One of the BEST K-drama Ron-Com with laugh and tears
I recently started to watch K-drama, especially modern Ron-Com. There are so many great actors/actresses and stories. I noticed there are many older woman and younger man CP story. No exception, this drama is also one of the story of older woman and younger man love interest.This drama is the most classic and best one I’ve watched. Additionally it’s so funny. You have no idea how many times I repeat watching this drama. Once I fish watching the heavy serious drama, I always come back to this drama to shake off the heavness in my heart.
If you want some laugh and cute romance, I recommend this drama. ML is Hyunbin. He looks so young and so handsome.
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This drama has not aged well
I am writing this review in 2024, 20 years after the show came out. On the surface, it's a classic Asian drama -- starting with a contract marriage, then just as the couple start to fall for each other, the ex-girlfriend shows up. The FL Kim Sam Soon (mostly) stands up for herself, her friends support her, she knows what she wants, and she's got a pretty rational view on life and her own weaknesses. The ML Hyun Jin Heon is an arrogant guy who at first blush appears a bit of a playboy, and not that competent, but we see pretty quickly that this image is a facade.I liked the cooking, the amusing clips of Sam Soon's imagination, and the direct approach to talking about Korean beauty standards.
Where this show falls down, after 20 years, is in the relationship. First, everyone hits each other. Not the usual "mom with a broomstick running around the coffee table", but actual slaps and punches. Multiple times when women are on the ground pulling each other's hair, and men having fist fights and walking in with bruises. There's one scene when a guy punches the wall inches from a girl's head. Second, ML is extremely controlling, not respecting her decisions (e.g. regarding her name), saying "you can't talk to or date other men", badmouthing her, etc -- all the while when he's breaking similar rules. Frankly, this is both physically and emotionally abusive. It's no wonder that women in Korea are doing the "4B" movement.
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I was hesitant about watching this, but I was in the mood for something different than usual, and this drama did more than deliver. Sure, it's got the drama typicals: jerky rich male lead, a second female lead to fuel a love triangle, /the/ mother-in-law... but it has Kim Sam Soon and her story. If you're looking for a female lead that's strong and independent even after a few blows, then I'd encourage you to give this a try. The plot of the story is good because Kim Sam Soon is such a well-developed character, that even though this isn't the most innovating, unique plot out there, it still good and carries a special spark to it.
The acting is great, I loved the OST, it's fun, it's got that sticky factor, and in a way, it's totally relatable. The only thing that wasn't working for me was Hyun Bin's character, Jin Heon. The writers definitely did not think that one through... but other than that, I'd recommend it to anyone!
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This review may contain spoilers
"Cute guys have lousy personalities"
Love it or hate it, this show is just an absolute classic. It has everything an early 2000s drama needs. It has a messy love triangle, fake dating, a rich male lead/poor female lead This show has it all. Now I'm not going gloss over the very problematic things that this show contains such as the forcing characters in this show to do something they don't want to do. And the very toxic male lead Hyun Jin Heon. But even after all of this I couldn't help but to continue to watch. There was something so addicting about this show that even if I was frustrated about the character's actions and choices, I couldn't help but recap my family and friends about what had just happened in the story. And I'm not going to lie in my personal opinion I think that Hyun Jin Heon and Kim Sam Soon don't belong together and that their relationship is beyond toxic. But even Knowing what I know now about this show it still doesn't change the fact that throughout this process I was super entertained and began to feel connected to the characters and their storyline. Would I recommend this show to a friend? Yes, I would. Would I be surprised if they dropped this show after a few episodes? No. But If you're on the fence about whether you should watch this I think you should go for it because, at the end of the day, this is just a silly fake dating romance story.But truthfully I can't hate on Sam soon too much because if Hyun Jin Heon (aka Hyun Bin) a super good looking very rich man came up to me and said all the things he was saying to Sam soon and giving me the look he was giving her. I too would fall in love and keep taking him back after he did me wrong.
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The beginning of contract-relationships in dramas
I have watched “My Lovely Sam Soon“ three times now and each time I’m surprised by how much I love this drama! At first glance the drama is your typical “poor-woman-rich-arrogant-guy-contract-relationship” show, but don’t let this mislead you! This drama is genuinely funny, absurd, relatable, and unexpectedly moving. Yes, it is quite old and visually not as pleasing as modern dramas, but that only adds to its brilliance; being able to use the minimum to create such a great work is truly admirable and I always love to come back to the roots of K-Dramas where the plot and not the cinematography is in focus (I do love great cinematography though).“My Lovely Sam Soon” is definitely one of my all-time-favourites and I’m going to come back at it next time when I need a good laugh.
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You have to watch this. Definitely heartfelt funny!
Though the ending could be better but overall a great show.
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Acting/Cast- Kim Sun Ah annoyed me in this (amazing in City Hall tho). Her voice was annoying and maybe its her character that made me not like her. I really don't like Sam Soon. Hyun Bin is a brilliant actor but his character was really unlikable because of his wishy washyness. The supporting actress was really good, I felt bad for her! Most people don't like Daniel Henney but I thought he was sweet and... hot of course LOL. I feel like he did stuck out like a thumb but I felt he tried his best in the role he was given. I liked the actress who played KSS sister, she was funny!
Music- Clazziqai is amazing. They sing 2 songs on the OST.
Rewatch- Its rewatchable but not on my "have to watch this again" list.
Overall- With a little improvement this could have been on my top 10. Very good but not worth all the buzz.
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This was one of the first K-dramas that I watched (and just finished re-watching for probably the fourth or fifth time). It's a noona romance, with the main character Kim Sam Soon, played by Kim Sun Ah, as a 30 year old patisserie, and Hyun Jin Heon, played by Hyun Bin, as the restaurateur and chaebol heir who is three years younger than her. This drama has a lot of silly "imagination scenes" where the characters (though Mostly Sam Soon) have flights of fantasy about what they would /like/ to do but don't. There's a secondary female lead character, Yoo Hee Jin (played by Jung Ryeo Won), who is Jin Heon's lost first love, and her friend from the U.S., Dr. Henry Kim (played by Henney Daniel). I had forgotten how very, very much I hate the second female lead character. I hate the character so much that I actually feel bad towards her actress for having to play her. People spend a lot of time in this drama telling Sam Soon that she is fat and ugly (though, neither is really an appropriate descriptor for her) and even Sam Soon is pretty hard on herself. That said, she doesn't let that stop her from living her life. This is an older drama (from 2005), so the production quality is quite dated, but it's worth watching even with that.
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Entertaining, but mediocre.
A funny drama, but also one that didn't age well. I usually don't get kdrama humor (from cultural differences), but this one actually got many laughs from me. I think if you wanted to watch this drama, it would be for the nostalgia and not much else. Like other dramas from its time, My Lovely Sam Soon has the stereotypical asshole rich ML, a romance between the leads that you don't quite understand, casual sexual assault/harassment and uncomfortable possessiveness towards the women in the show! I'd say this show was strongest in the middle and especially weak towards the end. I don't love the show, but it was an easy and entertaining watch. 7/10.Was this review helpful to you?
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Great FL, Frustrating ML and other characters
Kim Sun-ah basically carries this show on her shoulders as protagonist Kim Sam-soon. She's a great character: very blunt and witty and always standing up for herself instead of cowing like a lot of Asian FLs. She had many enviable comeback lines and I loved watching her on screen.As for the ML? Not so much. I watched this drama largely because of Hyun Bin, but his character did so many jerky things that honestly, I don't know if he deserved redemption in the end. It was super frustrating watching his character go back and forth between the two women. Also, I felt like the Hee-jin and Henry were pretty one dimensional characters. My favorite supporting characters were probably Sam-soon's sister and the cook; their relationship was cute.
In sum, the drama is pretty entertaining when it focuses on Sam-soon and her family/cooking antics but gets frustrating when it devolves in to the central love triangle (square)? The music is fun, too.
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