Bel Ami (2013)

Oh, what a roller coaster this drama has been! What started out as a typical Jan Suk drama, wherein boy overcomes slight obstacles to be with the one he loves, became a twisty, bendy, delicious can't wait edge of your seat drama! Not to say, however, that there weren't problems. Then why, you ask, did I give this drama a nine?
The story started slow, and by the fifth episode, you will absolutely DREAD the word socks, as that is all the characters seem to want to talk about. But then a funny thing happens; the main character starts to mature, and LEARN from the women he's sent to seduce; and every time you finish another episode, you learn something with Ma Te. All is not what you expect; everytime you think you've got a handle on what's about to happen, or the storyline starts to go down a predictable situation, it twists itself in a fresh and honest way that I feel will keep you interested and excited in what's happening and what's going to happen next.
What could have been a one note character dialed in by Jan Suk was instead turned into a maturing, layered man by the end of the show; I truly believe that Ma Te was changing throughout the episodes; he was becoming a man, not just a 'pretty' boy, and Jan Suk did a great job once the story started to pick up. You will find yourself with a slight case of second lead syndrome, but this drama isn't about what little romance there is in it...it's about what you can learn from those around you, and about how even the most simplest person can teach you the one thing you need to know to be the best person you are meant to be.
I don't believe I will watch this again; not because it was a bad drama, but because it would cheapen the FEELS and surprises that I've seen; I would think less of the people, and the lessons from the women wouldn't have as much as an impact once you've seen it through the first time. Would I recommend this? Not only have I already done so to a few of my friends, but I would also want to warn you: after around episode 6, plan on setting aside the remaining time to marathon this...it's like a good book you can't put down.

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i'm looking at the ratings i gave for each category and and though i was honest i dont feel like it refelects how fun this drama was to watch at moments.

it feels like the drama was missing something, and at the end i really felt like i was ending right in the middle. a little contemplation leads me to the opinion that the stroy of Ma Te's parentage and the corprate machinations took up just waaaaay too much of this drama. but alsa that is not the only problem.

alot of the character growth (where it existed) was abrupt, nonsensical and lazy. i would have really liked to see a lot more growth out of Bo Tong, but i'm not surprised at how stunted her character was. it seems like everytime korean drama puts forth a worthy woman they then proceed to push her as far into the shadow of a man as she could possibly go with out disappearing completely. Arang (arang and the magistrate) and Yowol (gu family book) come to mind.

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Let’s start by put this drama in its right genre which is light melodrama (whatever that means) but it’s applicable I think. And also its right preview. It is about a very beautiful man loved and cherished by every woman who meets him starting from his mother. And the impact he received and gave to those women through his journey to find his parentage secret and his maturity.
The story is interesting and was written will. you would think it is a cliché, but every time you predict something it doesn’t happened as the way you predicted. It wasn’t full of surprises but as I said it just isn’t a cliché.
Mate’s character isn’t complicated and in this kind of story far from cliché, he was pretty but not a playboy even innocent somehow, he care for women but not actively like or persuade women. He uses them but not in dishonest or a canny way, he is very honest but not from integrity prospect but it is because he is childishly innocent.
JGS was a perfect choice for this role. he shows the scaling of Mate’s matureness with more mature acting throughout the drama. he was brilliant in most of the drama specially the emotional scenes which were acted in low-keyed and very mature performance. But in some scenes his acting was too low-keyed that you’d think he is one of the extra (harsh, I know but that is because I admire and expect too much from him). I just love his deep voice. wasn’t a fan of the hair changing, it was confusing.
As for Bo Tong’s character, it was refreshingly written and vividly acted. I know that not everything new has to be good, but this character was refreshingly new in a very good way. She is simple but not childish as she seams. She is even more mature than Mate’. She loves him and worship him but she understand him like no other and know his faults and tell him the truth without mincing her words and at the same time let him lei to save fac. The chemistry between the characters (not as much between the actors) is so strong and healthy. IU’s acting was excellent.
David’s character is more mature, charming and kind than Mate’s. but I appreciate that the writer didn’t play the inevitable love triangle that is in every drama, there was one of course but it wasn’t the lead of the events. The actor was good but I did not liked him much maybe because of his silly laugh!!!
And the best actress prize of all (Mommie Dearest) character goes to Kim Bo Yun. What a classy evil, and what a superb performance. The actress and the character gave the drama classiness and depth.
This is not a Cinderella story, it is not even a romance, but a drama that got romance and is funny but not to the extent to became a comedy and it isn’t also a mystery or a thriller. But it has all of that which make it more simple and more entertaining.

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This drama is a mess. As charming as IU and Jang Geun Suk are, they have zero chemistry going on. In my opinion, this is partly due to that the storyline of this drama can not seem to make up its mind on what it wants to be ; It goes from rom-com to family drama to thriller and back. As a result, it fails to execute any of these things well. It does not do any justice to the acting skills of any of the actors either, since much of the plot rests on situations that are forced and too convenient to be believable. Don't mistake me , I like dramas that are a little bit too good to be true , but there has to be some amount of believability in it that makes me want to care for the characters.

I admit I started watching this because Jang Geun Suk and IU sounded like a golden combination , and the concept seemed nice and light-hearted enough for me to give it a go. However, it ended up being one of those dramas that starts all hilarious and from episode 8 or so it goes downhill.
Ultimately I ended up finishing it more out of habit than anything else, because the story bored me to no end. Next time I'd like to see IU in a less cutesy type of role (taking 'Dream High' into account). Here she was just random and a bit of a cheerleader to all the other characters .
She doesn't suddenly have to go all 'femme fatale' but I'd loved to have seen her stand up for herself, at least. And Geun Suk, oh... I love you , but your character did not have any personality aside from his arrogance.

I have seen my fair share of comic book adaptations , and this is definitely not the better of them .

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Do not let the opinions of others sway you. See Pretty Man for yourself and YOU DECIDE because one man's trash is another man's treasure. IMO, this drama is largely a victim of poor marketing, beginning with the title. I mean, who wants to see a drama about some guy whose favorite past time is looking at himself in the mirror, second only to having smitten women tell him how handsome he is all day? Not very appealing, but Pretty Man is SO much better than that, so much deeper! It's about destiny and finding who you are..literally. It's about love, loyalty, friendship, loss, pain, revenge, and even a little magic, but mostly it's about personal growth. This is a sometimes heartbreaking tale of a boy overcoming obstacles to become a man. Loved it!

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To make a Drama based on a bad Movie (which itself was already based on a book) which got 27% on Rotten tomatoes, 5.4 on IMDB and 42% on Metacritic, and expect it to be successful is really daring, well, they tried.

I have read the book (In French) and seen the movie (disaster), still, Jang Geun Suk is the only reason I decided to watch this drama and boy oh boy do I regret it.
The actors did a great job (they carried me through the drama) with the weal plot/story they had, and I found myself caring for Bo Tong and Ma Te more than I really should have. Would I re-watch this again? No chance as a whole but there are some scenes I enjoyed and would not mind taking a peek at once more.

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I only started this for IU and Jang Geun Suk (after having watched them in Scarlett Ryo and You’re beautiful). I only finished it because I have kind of a problem with dropping anything and for Lee Jang Woo and partly IU.
I like her very much, but I didn’t get the plot of the story, there are flaws everywhere, no chemistry between main leads and overall, nobody who is so bad treated as IU would continue loving the main lead (moreover with so many awful hairstyles as him), having someone as David Cho beside her...
So, the only positive thing is that sometimes the instrumental music was ok...Only watch it if you have tons of free time and nothing better to do.

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Pretty Boy (also known as Bel Ami) is a comedy drama starring Jang Keun Suk and idol IU. It's the story of Dokgo Ma Te, a beautiful yet arrogant man, who tries to make money thanks to his appereance. Ma Te meets Hong Yoo Ra who becomes his mentor: in order to become richer Ma Te has to seduce 10 different women who succeded in variuos fields. In Ma Te's life there is also Kim Bo Tong, a girl who has a big crush towards Ma Te.
The story is nothing special and I'm sure this drama won't make history. But if you want to watch a funny and simple drama this is one of the best canditates.
It was my first drama with IU and I was surprised in a good way.

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keeping in mind that this is a comic adaptation, the first few episodes i would say had outlandish scenes but keeps to its roots. the characters are not your everyday variety of people but still very much relatable. the trials and triumphs that they go through helps them mature and learn what is valuable in life.
i started totally engaged in this drama. lost my way halfway through. but i am happy that i kept on! 16 hours that i invested in this is not wasted time, at all.
it may not be one of the best dramas that i've seen but it is good enough for a rewatch in the future!

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My only reason for watching Pretty Man is Jang Geun Suk. But I was in for a surprise. After watching so many dramatic series prior to this, my heart is broken in so many pieces. But Pretty Man proved to be funny, witty and refreshing. Yes, there are some aspects of it that falls in the plot cliches but for the most part it actually tries to steer clear from it. To me, the concept of this show is refreshing. Instead of romance or family being the focus, it's money or rather, climbing the social ladder. Now, that sounds something rather different doesn't it?

Yes, I liked the concept that the show takes on. Narcissist, charismatic yet lacking the knowledge, money to be rich and pretty face, Ma Te (oppa)'s mission to conquer ten different women to climb the social ladder is somewhat refreshing to watch. It's also interesting how Ma Te, who is poor and lacks the basics of making money would use only his pretty face to get to the top. And of course, I thought "FINALLY! A show without complicated family drama cliches!" And boy, was I wrong? Yes, I was. At the last minute, the show fired off two family dramatic "twist" which also proved to be its dramatic climax and well, downfall.

I get it. Revealing it towards the end to fire off the suspense and create tension in this somewhat funny and laid back series. However, it also becomes a weakness because not only is it important and crucial but it doesn't allow room for the characters and the audience to take in. And then the show ends. The subsequent actions and events that took place aren't enough of a reflection for such a big bomb being dropped. The show also lacks cohesiveness. For a plot where there are ten women, I expected all those ten women to be "successfully" conquered in a balanced and clarified manner. However, some of the women have longer spotlights than others. Some were not even "conquered" or nothing was learnt from them. They are merely Mary Sues for Ma Te to be successful so you question the credibility of his success. Can he really be independent?

Also, I would have appreciated the end for Ma Te to put into action or summarize all the things he learned from these women. Still, I love how the password concept came into play. And what it turned out to be becomes crucial to the characters. The only cohesiveness I found here is the connection between the three leads and the family minus the women. It's true that they were pacing problems, the first few episodes were taking its time and then towards the end, it felt rushed, that's why the women concept didn't successfully worked towards the end because of the pacing.

Ma Te is such an interesting character. From a nobody to a somebody. It's a struggle. And he's changed in some way. To me, this series isn't really man vs. man, yes, there were some aspects of that but for the most part, it's man vs. self. Ma Te's struggle to become a somebody. I maybe biased here because I love Jang Geun Suk but as always, he never fails me with his acting whether witty, serious or romantic. Though Ma Te still has some fragments of Tae Kyung, Jang Geun Suk's iconic role. It's exciting on how with every women, his hairstyle changes. IU, playing Bo Tong is probably one of my favorite characters. Not only is she cute but she's innocent, naive yet passionate, determined and strong-willed. And what I love the most about her is she never ever wallows in her self-pity. I love how she doesn't give a damn about being poor. Of course, her undying love for Ma Te is also admirable. She's this hopeless romantic. She's like my animal spirit.

But truth be told, as much as I love Geun Suk. I believe that Bo Tong would have been more suitable for David Choi. I think that his love is more sincere and more passionate. Geun Suk actually takes Bo Tong for granted and it raises my eyebrows whether he sincerely likes her or because she's the only one he has left. But I guess, it's Bo Tong's life long dream come true. Oh, I love how the show didn't fall into the romance cliches:

1) There wasn't any repetitive I-love-you-but-I-have-to-let-you-go back and forth going on. IN FACT, there's only ONE.

2) FINALLY, the girl who's in love with the lead for so long gets to be with the lead. I hate this romance cliche the most, character C in love with character A for YEARS but character A choose character B. This is such a painful cliche.

3) It's not forbidden love or a love that's like me-and-you-against-the-world despite the fact that Bo Tong thinks she's just down there. But that never became an issue in the story in general, perhaps in the characters only.

4) Bo Tong loves Ma Te for so long. They didn't need to get to know each other to fall heads over heels for each other. At least no disaster or fate or coincidence happened for them to meet. It just happened, like life.

So as a whole, the series does shy away from cliches. I think this series is one of those underrated series and that's a pity. I like how the artists here aren't also a repeat of the others, they're all fresh faces unless Geun Suk.

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I started this drama, put it on hold, started it again, put it on hold and then finally finished it. Suffice it to say that it takes a bit to get into this show...at least it did for me. The acting is fine and the story is good, but it just didn't grab me for a long time. Finally about episode 12 I was more into it.

One interesting aspect of this show is watching this male lead learns from all these women. Not seduce them all mind you...but learn from them. And it's neat to see how he continually puts into use what he learns. He's also always pretty up front with them as well (at least most of them), so they know pretty quickly whether he really likes them or just wants something from them.

One down side is that the female lead character, though fun to watch, is simply too obsessed with the male lead character. It's cute in a kid...a bit worrisome in an adult. That is nothing at all against IU who played her...just a flaw in the character (IMHO). The second lead is great all the way around and I enjoyed the scenes where the three leads were working together a lot.

If you enjoy romantic comedies and are a fan of any of the cast you might really enjoy this.

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Some of the characters scratch that ALOT of the characters are liers to reach there gain/goal in a rough life that they are living in. If you're into something like Dr.Phil with "Who is the Father?" I will definitely recommend you watch this.

Ma Te is the lead male character that you'd honestly feel bad for but at the same time, you know what he is doing is wrong. Ma Te uses his face to get what he wants, and he always gets what he wants. Bo Tong is a sweet ordinary girl who is obsessed with Ma Te since they were in high school. Bo Tong is like a dog that is held on a leash by Ma Te. She always does whatever he says, she always makes sure his well-being before hers, and she will do any job for him no matter the cost. (I love her character, but there are times when I feel that she is a plain idiot sometimes.)

This drama is appropriate for younger viewers, but I must say there are a lot of sad scenes in certain episodes. (If you're sensitive to others pain)
All in all, I enjoyed watching this show. I hope you enjoy it too.

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