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• 4

    mmym  |  Posted April 2, 2010 at 9:30 am  |  Permalink

  There were two questions in my mind after watching “The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry”. Is Ha Min Jae for real AND where can I get one?!? I was quite concerned if Kim Bum would be able to pull off the boy toy role. Though there were scenes where his stance had him looking like a mere child than a man, surprisingly he still fitted in quite well as the 24 year old boyfriend to “cougar in training”, Lee Shin Young, played by Park Jin Hee. Kim Bum is in fact just turning 21 this year but I have to say he showed maturity as an actor in convincingly portraying the love struck, charming indie band leader and composer, Ha Min Jae. He writes Shin Young-inspired songs throughout the drama. That’s more than enough to ignite the fangirl in anyone. By episode 10, I was undeniably smitten by him.

  Hence, I can completely relate to how Shin Young can cast away all her worries and just dive head on to such a risky and unconventional May-December love affair. To stir things up even more, Kim Bum’s 42 year old mother, Choi Sang Mi (played by Park Ji Young), falls in love with Shin Young’s ex-boyfriend, Yoon Sang Woo. It doesn’t help that Min Jae hates Sang Woo’s guts for previously forcing Shin Young to get back together with him and forget about her newfound, whirlwind romance. So, imagine how disappointing it was that it took Min Jae barely a week to get over his “discovery”.

  His mother, on the other hand, was more firm on her disapproval of her son’s relationship with a 34 year old woman. Sang Mi’s resolve though is tested as well when she reluctantly but helplessly falls for a younger man herself. I found it interesting (or is it odd?) that though I could totally understand (and be even envious of) Shin Young, I could relate more to Sang Mi as a mother. I’m not one myself but I thought if I had such a young, darn good-looking son and I found out he has been spending slumber time in his 10-year-older girlfriend’s place, I would probably be doing a little more than just plain freaking out.

  The intertwined dynamics between these four characters was watchable as they go from shocked disbelief to the inevitable acceptance that love knows nothing about age. It is probably typical to expect the obvious challenges in relationships such as these but I was expecting the series to delve more into the uniqueness and contrast between and within the two couples. Except for Sang Mi’s meddling episodes, it felt like there was no genuine conflict that could really happen between Min Jae and Shin Young. I wanted to see them find, struggle and overcome their differences but the drama fell way too short on this end. Past younger girlfriends and career decisions just didn’t cut it out for me. Age gap or not, there is no shortcut to successful relationships especially, one of this nature.

  Apart from Shin Young’s “selfish” realization, I actually learned more from her roommate, Jung Da Jung. Uhm Ji Won was effective as Da Jung, the woman who desperately desires to get married and downplays it a bit with her character’s perky personality. She was the perfect example of a person who knows what she wants and finally gets it only to find out it was far from the dream that she made it to be. She learns her lesson the hard way but shines through at the end. Her better half, Na Ban Suk, was even more entertaining. Choi Chul Ho as Ban Suk was a major revelation. He can take the entire credit for single-handedly serving comedy for this series and making me laugh. His facial expressions and the “body bob” never failed to amuse me. Chul Ho was so great as Ban Suk that I had a hard time believing he was the same scheming and adulterous lawyer in “Partner”.

  I seriously pity Wang Bit Na who plays the third spinster, Kim Boo Ki. The writer seemed like he couldn’t be bothered with this character and resigned to making her a wallflower through and through. Boo Ki’s character only had one serious relationship that consumed her youth and several restaurants after, she suddenly becomes the expert love adviser to her two fellow spinsters. When Shin Young’s troublesome colleague takes an interest on Boo Ki, I thought the writer finally had something to work on for her but it was rather left hanging and pointless.

  Though this drama had quite a number of good points namely, Kim Bum and Choi Chul Ho, it was also impossible to ignore the many flaws it failed to hide.

• 3

    abs91  |  Posted March 21, 2010 at 10:18 am  |  Permalink

  I have now finished this drama so I guess I’ll try my hand at a review without any significant spoilers.

  The Good: The plot line as a whole is one that I feel is relevant to today. As more and more women enter the workforce, the question is of course raised as to what these women will do as they get older. How can women balance an active career and a family/love life? The drama also attempts to show how difficult a relationship with a significant age gap is in Korean society. Scenes such as one where Min Jae and Da Jung are trying to figure out how to address each other is one example. Finally, I would be remiss to not mention that of course if you like Kim Bum, that he’s in here and he puts on a pretty good performance.

  The Bad: the acting is good, but not amazing. There are moments where chemistry seems to be lacking. I had a hard time distinguishing when Jung Da Jung (Uhm Ji Won) was seriously upset and when she was putting on an act. There wasn’t a significant difference between the two so I had to rely on dialogue or closing facial expressions and the like. Also, with this type of plot and the fact that this is a romantic comedy, stereotypes are to be expected. Personally, I don’t think they detract from the drama as whole, but they will be there.

  The Ugly: Without giving too much away I will say this. While I enjoyed the first 15 episodes, the last one was disappointing. It was rushed, confusing and left much to be desired.

  Watch or not: I’d say watch it, especially if you’re someone who is in the process of realizing what you may have to give up to advance your career. No, it is not the most amazing drama ever, but it is definitely in my worth a look category. Kim Bum is cute, the story is good, the acting is decent to good (and never unbearable), and despite the disappointing ending I don’t regret watching it.

• 2

    Natsumi_sshi  |  Posted March 19, 2010 at 3:20 am  |  Permalink

  *SOME SPOILERS PRESENT*

  I have not completed this drama yet, and like Seline said, I was anticipating this drama due to Kim Bum.

  And I am/was disappointed too. This promising cute actor played a role that was older than his own age and it showed. I believe Kim Bum is a relatively talented actor with much potential however he seemed rather dull/stiff playing Ha Jae Min and in some scenes was expressionless. His smooth player like persona was not really obvious/evident and I think he did a better job of being a ‘ladies man’ as “5-second-kill” So Yi Jeong in BOF.

  Mos importantly I thought that the he through the character had little or almost no chemistry with Lee Shin Young (Park Jin Hee) the supposed “cougar” 34 year old “going out” with the 24 year old Ha Min Jae. Perhaps it could’ve been due the actual age difference of 10ish years between the actors ,or due to Park’s ‘stiff’ almost awkward like acting as the middle-aged crisis underdog reporter but they had no chemistry whatsoever and then poof all of a sudden after this “bet” they’re all crushing over each other and ‘like each other a lot’!

  That brings another thing. I find that although MBC dramas never seem to be my real cup of tea, the storyline seemed rather messy and a tad cliche. The bet in the earlier eps that brought Min Jae to try to court Shin Young and Shin Young’s “deflecting” of her previous ex through trying to get with Min Jae was not only lame and cliche but also very predictable. And her stern/strong character that’s too mature for the ‘young’ Min Jae is rather stereotypical. I also found it quite typical that Min Jae was this singer/rock star that everybody loved yet chose to be with Shin Young- a ‘nobody wants’ character. Sorry Bummie, I love you and all but your singing was so monotone I almost cried. I know you can sing better than this! But the rock-songs showed little singing talent/skill and they made me bored.

  For those who are fans of Kim Bum (I sure am, his few recent works have seemed rather disappointing) and don’t mind an easy mediocre, mildly amusing (in some scenes) drama that’s very conventional (despite MBC’s initiative about making the story about a young guy with an older woman) this is the drama for you. If you don’t have many commitments or have heaps of time to kill, plus would love to swoon over the handsome rocking singer/idol star Kim Bum (seriously the only thing that won me over) then as I said, this is the drama for you!

• 1

    Seline  |  Posted March 8, 2010 at 2:51 am  |  Permalink

  Was anticipating this drama when I heard KimBum was acting in it, he has the talent but hasn’t got a role that will really let it shine. However, it still did not still disappoint me despite some overreacting scenes.