Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae really impressed me with their acting skills. I often find the childishness of the leading women in Kdramas annoying, as I feel it makes them look downright stupid, not cute. Yet Lee Da Hae's portrayal of Yoo Rin was unexpectedly endearing and funny. Lee Dong Wok was amazing in this role and he didn't play the character as too cold and arrogant, but just right.
I don't know what it was exactly about this drama that really grabbed me, but when it did, I was hooked. I usually hate extreme silliness or angst, and but for a few moments, this drama did these elements perfectly. In addition, even the secondary characters' storylines were interesting and captivating. I often find myself skipping through these plot lines, but, here, even the second male lead seemed more than just an instrument of conflict.
Overall, for me, this drama will stay as one my favourites for a long time for its simplicity, clever humour and well developed romance. Some scenes will stay in my mind forever like the orchard scene, the moving elevators or the romantic farts of Mrs In-Sun. I really recommend this drama!
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2-Storyline/Plot : Totally loved the story, it was well done plus the events passed by so smoothly without any blanks or slow moments.
The start was really awesome,I really enjoyed the hilarious moments at the beginning. The rest was good too although I still prefer the beginning of the drama.
3-Acting/Cast : Lee Da Hae has done her role in a perfect way; I haven't noticed any mistakes in her performance although her character fell into the usual dumb lead Korean female in some point but I really liked the way she lied; it was very believable and super hilarious.
Lee Dong Wook and Lee Jun Ki were my special eye candy in this drama, I am really sorry for saying this but when I see them on screen all I was thinking about were shallow feelings for those two actors looks so I really can't talk about their acting skills but I can say that they had usual characters as a lead male and a second lead male.
Other cast weren't that bad but they weren't that great either. However, I will say this: Park Si Yeon was really annoying as a character and as an actress.
4-Music : It was the same song played all along the drama but it was good enough to hear over and over again.
5-Rewatch value : I don't think that it could be fully rewatched but there's some moments that deserves repeating them.
6-The ending : A nice cute ending not that special but I totally loved the two guests who showed up in the last episode.
7-Overall : This is the type of drama that's highly recommended to romantic comedies lovers.
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It's a real pity, because I absolutely loved virtually everything else about this drama (though my hatred for Park Si Yeon's acting/the character in general probably contributed to my immense love for the rest of the drama, as I was too busy hating on her to really criticize anything else).
This is one of my favourite romcoms ever, in any language. It's got comedy and it's got romance, and it does both very well. I spent the first few episodes laughing my head off- this drama actually does a pretty good job of finding comical situations that haven't been reused five bajillion times in other dramas and movies.
What really made My Girl for me, though, were the two lead actors. Lee Da Hae and Lee Dong Wook both have a fantastic sense of comic timing (just wait until the hospital scene where Gong Chan/LDW freaks out), and they're both so expressive and have such diverse facial expressions that they can make an already funny scene even funnier. They're amazing at comedy, and really, just amazing actors, period. Even when the drama starts turning more serious and high-stakes, they're able to deliver comedic, serious, sweet, touching, and tearful moments as required, often going rapidly back and forth between the funny and the serious. Together, they're even better. They play off of each other incredibly well, and their chemistry, too, is one of the things that really made this drama what it is. I'd say that their chemistry rivals that of many often-praised kdrama couples: think the sizzling sexual tension from Secret Garden, mixed with the overwhelming cuteness of My Princess, and you have Seol Gong Chan and Joo Yoo Rin in My Girl.
On the subject of Joo Yoo Rin: Lee Da Hae truly shines in this drama. I seriously cannot believe that neither her nor Lee Dong Wook got awards for their acting in this drama, while the awful Park Si Yeon did. Lee Da Hae is brilliant as the quirky, over-the-top, scheming yet loveable Yoo Rin. She makes me laugh and cry here with ease, and she seems to have fleshed out this character completely- Joo Yoo Rin is so realistic she might as well be real, and I really couldn't imagine any other actress in this part.
In regards to the rest of the cast: Lee Jun Ki acts the part of Seo Jung Woo quite well; I just think that it was never a hugely well written character to begin with. Yoo Rin's friends and father didn't stick out that much to me, but I loved Gong Chan's family, and together, they really did present the image of a realistic, slightly weird but loving, oddly knit together family unit. And... then there's Park Si Yeon, who is consistently awful. Kim Seo Hyun is a badly written character, and Park Si Yeon is a bad actor. She has all of approximately three facial expressions, the most common of these being the disdainful/contemptuous/annoyed/sarcastic snort that she does every five seconds, and in the later episodes, that really made me start to want to slap her in the face and skip ahead every time she appeared on screen.
The writing... well, it IS a Hong Sisters drama, but in my opinion, actually one of their best. My Girl has all of their wit and humour, awesome story and romance, and quirky yet loveable characters, but doesn't exhibit some of the flaws that are often associted with HS dramas- for example, weak endings(the ending of My Girl is actually pretty up there, as far as kdramas go). It's faced-paced, well-plotted, and thoroughly addictive.
The music (both the score and the OST) fit the drama perfectly, and as usual for a Hong Sisters drama, the music is excellent, and played at more or less all the right moments. Though it might not make my personal playlist as some drama OSTs do, My Girl's score is outstanding and the OST is a great match for the drama.
Overall, this is a hilarious drama, well worth watching. Basically, my main complaint with this drama is the shallow, poorly written second female lead (a common feature of Hong Sisters dramas/kdramas in general, unfortunately- think You're Beautiful, just for starters), and the poor acting with which said poorly written character was executed. Aside from this, I loved My Girl, and Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae alone make this worth watching again and again.
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I was very impressed with the acting in this drama, although I wasn't much of a fan of Park Si Yeon's performance. Even so, Lee Dong Wook, Lee Jun Ki and Lee Dae Ha played their roles brillantly, with not a single bit of disapointment. Especially Lee Dae Ha's character....she was just the funniest, spunkiest and the most mischievous female lead and I enjoyed every minute of her craziness! I love how she gets that grin on her face when she's up to no good. Totally adorable. >.< LDW and LJK were great eye-candy and YES they can act! :P I sincerely loved ALL the characters so much and felt myself going through the same emotional roller coaster they were going through as the story progressed.
I had no problem with the storyline either. It might seem cheesy to some but I thought it was unique and wacky enough to grab your attention and pull you in for the ride. The only thing that really stopped from giving this drama a 10 overall was the romance between LDW and LDH. It would have been perfect if they had just a little bit more UMPF! in their relationship. :PPP
The OST is also a bit on the cheesy side but that didn't stop me from singing along with it. Really, it's contagious! XD
Oh and another thing about "cheesiness" in general....some people really seem to hate it, so I'd like to close with my favorite line from the movie Ratatouille to address this issue.
"Once you muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kinds of possibilities open up." So, there you go....EMBRACE THE CHEESE! :D
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My Girl -(This contains spoilers. So those who have not seen,please read the first couple of paragraphs)This was the first Korean drama that I ever watched. I was lucky(or should I say unlucky, as this was the first drug that started my addiction) to have seen a Hong Sisters drama on my first attempt. Yes, for the the first time in my life, I felt like I should write more. These writers are amazing. Their scripts are not the racy, fast paced and keeps you on the edge kind. But, rather, my heart is about to burst from the overload of cuteness kind. However its not all fluffy either. They keep the plot gripping to make you want to know what happens to the characters.
Enough of my rambling about the writers, coming back to the drama, it was splendid. Not so awesome that it had no faults kind. But with all its faults, makes you want to watch it over and over again kind. Its negatives were: the over the top histrionics indulged frequently by Lee Da Hae, the bland reactions of Lee Dong Wook, the want to smash your face Park Si Yeon, and whats with your hairstyle and clothes Lee Jun Ki. To be concise, too many. But it more than kind of made up for all this with the amazing hwaiting from Lee Da Hae, the so gorgeous to look at Lee Dong Wook, the know it all and going to get my heart burnt Lee Jun Ki(who I actually liked a whole lot more than the usual second leads in Korean dramas) and the cool but simple twists and turns in the story.
The plot was quite simple: Ju Yoo Rin is a tour guide in Jeju who gets in to trouble with money lenders because of her father's gambling debts. Amazed by her wiliness and her ability to get out of tight spots, Seol Gong Chan, a rich Hotel Chairman's grandson(how convenient!) hires her to act as his fake cousin(sachon), who went missing in an earthquake in Japan, in order to resuscitate his grandfather from his illness and guilt. What was intended as a one time visit gets extended to a stay as the grandfather recovers and adores her. But things quickly go downhill with the appearance of Kim Seo Hyun, a world famous tennis star(all she knows are a couple of tennis shots, he he), who returns to Seol Gong Chan's side after having dumped him to deal with his parents death and run off to play tennis. It is Yoo Rin who gets them together but she realizes that she has fallen for Seol Gong Chan despite his surly ways. This, coupled with the fact that she is not the real cousin, is discovered by Seo Jung Woo, who happens to be best friends with Seol Gong Chan and whose family owns half of the hotel's shares. Yoo Rin knows that Jung Woo knows but he tells her that if she tells this to Seol Gong Chan, then he will blurt out the fact that she likes him as well. Since Yoo Rin desperately needs the money, she stays put and tries to act as the dutiful grand daughter to the family. What happens next is how they try so hard to keep up the pretense and how the lies build up and then fall apart. Like Yoo Rin says, lies are all about timing. You need to get out of it pretty quickly. So you can clearly see how that is not going to happen. Lol!
It is so much fun watching Gong Chan and Yoo Rin together that at odd times, they truly were like siblings. I could not detect any romantic tension or chemistry between them. This was a major flaw in the drama. Not that it deterred me from watching it. It was adorable to watch their interactions. Some of my favourite scenes in the drama were when she adorably tries to fool him in to believing silly stuff like "walking on the white stripes of the zebra crossings will bring good luck", "count till five and if the person you like appears before you, then you will love them", "hold your breath in the elevator and make a wish and it will come true". And when he naively tries them and when she laughs at him for believing it, I laughed along with her. Their scenes together were so cute that I often found myself bubbling up with sweetness. I also especially liked the fact that any misunderstanding they have(for instance, the fact that she pawns the gifts that she receives to get her dad out of jail) gets quickly resolved and does not drag on for episodes. And also he makes a clean break with Seo Hyun, the minute he confronts his feelings for Yoo Rin. And he holds on desperately to her even when she wants to leave and does not put on any noble idiocy act of letting her go.
Seo Jung Woo was an interesting character too. The opening he gets, waking up in bed with an Italian girl and getting chased by her husband was actually strangely cool and he is actually the first to fight for and protect Yoo Rin, when she gets attacked by money lenders. He is fascinated by Yoo Rin as he sees her in different situations and places that it is tough for him to actually figure out who she is. What starts out as curiosity makes him fall head over heels in love with her as he discovers her secret, the fact that she fights her feelings for Seol Gong Chan so hard(as he has a girlfriend and she cannot like him)and also tries his best to protect her in his own way. Yoo Rin initially thinks of him as a good friend and whenever he acts troubled, goes out to cheer him up. But the minute he confesses his feelings for her, she makes a clean break with him and tries to avoid him at all costs. I loved this because unlike most leads in dramas who tag the second leads along and dump them at the end cruelly, she always makes it plain and clear that she does not like him. Of course, that does not stop him from trying hard to get her. There is this one scene when the Seol family tries to set her up with him and he says, " Why dont we do this for real?" and Yoo Rin replies, "In your personal Olympics, having collected women from every country, you are trying to make me the Korean representative?" sarcastically to hint at his playboy ways and leaves. But when he replies, "In this Olympics, Korea will most definitely be the winner",it broke my heart a little. And when he officially proposes to her and asks her why she cant be with him, she says, "I cant be with you because then I ll have to face Seol Gong Chan everyday for the rest of my life", it made me gnash my teeth and exclaim, "girl!, Cant you be a little less cruel?". However, when Yoo Rin and Gong Chan officially get together,he gets desperate and tries to blackmail her in to coming with him to the US, I hated him for a brief time. But just for a brief time, hehe. Everytime Yoo Rin cries to him, claiming that she cannot bear the pain that she has in her heart of being near Gong Chan and having to pretend to be just his cousin, he says,"Remember this! You can only be this way with me! Because only I know the real you and you do not have to pretend in front of me!", it was so awesome and sad. There are many others like the scene where Yoo Rin pretends that the chilli that she ate was not very spicy and makes him eat it and then says, "This is how you must pretend. Pretend steadfastedly that you don't like them at all", it is done with humor and a tinge of sadness. However, all his scenes are not melodramatic. There are a few scenes, where the three of them(Yoo Rin, Gong Chan and Jung Woo) go to a movie and he says he is Gong Chan's husband and they laugh over it at Gong Chan's expense. And when Yoo Rin falls asleep watching an action film(thats so me!), he takes her head and rests it on his shoulder, making Gong Chan jealous. All in all, he was an interesting character. Now if only they had not made him look so androgynous, I would have probably loved him more. Yes, had to mention it. What was up with the so obviously girly hairstyle and clothes. Wonder why they did that!
There is however nothing much for me to say about the other second lead. Seo Hyun was not pretty and so annoying that there was hardly anything for me to even remotely respect her. I did not hate her for leaving Seol Gong Chan in the first place nor unashamedly coming back to him, but I did hate her for expecting things to be the same way as they were when she left him. I expected her to break the secret to the grandfather and thats what she did, so no surprise there. But when she hides the fact that Yoo Rin's father saved the real granddaughter from Gong Chan, that was the last straw for me. Her acting was so mediocre that at times, I felt like I was re-watching the same scene as she had the same kind of expressions on her face. A totally forgetful performance by Park Si Yeon. This dislike forbade me from watching Coffee House with her as the lead.I have not changed my mind and I still am debating on whether to watch it or not.
There are a few other characters and few funny incidents which are cute. Like the romance between Yoo Rin's friend's brother and Gong Chan's secretary and the over the top but hilarious romantic scenes between Gong Chan's aunt and the Seol family's caretaker(he is more like a butler), for example. And who can mention the granddaughter-adoring grandfather, who later turns out to be the scariest and meanest grandfather in the K-Drama landscape. Veteran, no other word.
This series pulled me in to the Korean Drama world in January 2010. I have still not got bored. Its almost like I discovered this whole new way of living. I have come a long way from January 2010 and I don't think that I will ever give up watching K-Dramas which has brought me so much fun. What with the oppas and eonnies and ajhummas and ajhussis and harabojis.. I am having so much fun, guys.. Like most people watching Korean drams, I do not understand Korean though I am making an effort at learning Korean. I would like to thank all the subbers out there who have made it possible for me to watch the dramas. Hopefully, I can sub dramas too, couple of years down the lane. In my next post, I will probably start my review of another series that I enjoyed. I would also like to mention Javabeans and Girlfriday and thank them for their posts and their awesome site dramabeans which motivated me to write about this . I can never be as devoted and good as they are. But this is my way of showing that I love korean dramas. Eonnis, kumawoyo. Aja! Aja! Hwaiting!
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I truly wanted to give this a 10, bit it's more worthy of a 9. Why? Well, it is really funny. You'll get more than one big round of laughter watching this. Yoo Rin is a really likable character, and Lee Dae Hi is an amazing actress. The two male leads are really nice-looking, Gong Chan is awesome, and Si Yeon did a good job as the antagonist.
However...
The last two episodes made me think that the writers were trying to drag the drama out. I didn't enjoy those episodes. Luckily the last few moments of the drama make up for it, though.
I also want to give a shout out to an amazing scene involving stolen oranges! Really had me laughing with that one, and I still LOL at the memory.
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Lee Da Hae did a spectacular job as a spunky but heartwarming female lead. I also loved Lee Dong Wook in this. You could really see his feeling gradually start to grow for Lee Da Hae's character.
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Also for Lee Jun Ki fans, be wary when watching this, because you'll probably feel your heart cringe and want to reach out and comfort him at times.
Story:
I really liked the story, and it had a really good moral behind it as well which made it even more enjoyable. The whole thing is based around lying and its consequences.
Acting:
It was great! Loved the actors/actresses in this.
Music:
And onto the reason for my low score.....Honestly the music made me want to rip my ears off. I hated every song in this(the french one wasn't so bad), and they were all so overplayed. But if you like 80-90s sounding hiphoppy music then you may like it, but I couldn't stand it, I got such a headache from the soundtrack of this drama, the only reason I was able to continue was because I enjoyed the story so much.
Rewatch and Overall:
I rarely rewatch dramas, and this wouldn't be one of those. I do highly recommend you add this to your list to watch though because it's not one you should miss. You'll be up for a rollarcoaster ride of emotions while watching this.
This would be a perfect drama to watch around the Holiday season!
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I liked the idea of the main character being a good natured con-woman, but I often found Joo Yoo Rin's actions to be really annoying. Lee Da Hae did a great job, even though sometimes she was a bit over the top. She was a good match for calm, and by the book, Lee Dong Wook. I already loved him in 'Scent of a Woman', so I was glad to see him in something else. What I loved most about this drama was their chemistry, and how they began to rub off on each other. I can't say the same about the two supporting leads.
Fans may disagree, but I didn't like Park Si Yeon's performance at all. Not only did her character's actions piss me off, but she just kept making the same expressions over & over again. It wasn't even fun to hate her. She's the main reason my acting score is so low.
Lee Jun Ki's acting was decent, but his character made no sense. He goes from being a mischievous womanizer (though he was a little too girly to make me believe that), to being pathetically obsessed with one girl. It was as if liking Yoo Rin was the equivalent of a lobotomy. I initially liked his character, but by the end his character was no fun at all.
I did like many of the minor characters, and it's always fun to see Ahn Suk Hwan in yet another drama. He & Choi Ran are also in the Hong Sister's latest drama "Big", which I was watching at the same time as this. I liked their romantic storyline, it was cheesy, but cute.
I would call myself a Hong Sisters fan, but I am not a real fan of their first two dramas. This drama relied on so many rom-com clichés, and contrived plot devices. There were some cute funny moments (the accidental kiss), but I didn't find it hilarious, and I think they sometimes relied on too many parodies. Watching all the character "near misses" was starting to drive me crazy, and not in an exciting way. Eventually, almost every character annoyed me, or pissed me off, towards the end. I don't mind a predictable story, but the conflicts became too repetitive, and the characters were too frustratingly stubborn for my taste. I also didn't cry once, I just scowled at the screen. I did like the end scene though. It was a cute surprise.
Perhaps if this were my first drama, my experience would have been different. I think there are so many better rom-com dramas out now, plus this one feels a little too dated (The clothes, the music, the obvious product placements...). The Hong sisters have also gotten much better since then. Overall It was an acceptable rom-com, but I wouldn't recommend it, or rewatch it.
* Sorry fans, I'm just being honest : ) *
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I am really surprised at the low ratings in MDL for this “rom-com”. It strikes me as being as worthy as a Secret Garden or BOF. Granted the first 2-3 episodes are rather lame and cheesey, as it outlines the future storyline, but picks up by episode 4 and from then on, it certainly keeps the viewer’s interest. I especially loved the OST, “Never Say Goodbye” (taken from Symphony #40, Mozart /Mario &amp; Nesty).
The storyline is good and with a strong cast, the drama unfolds, gripping the viewer right to the very end. As was said, in other reviews, it does get a bit laggy in final few episodes, but doesn’t render it unwatchable. The final episode delivers 100% as well as episodes previous. And the excellent choice of music and the Awesome OST made me love it more. I can see why, when it originally aired, it pulled in such high weekly ratings from television viewers.
Honestly, I can recommend this “drama” and in my books it has earned the right of being a classic, along with SG & BOF. (with a worthy 2nd lead) I have changed my initial rating of a 7 to a 9.5, as I can now appreciate all that goes into making a drama a classic with a high re-watch value.
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