Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The “Big Mouth” cast is perfect, especially the lead actors Lee Jong-suk (as a lawyer on a losing streak) and Girls’ Generation’s Im Yoon-ah as his pragmatic wife (who’s a skilled nurse). There was not a moment where I didn’t believe that this couple was besotted with each other. Even when they argued, it was obvious that they cared so very much about each other.
I could go on and on about the romance elements. But because I knew the lead character would be fine regardless of who she chose — and that the men would be OK as well — I was more fascinated by the dynamics at the workplace and how difficult it can be for women to juggle being a mom with having a job outside of the home.
I watched this series, because I was curious to see how well Lee Jong-Suk acted early on in his career. Answer: He was very good, even in a so-so K-Drama. “School 2013” tackles many serious topics — bullying, suicide, overbearing parents — but if you want to watch a superior film about Korean high school students, opt for “Once Upon a Time in High School.”
One of the things that I really love about Korean dramas is that many of them center around protagonists who knew each other as children — and reunite as adults. And such is the case with “While You Were Sleeping,” which follows a group of young adults who inexplicably see each other in their dreams.
I was going to review “Pinocchio” simply as I would any other K-Drama. But I started to write this at the same time that Soon-Yi Previn broke her silence about her relationship with Woody Allen (her husband) and Mia Farrow (her adoptive mother, and Allen’s former long-time girlfriend) — and that affected my take on this Korean drama. Is it wrong for family members who aren’t biologically-related to have a romantic relationship? If you condemn Allen and Previn, can you condone the two lead characters in this series?
I finished watching “I Hear Your Voice” around the same time that I started “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food.” Both deal with older women/younger men plots, where the woman is about eight years older than her partner. The problem I had with “I Hear Your Voice,” though, is that the boy is a high school senior when the relationship begins. And while Soo-Ha certainly is more mature than Hye-Sung in many ways, he is still a teenager.
When “W” begins, we meet Chul, who is a 17-year-old wunderkind who wins a gold medal in the Air Pistol Shooting competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Not long afterwards, he is framed for murdering his parents and two younger siblings.