The Greatest Love (2011)

I like this drama a lot! Worth to watch and re-watch since the story is good as it is about celebrities' life with reporters, fans, and surroundings as the main role opponents.

Moreover, Cha Seung Won really did a very great job in this drama.
I like how he can become someone really funny here. He who used to be "super cool" in his previous works can be someone who is really different!
Everything about him just make me swayed.

In addition, I like the kid starred as DING-DONG here! Damn cute!

Well, a charming actor plus a cute kid and good story line, what can you ask for more? ;)

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The Greatest Love was okay. If you are a fan of predictable love stories with very cliche love triangles then by all means give it a try. It wasn't an unpalatable show and many people can find it enjoyable. I guess I am just a little done with the same kind of protagonists and storylines in all kdramas all the time.

Story: the story seemed a bit weird to me at first, but it wasn't too weird after the first 2 episodes. However, it was so similar to other shows like that that I just couldn't find it appealing. The typical situation in which the guy is rich and dreamy and the girl is either cursed, poor, pathetic or just fell down on her luck. The arrogant guy thinks that there is no way he is ever going to fall for "someone like that", but then miraculously ends up madly in love to the point where he is willing to sacrifice his pride and life for her. I've seen it in Lie to Me, Marriage not Dating, BoF, The Master's Sun, You're Beautiful, Cinderella and 4 Knights... shall I keep going? We also have the ever present love triangle in which the second lead is so dreamy that you can't help but feel bad for him. No matter how bad you feel though, he is a very flat character. In a story like that there must also be a jealous mean girl and all sorts of people against the developing relationships. Even in this regard the story is very predictable. I generally am not all opposed to a good love triangle, but this one just didn't give me the feels.

The acting was ok, too. I am a fan of Gong Hyo Jin, but she always gets stuck in almost identical roles and most of her characters seem very similar to me. I could barely discern between her acting here, in Pasta and in Master's Sun. She showed her real potential in That's Okay, It's Love and I wish people gave her more complex roles. I really liked Cha Seung Won in You're All Surrounded, but here I kept comparing him to So Ji Sub and couldn't help but think that the latter would be a better fit for the role. Cha Seung Won's character also somewhat reminded me of Jang Hyuk from Fated to Love You. Maybe it was because of the weird laugh? No matter the reason, this left me with a feeling that the main male character could be any of the big name rom-com actors and the story would be unharmed.

I was not a huge fan of the music. I would describe it as very cheesy and anti-climactic most of the time.

All in all I can't help but think that The Greatest Love will be one of those dramas that I finished because I started it, but it won't stick with me for long. It gave me a very very similar vibe to "The Master's Sun", except that the latter had way better dialogues, a better story and chemistry between the leads.

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A classic that is still amazing after 14 years

All of us have these older dramas in our "Plan to watch" list that end up staying there for quite a while (in my case many years lol). However, I'm so glad I finally decided to give this one a chance! "The Greatest Love" is a wonderful romantic comedy with outstanding ML who made the whole series so enjoyable. Yes, the story is full of cliches from older kdramas and the acting may be too cringe for today's standards at times, nevertheless it was exequted quite well and it feels fresh so many years after its release, that I really recommend it for everyone who is in need for some good comedy, funny characters and bubbly romantic story! I'd say the story is relatively fast-paced and it's suitable for binge watching, I didn't feel bored at all. And I just have to mention the amazing OST that fits perfectly every scene!

If you had this one in your list for many many years, please give it a chance! It definitely won't disappoint!

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This is one of my all time favorites! This drama has it all you named it. I think the story it's fresh and it's very entertaining to watch. Also all the analogies they use are spot on (the Hong sisters really know how to use them).

The casting is great everyone fits their character perfectly and they made them lovable, it was my first time seeing Seung Won, because he is more the type to do action dramas, but he was awesome here as Dokko Jin. He was so sweet the way he had like a pure crush on the heroine, and his interaction with her nephew was pure gold. I hope one day he accepts another offer for a love comedy because he fits very well the genre, Hyo Jin is a well known actress in romantic comedies and she know how to do her job very well. Also the second lead, doctor Pil Joo, was so endearing and cute and you just wanted to keep both of them.

The OSt was fitting, the song they made for the girl band once you hear it you can not get it out of your head.

I've seen this drama 2 times, so I think its rewatch value is high because both times it was a great experience and I'll love to watch it again. Definitely one of the best dramas made by the Hong sisters,

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This series really surprised me. I was not expecting much however after watching the first episode I was completely hooked. The series is about a A list and D list stars. When their paths cross, the entertainment begins. It’s like down to earth girl meets all about me guy. It is upbeat funny, heartfelt and amazingly entertaining to watch. I would say that it’s not your typical romantic/comedy drama series but it is a good one. No psycho in-laws, birth secrets just pure sweetness. The progress is smooth and the character development of the male lead was amazing. From self centered to lover of others. Watch it. It was great.

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A thousand words

There's some tv-dramas in Korea that can get a little bit hard to rate. If I were to review The Greatest Love on individual criterias, without considering the whole show, I don't think I would get anything close to its final rating here in MDL. Take the plot script for example :
It's not exactly anything we haven't seen before. Annoying / arrogant / jerk MC falls for the 'straight-man' played by a lovely woman, which in turn falls for the 'growing-not-so-arrogant-in-progress' MC. Remind you of something else already ?
Filming ? Not even that great. From the pitiful CGFX to the very unoriginal view angles, nothing stands out. So what does, exactly ?
As it happens : dialogs.
Dialogs in this TV-show (especially between the male/female leads) are ones of the best I could hear - correction - see (subtitles, since I don't understand korean ... yet). It makes up, hands high, for anything less well-written, and it's a real asset here since the story focused on very few characters. Most of the dialogs are snappy, fluid, sometimes a little too fast, while some lines are so violent that you can almost hear the slap on the face of the interlocutor.
Of course it helps when someone like Gong Hyo Jin is one of the actress to play those lines (and yes, I'm fanboying, so what ?)
Still, dialogs are not a trivial matter on this drama, and you have to follow carefully to fully understand what the characters are actually meaning. Which is great. Well, it's always great, when writers respect the viewers and don't take them for passive fools.
Another point of interest in this drama is the way the story unfolds. The development, of sort. Authors/writers must have enjoyed this part quite a bit, since they've played with it as often as they could. Here's an example : this drama is, more often than not, quite funny. The thing is - most of the time - you can see the joke coming a mile away. It's quite highly predictable. But as predictable as it is, you will still laught at the end. Since you expected the joke, the writers moved it just slightly elsewhere (the minor accident in the parking lot, for example).
This is one of the thing I love about this drama : predictable/unpredictable moves transformed into minor/major events, which in turn push the show a little further. It's not actually that original, or that unpredictable, in any way, but the show in its whole gives you a comfortable feeling, while remaining just snappy enough to pin you on your chair and complete it.
So at the end of this review, you, as a potential viewer, could enjoy this drama as I did. This drama may not please everyone, but if you're not waiting for it as your next masterpiece, this TV-show should provide a brief, good moment, comfortable, while not exactly "inoubliable", which results in a 8.0 rating.

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Worth the Watch

I started watching this show because I wanted to watch something about the entertainment industry and it had excellent reviews. At the beginning, I was amused but not sold; however, it was absolutely worth pushing through, because around episode 6 I went from "this is entertaining" to "omigod I love this."

In large part, this should be credited to the actors playing Gu Ae-Jung and Dokko Jin, who were phenomenal. They brought the roles to life. I read along with the dramabeans recap as I watched, and while the recaps were well-done, the acting in the actual drama elevated it to a whole new level. The recaps were also nice because they pointed out lots of the more "meta" aspects of the show, which is a drama about Dramaland.

Story and character-wise, I found Dokko Jin, the ML, very immature at first, but entertaining. As the story went on, he became much more endearing and there is a *world* of difference between his character at the beginning, middle, and end of the show. The character development is very well done. Gu Ae-Jung is a fantastic female lead - strong, caring, and not afraid to confront the ML when he does something wrong (which was frequently in the beginning of the show, haha).

I liked the side characters, in particular Ding Dong! He was adorable and sweet. I have a soft spot for Yoo In-na, so I enjoyed her portrayal of Se-ri (even if Se-ri was annoying sometimes, she was kind of cute and I liked her). Ae-Jung's brother was a bit annoying. Dokko's manager was great.

There were a couple of smaller storylines that could have been tied up better, but that aside, I really enjoyed the show. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, but once I properly got into it, I laughed every episode (and cried more times than I'd like to admit...) so kudos to the Hong Sisters and the wonderful cast for bringing this drama to life! Definitely recommended! 9/10 stars.

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Very entertaining

This is a pretty entertaining drama. It's fantastic that Gong Hyo Jin and Cha Seung Won carried such chemistry despite their age difference. It shows how Gong Hyo Jin's skills and talents make her such a star, especially because her performance had to match the charisma and energy displayed by her co-star.

The story shows with just enough depth, how Ae Jung came to be in her current sad state as a B-list celebrity trying to hang on in a crushing business. And it shows the ins and outs of that business and pressure that the celebrities are under to never make a misstep and always look like they are doing well. I especially enjoyed the performance by Choi Hwa Jung as Dok Go Jin's scheming but still sensible manager.

As the story unfolds, we are treated to some fun and interesting interactions and dialogue between Go Jin and Ae Jung, and you get to see how their relationship unfolds. This is an older drama so there are more circumstantial misunderstandings than I prefer, but I forgive them because of the great story and acting. One thing I didn't enjoy as much was the second couple. They tried their best, but they didn't quite come to life for me.

In the end, this is a great light and generally fluffy rom-com showcasing the talents of Gong Hyo Jin and Cha Seung Won.

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Recommended

This is a belated review but I assumed it was time after rewatching this drama for the nth time.

Often times we watch TV shows that are no-brainers, whether it is trash TV programs (love is blind for instance) but you want to have a feel good moment?
This is the drama for you.

There is no exact story per say, after one episode you wonder why you want to continue but trust me, it's something so special you don't want to miss. The drama sheds real light on the ongoing Korean entertainment industry, how hard it is to main you're "image" and how easy it to lose everything you've built.

To begin with is the chemistry of the main leads - CSW gets overboard with his comedy but it adds a wonderful balance with the relatively calm and collected character of the female lead. When the drift shifts towards a serious note, CSW genuinely makes us feel so invested in the relationship that you'd end up blushing like a teenager. Their romance is so heartwarming that makes you certain that they should be together.

It's crazy how imperfectly perfect this drama is. The music is amazing, the second lead is amazing, BUT you're never going to stray from the beauty of the MLs romance. Just sublime.

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