This is a show to be savored, not binge-watched
I tend to be a binge-watcher, so I had troubles with this show at the start. There were so many characters, and so much going on, added to the fact that each character was not too terribly likeable. There seemed to be an abnormal preponderance of evil parents, and I seriously got tired of every character saying something about they wanted to die, they wished they were dead, they almost died, etc. It seemed to me they threw that phrase out too cavalierly.However, I think that if you slow down and watch one episode at a time, with a breather between each episode, you will quickly get drawn into each story. There are multiple story lines, and the writers were clever in having each character tie to another in a twisty-turny, round-about way. I imagined them sitting in an office with a giant white board, making a flow chart to keep each character straight. As mentioned, there were multiple characters that were not very likeable at the beginning of the show, but as we saw their growth through their relationships with one another, I felt like every person redeemed themself. An advantage to so many episodes - you have a good amount of time to flesh out the characters, and that was done really well here.
This is a melodrama with periods of lightness. There were multiple times that I felt that I couldn't take another tragedy. Kudos to the writers for two particular things - 1) No obligatory time jump, and 2) a satisfying, unrushed ending.
ACTING: First and foremost, Kim Yeong Cheol as Byun Han Soo, and Kim Haw Sook as Na Yeung Shil were absolutely brilliant as the parents of this family. I felt that everyone did an excellent job, but they were standouts. On a basic level, I just love seeing Ahn Hyo Seop in anything, so that was a treat.
FAMILY DYNAMICS: They did a wonderful job of showing this family, warts and all. Each person had their own demons to fight. They showed the strength of the family, and how each person was stronger for being in the family. The siblings often fought like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day, they loved one another and supported one another unconditionally. I loved all the scenes around the table for meals. It was so special to see more and more people come to the table, room being made for them in the family, and there was even a comment about how empty the table seemed when someone was missing. Toward the end, I was so grateful to have spent time with this family.
MUSIC: The music was very melodramatic for the most part, but there were a few good songs, especially as related to the main couple.
REWATCH VALUE: It's too long and my list of "to watch" shows is too extensive to rewatch the show.
NEGATIVES: It is never okay for an adult to use violence on their child (I'm not talking spanking here).
So, if you decide to give this show a try, take your time with it and allow yourself to settle in with the family. You'll be glad you did.
Was this review helpful to you?
Parents
The younger actors for the parents are just a beautiful pair with such great warmth and chemistry in their short moments. Even though the younger actor especially for the father has some very serious and harsh scenes, the actor portrays his innocence and kindness. Actually, the sincerity of the younger actor, made the older actor shine more because often the older actor didn’t show that vulnerability and heart that the younger actor did.
Hyeyeong
Favourite character! She’s so pretty and I loved her facial expressions and her responses. I even liked her voice. It’s rare to have a sophisticated heroine in Kdramaland who can hold her own and be calm and smart and sensible. LOVE HER. Her serious face when she’s being cute is so charming.
I probably relate to her the most because I’m the second born of a family of four with an older sibling who is not earning and still studying. The father dotes on Hyeyeong despite her reserved nature and it’s the same in our family.
Rayeong
I’ve often had a hard time connecting with this actress. I did appreciate her approach in romance and she and her boy are pretty darn cute and funny.
Yuji
Yuji was a pretty bad egg but she really learned how to become a sister.
Premise
I do find it hilarious how the family keeps adding to their numbers one shock after another. I loved their bonding moments as they learned to live together and accept each other.
Was this review helpful to you?
When I started watching this drama, the year it came out (2017). I dropped it and picked it back up in 2018, than dropped it around episode 20. Than came back to it in 2019, well you guessed it, I dropped it again. Lastly, I came back to it this year 2020.
Something has kept pulling me back for 3 years despite the fact that I thought the story between the oldest sister and her love interest was repetitive, and the fact that I didn't feel like I could watch 52 episodes of it because I felt like I truly hated this drama. (I don't).
I think the biggest reason I couldn't watch it was because back than I was with a really toxic family, and I just could not bring myself up to see such a loving family and have to deal with mine.
But moving on,
This dramas is just amazing, the side story lines might seem a bit repetitive but is truly amazing. I think it really shows the family dynamic and what a simple secret can do. I love all the couples but I think my favorite character was the grandma. She made me laugh multiple times and despite her hard feelings for Actor Ahn she truly cared for him towards the end of the show. I have yet to finish it but I think I won't regret watching it until the very last episode.
I recommend this drama for anyone who likes to see funny, loving, and truly heart moving dramas.
Was this review helpful to you?
disclaimer: I've watched 27/52 episodes
Weeks have passed and I still can’t get over it. It is my first time watching a lengthy drama with such an ease, while loving everything. Despite how slow it goes, it is enjoyable. It’s a part of its charm. It is also my first time being invested in all characters’ stories, because they were actually given equal importance. The drama has a serious touch of reality, and it doesn’t paint things like dramas usually do; and it makes a big deal of things that would be quickly dismissed in a normal drama but not in real life, which makes it even more realistic.
Was this review helpful to you?
The year is 2037 and you come accross this Master piece..PLEASE watch it will be a CLASSIC
I havent written a review for awhle,maybe I have been lazy or no drama has made me want to write one yet but after seating through 52 hours of my life,watching a pre 2020 family drama,I picked my keyboard and had to say it.PERFECTION and GOLDMaybe i have watched way too much dramas or am getting old but I eneded up of KBS side of the industry that produced family shows that were made by hollywood such as The bold and Beutiful,All My chidren and Days of our lives.what is called Daytime Tv.They are long but they grow on you and if you are like that comes from a big family,they literally fell like your life is being played on TV.
My journey to this master piece is an interesting one to say the least.After finishing the art of negotiaon,I wanted to know whose brain is behind this well done drama and I realized he is the same legend behind "Something in the rain" and 'One spring night" and another title caught my eyes " I heard it through the grapevine" 2015 and I pressed play then there was Lee Joon doing everthing an actor must do..few episodes in,I started stalking his profile and wanted to see what else he has done and thats when I saw My Father is strange,I admit I read few review comments and they were all 10/10.Did I care that it was 52 episodes?Nope I soldered on and there was no dull moment,no reason to skip forward.Every actor/actress played their role like they were top student in acting school.The strory was straight and simple,every episode ends with more lessons than questions.
Its literally a long slice of life.at the end of EP 52 you are already part of the family,you have experienced their happy,sad,tragic,joyfull moments.all their life's events.
I would like to say that two particular characters that carried this drama;of cause Ahn Joonghee played by the super talented Lee Joon and Byeon HyeYeong played by Lee YuRi.
I wont got into details of why there was something missing in the wrapping up of the story but I wish there was a way to rate this 1000/10 because that what it deserves.
Was this review helpful to you?
I put off watching this just because it was 52 episodes - a LOT of commitment for me but I finally gave in eventually - more for the cast as I loved so many of the actors in previous roles. It started off quite slow and I almost dropped it several times but I persisted and I'm so glad I did!
Theres a huge cast as this story is about a huge family but this drama uses all 52 hours to give each family member enough character development and depth to make all of them come out with a solid story arc.
Many moments brought me to tears, the realities, struggles, and approaches in life and family were beautifully handled. This drama made me miss my parents and wish I had a huge family too.
I can't say enough about this drama, it was so wonderful and every part was played beautifully. The soundtrack is one I'll be humming for months.
Was this review helpful to you?
Masterpiece Classic.
Family dramas are long because they involve many characters and relationships and take the time to show development and character growth. So to me, family dramas ROCK IT!!! I love them. I also love multigenerational characters and family life, with sit-down home-made dinners, etc. I am a huge family drama fan. And they are sort of dying breed and it is hard to find new ones that are good.So this kdrama is one of those iconic kdramas.
I still remember the Lawyer Daughter character, she is one of the very few female characters in kdramas that is confident, competent and successful. She is a great role model.
Her sister Mi Yong drove me bananas bc she is EXACTLY the chicky chick that men love and then ditch. And yeah in real life that actress and the actor who acted her boyfriend "fell in love" and split shortly after.
The chicky chick scared quiet rather dumb "woman" who requires babysitting...
Was this review helpful to you?
Honestly I decided to watch this drama after going through some hashtags in Instagram for #JuSongMin and then saw this video clip of her with Lee Joon. It just called my attention how funny they look; so I looked for the drama and indeed it was true. Their acting was funny and cute. However, once I started watching the dram, I ended up loving Lee Yoo Ri's character out of all them. She represented a lawyer and the family daughter; with a strong personality. smart, pretty, funny, sexy, romantic, arrogant and full of herself, sometimes showing her flaws as well.
Also, another character I really loved was the grandma, she suited her role so good; and even Lee Joon did pretty good. I never saw any of his dramas; but by the end of this one I loved him even more because to me he resembles my ultimate Bias #JHope from BTS (Some might think I might be a little bit off, but that’s how it looks to me though).
Well, on the other hand it was a great developed - entangled family story. The connection with everything was pretty good, and even though there were so many episodes, they knew how to keep the suspense at the end of each one. Besides, I felt like I was watching a few dramas together, because of the different stories in most of the characters like the mother, the father, the grandma, sisterly and brotherly love plus the in laws issues. At the end, they have the common type of struggles in marriage, family and relationships, but they learned how to overcome all of them very well.
Was this review helpful to you?
Will watch it again with my own little fam someday!!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Une histoire de famille, de filiation, d'amour filial, chaleureuse et tendre...
Mon avis général est que je l’ai beaucoup aimé, malgré le nombre d’épisodes. Parfois j’aurais aimé que ça s’accélère, mais en fait le rythme du drama ne fait que reproduire le rythme de la vie, il n’y a pas un évènement extraordinaire chaque jour.Donc il faut s’embarquer sur ce fleuve tranquille, mais qui ne manque ni d’écueils ni de remous, et quant à moi, j’étais triste de les quitter. J'aurais aimé partager encore un peu leur vie, surtout après le final, débordant de joie, de gaîté, de bonheur (un peu eau de rose, mais ça faisait tellement de bien ! )
Il faut laisser le temps à l’histoire de se mettre en place et surtout à la quantité de personnages de nous dévoiler leurs personnalités diverses (La propriétaire est un personnage incroyable d’arrogance et d’orgueil stupide comme seuls les dramas en ont le secret, elle forme avec son mari ne vivant que pour Chicot, son chien, un couple en parfait négatif avec le couple principal.) Il y aura des rencontres, des amours, des mariages, des ruptures, la vie, quoi…
Il y aussi un aspect sympathique, c’est la vision des coulisses du tournage d’un drama, de la vie interne d’une maison de production, comment les costumes des acteurs sont choisis en fonction des collections et des sponsors… J’ai regretté que cet aspect disparaisse au fil du déroulement de l’histoire, mais c’était dans la logique du scénario.
Les acteurs sont très bons, très justes, on sent que le rôle de mère est une habitude pour Kim Hae Sook, elle s’en tire toujours avec les honneurs. En passant, chapeau à Lee Jon, absolument remarquable dans tous les registres du personnage ! Je l’avais trouvé impressionnant dans « Gapdong » et là il entre tout droit dans mon top d’acteur, et pour un boy's band, ce n’est pas du tout habituel ! Je vais éplucher sa filmo !
Le reste de la distribution est parfait ! Le scénariste a un peu trop joué sur la corde sensible dans la dernière partie (du 45 au 52 à peu près) pour le personnage du père, je n’en pouvais plus de l’entendre s’excuser et demander pardon…
Chaque couple, chaque branche de la famille apporte sa touche à cette fresque de la société coréenne dans une ambiance touchante, souvent drôle, émouvante parfois où même les méchants sont plus ridicules que méchants !
Pour en finir, je le recommande, on y passe d’excellents moments, et il se peut que je le revoie dans 1 an ou 2 !
La partie suivante est un spoiler donc, à ne pas lire, sauf si, comme moi, vous adorez les spoilers !
Parmi les histoires qui s’entremêlent, celle qui m’a le plus touchée, émue, à laquelle je me suis le plus attachée, ce n’est pas l’histoire d’amour (très mignonne) entre An Jung Hui et MieYoung, mais celle entre Jung Hui et son « père » ! Les plus belles scènes à mes yeux sont celles en relation avec cette histoire : l’arrivée du jeune acteur arrogant, prétentieux et en même temps dévoré de manque de confiance en soi, dans la famille dont l’accueil est glacial. Puis la façon dont au fil du temps il va s’intégrer, comprendre ce que c’est qu’une vraie famille, s’attacher à son père et peu à peu perdre sa carapace d’arrogance, s’humaniser et du coup, effet secondaire, devenir enfin un bon acteur ! La révélation de la vérité sera un véritable effondrement, la colère, la douleur sont à la hauteur de l’amour qu’il avait commencé à donner à la famille. La scène où il pardonne au père pour l’amour des enfants et de la famille est extrêmement émouvante, car il renonce à la fois au père et à son amour !! Cette partie de l’histoire, donne une grande profondeur au drama, par son approche des problèmes de la filiation, de la famille. Les liens du sang ont-ils plus de valeur que les liens du cœur ?
J’avais bien plus envie de voir le « père » et le « fils » se retrouver et construire une nouvelle relation que de m’intéresser à l’histoire d’amour, assez banale, en fait, une fois la relation frère/sœur évacuée.
Les réflexions des filles de la famille sur le mariage sont intéressantes, surtout l’aînée qui ne veut pas en entendre parler et fait preuve d’une belle maturité en étant consciente que le mariage ne lui convient pas ! Elle se connaît parfaitement et sait qu’elle est ambitieuse et égoïste, et ce qui change de la tradition dramaesque c’est que les parents ne bassinent pas leurs enfants (largement trentenaires pour les 3 premiers) pour se marier !
Même le couple improbable de la belle-famille apporte une réflexion intéressante sur la relation d’un couple dans le mariage !
La mention du harcèlement scolaire de la 3è fille amène un sujet qui semble vraiment revenir très régulièrement dans les dramas, l’intérêt ici, c’est que son bourreau se retrouve entrer dans sa famille, on la déteste, on finit par la connaître et par comprendre que c’était son propre malheur qui la rendait odieuse…
Et la fin, dans une explosion de bons sentiments, de joie et de gaîté m’a énormément plu, moi qui, en général, déteste ce genre de « prolongations » sentimentalo-lacrymales !! Mais pas cette fois ! Il m’a semblé que les acteurs avaient créé des liens d’amitiés (52 épisodes, remarquez, ça fait une bonne année ! ) et qu’ils ont pris un vrai plaisir à tourner cette scène de mariage !
Bon, je m’arrête là, j’espère que je vous aurai donné envie !
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
ps: it's a family drama , not a typical one . but with more fun , twists and turns .
the way this show turned my life upside down, with its twists and turns. every couple had their own fun stories. and the new relation popping out every second and how they handled it. it showed a great lesson for real life as well though. lee yu-ri, her acting was legit. not to mention her couple, which was way more legit. I have a huge crush of Ahn Hyo-seop, and I was swooning all over him. I know there were 52 episodes, some people might not watch it, but its's worth watching. Ryu Hwa-young, her acting was cute with a bit of savageness. wich was good though.this drama also shows how the kids of the family dealt with the problem that was just popping out and out though. all the cast of just made for that character. I just rewatch an episode of the drama, whenever I want to watch something a bit funny, a bit of seriousness, a swoon-worthy.
Was this review helpful to you?
Originale nel suo genere
La storia è bella, ma soprattutto originale. Forse lenta all'inizio e un po' lunga, ma gli ultimi 20 episodi si mangiano in un sol boccone. Consiglio assolutamente.La recitazione è eccezionale, mi ha stupito molto l'interpretazione per il personaggio dell'attore Ahn, essendo lui nella vita vera un ex idol. Purtroppo non tutti sono stati altrettanto bravi (come l'istruttore Park), ma avendo un ruolo secondario si passa sopra. Peccato, perché per questo motivo ho perso interesse per la sua storia d'amore .
Infine, non mi capitava da un po' che l'OST mi entrasse in testa per giorni.
Quindi in conclusione trama e storia meravigliosa. Peccato per la recitazione di alcuni attori e il ritmo troppo lento nella prima parte della storia, che fa perdere un po'. Ma comunque consiglio se piace il genere.
Was this review helpful to you?
`
