Always (2011)

A little cliche but still heart-warming

For a 2011 movie, this was pretty much what you'd expect. It was heart-warming and I could see it being a tear-jerker for some, but it also just doesn't provide many new plots or characters compared to similar movies that I've seen.

The pacing was quite nice in the first half — I'm a sucker for the way they did the slow burn — but the second half had a lot of plot development and not much of the same patience dedicated to them. This is one of those movies I wish was a drama because maybe those backstories could have been fleshed out more and the characters could have more conversations with each other, especially once the conflicts started kicking in. I especially felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

Other than that, this was a really wholesome movie for the most part and I had a good time watching it.

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Life has a way of coming full circle.

That's the strongest takeaway I got from this movie. The element of fated lovers is present in this story, I choose to view it as fate's way of giving Chul Min an opportunity to right his wrongs ( creating the chain of events that led to Jung Hwa's blindness) rather than simply a tale of two people fated to love each other. He gets the chance to literally give her back her sight which his actions caused her to loose.

The casting was great, So Ji Sub shines in his role of a tortured lonely soul. Han Hyo Joo plays the optimistic blind woman to perfection, she manages to emote and showcase her fear and sadness at the right moments so that her performance is very layered.

Overall I enjoyed this movie.

I would like to point out that there is a Turkish remake of this movie called Sadece Sen, I found out about it after watching this one, Sadece Sen in my opinion has the edge over Always both in casting and acting, the overall pathos in that iteration is absolutely spot on. Check it out on Netflix, I'd be interested to hear what people think about this.

That being said, Always is great and stands solidly on its own two feet.

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Such beautifully make movie. The two main leads make this movie masterpiece. Han Kyo Joo again deliver such a supreme act to tough everyone hearts. The way her hands/fingers gesture, her smile, her silence... was perfect. She never overact. I have not had a boring moment watching any of her movie yet. She can capture people emotion just right.

Now the main lead. He does not speak much. He just follow her around and intend to protect her. Both were wounded, one was eyesight, one were spiritually and mind wounded. Together they find happiness, support, joy, and love. Their bond were strong. He returned wounded badly again and were too shameful to speak to her again. However as a person that used to be blind, have a strong sense. By touching such as massage, she sense family body. Their adopted dog “Easy” normally very calm was acting excited and barking ran toward him. By touching his face, she confirmed that was him return. They were mean to be together. They were perfect together.

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I haven't watched a good romantic movie in a while and this was a good one.

This film takes two people who have been damaged in different ways, but fate decides to bring them together. While watching, you hope for their love to come to a happy ending, but you're never positive in how the writer will end the film. Will they have true heartbreak or come to a happy ending?

I went in thinking that this movie would be dark with a lot of struggles, but there were many lighthearted and warm scenes between the leads. There was a good balance between the darker aspects of the movie and the lighter ones.

The acting was pretty good, especially since Han Hyo Joo had to portray a blind woman(which I assume is a very hard task). She did well though. So Ji Sub was on point in this movie. He makes you root for the underdog and hope he gets the better future he is striving for. His fight scenes were good and you could definitely tell that he had worked hard to learn about and how to box.

Overall the storyline wasn't too unique, but the acting really made the film.

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This is it. This is THE sappy, melodramatic, romantic rollercoaster movie that I watch when I want to just cry and look at beautiful people. It's a classic setup that I'm a real sucker for (tough guy becomes soft and sweet around the woman he loves who needs protection), and I love the way that it quietly and predictably unfolds. I also think that I like it because although it has plenty of sadness, it's ultimately a happy ending, unlike some of them where one character just dies and that's that, the end.

Despite the romance there is a grainy, dismal look to the movie -- broken by the ray of sunshine in her apartment when he fixes it up and opens the window and she traces his face, which always gets me -- and the ending as the predictably gloomy quality that switches to being uplifting at the very, very end.

The leads are both very beautiful people and they do a good job. They have chemistry and they are very, very sweet. In the grey feeling of the movie they are intentionally a very bright spot and by the end I'm always really rooting for them. They are both pretty broken people that were sidelined by the world and I want them to have happiness.

If you had the energy, I'm sure there are lots of criticisms you could make about the way that the female lead's blindness is portrayed, and the message its sending by having her eyesight cured at the end, etc. etc. but frankly I just don't have the will to analyze this movie to that extent. It's a tearjerker. It's meant to be full of romance and strife and beautiful people falling in love in heart wrenching circumstances.

Greatest Weakness: The rushed climax where she gets her eyesight back? And he hides from her out of... shame? I guess??
Greatest Strength: Those sweet, sweet domestic scenes when they have their little slice of happiness.

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Sweet and Dark

This is a good movie, both quality. story and entertainment wise... Slightly painful to watch this movie takes us on a journey of hardship and romance with a fluffy dog to ease the pain...

What Liked more...
Great acting, good story, cute dog+ lovable mains, no annoying characters, people with disabilities portrayed as human beings worthy of love and not just a walking inspirational story... Complex mains with lots of character development, chemistry between the leads... Good balance of sweet and dark scenes.The way it incorporated issues facing woman and people with disabilities without it taking over the main focus but rather added and acted as an accelerator for it. The very human non super human the mains are.

What I liked less...
Somewhat predictable twists, though I did not know what was going to go happen at one point it was very clear that X was going to happen at a certain point in time, just not exactly how it would happen.

I did not cry but I can see where many people would cry while watching this movie and is certainly a movie worth watching!

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I was pleasantly surprised by how well written the script was and how talented the cast is. I love stories that are intelligent and make you understand the characters even if you don’t agree with their choices.

The best part is that I totally bought this couple in the sense that they were convincing as a pair. They are both people in the fringes, wounded birds that are seeking a place to belong. They find each other and you root for their love. But there are secrets that threaten to rip them apart and the conflict comes from a heart full of fear to own up to the truth and that is where this movie falters.

So, that brings me to the question, is there a sequel? There are still room for many questions left unanswered and our ML doesn’t confide the truth to his lady love. More needs to be said to wrap this story up. I’m left with anticipation that these two young lovers have more to say.

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