I was being greedy I would have loved to have seen their first proper disagreement,
Just can not my head around being considered old at forty, when some people are very set in their ways and resistant to change at thirty.
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This short drama is so funny and works on so many levels
When it says its 15 eps, they are short, it takes about 90mins in total, so there is no waiting for things to happen, there are no filler side plots. It's like a good play. The story works because the basic setting is based in reality, if you have seen student housing, it is normally small, with paper thin walls, and irregular plumbing and electric to match.The comedy not on comes from the actual situations, but highlighting k-drama tropes in the best possible humorous way. If you like situation comedy where people will do anything not to ask a direct question and that leads to ambiguity . I thought only the British did that level of embarrassment humour,
The physical comedy is well done, even the set karaoke scene looked fresh, and of course with acting was excellent. The tease at the start of the episode to lead the audience on very cleaver.
The overall joke that two now established romantic ML behaving like geeks, in roles they would probably never be cast in now, gives you a sly smile.
I am giving 9.5 because it would be viewed as a whole. The best k-drama for comedy I have seen, it's going to be a cheer me up rewatch.
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Don't look at the promo picture, its a lot better than that, and worth watching.
It's not a rom com, in fact in parts it's pretty dark, about betrayal in friendships and business.So it is a bit of a murder mystery, business boardroom drama, and a romance where the ML changes. The script is pretty good and manages to handle most of this in an almost perfect mix, even though fairly early on who the villain is, and I had worked out almost all of the plot from the Ep2.
The two male leads are what made this for me, plus the experienced charector actors who all good, and given good roles.
Jung Kyung-ho, who is an amazing comic actor was able to show make the change believable, in what for me is the fantasy part. and Hyun-min Yoon was in a role I had never seen him play, which was refreshing. The 2nd couple were sweet and not irritating, and I liked the running joke.
The huge problem I have is the FL was written as a good submissive woman who something terrible happens, and she just does nothing, she is a blank page. It was just not believable.
In all it's a pretty easy watch.
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Starts well easy viweing and ends in a muddled mess
The good parts.I like the male ML, I thought the charector was appealing, and the actor is like a warm hug in the role.
The thriller element was well handled at the start and the idea that the various characters are linked by the building.
The female ML, there seemed no character development, but the idea of two people gently finding each other was nice.
Bad points.
They tried to join two genres and didn't make it work, and the plot was a mess at the end.
Some story lines were totally rubbish, and my pet hate, adults in their late thirties being portrayed as immature teenagers, especially when they are supposed to have responsible professional jobs . Who would let themselves be bullied in to a spoilt virtual stranger staying in their home with no proper explanation or need?
The constant use of the plot device of people not telling people important information, and then not explaining why afterwards X had happened.
If you have worked in health care or hotels you have seen a lot of human nature, so you are not easily shocked, but you would have a have responsibilities to other staff for their safety.
The ML's relationship later wasn't treated like an adult couple, I know it may have something to do with the rating, transmission time slot, but they were still depicted as being immature in their relationship and its just not believable.
Some in another review the reviewer dropped it at Ep9 and that is probably where it should have wrapped up, as I watched it all and was really disappointed by the end.
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Forget its a BL drama, its an amazing drama
I watch any genre, so the reviews of this made me interested, and it did not disappoint.The script is excellent, and all the characters believable apart from the clingy girlfriend, her motivation was never explained, the most obvious being status and money, and she was a sketched plot device.
I like how the script gave you space to fill in your own impression, with out too much information, so because you learnt naturally when the ML was constrained by expectation, it was a believable character development.
The highlight for me was how it was filmed, more cinematic, with lots of atmosphere. The beach scenes outstanding, and managed to convey it not a standard tacky way how you become of completely obsessed with some you are attracted to. If this was how most romances were portrayed it would be a lot more realistic than the standard, I hate you but I like you. I am so fed up with supposed adults being portrayed as being immature in relationships, and one having to be virtually a bully.
So if you are looking for a standard romance , perhaps it's not for you. If you want to watch a beautifully filmed thoughtful piece of how people change, and change others, which is not over long and a realistic hopeful ending, it's worth your time.
All the acting was realistic, and natural, and for once side characters seemed to be integrated in to the plot.
I wanted to rewatch it again straight after I completed it, which I have never done before for any drama, ever.
I look forward to the writer and directors next project.
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