This review may contain spoilers
I really wanted to finish this drama (for a number of reasons). I even attempted to watch it twice, getting a couple of episodes farther along the second time around before ultimately giving up again. And the reason I made it as far as I did (all the way to 2 eps before the end) is because there are a lot of good things about this drama. It has a solid start, a compelling and well paced story, the characters are all interesting and three-dimensional (even the secondary male and female leads), and the female lead is absolutely kickass. (I flippin’ love No Eun Seol. She’s the one thing about the drama I enjoyed during both my attempts to watch. She’s feisty. She’s tough. She’s hard-working. She’s genuine and honest. She’s persistent. She’s a little odd and different (for a Korean woman, anyway.) She’s got a no-nonsense attitude. And she can kick some literal ass.)But the story was missing one of the number one things I need in a drama to like it. Actual romance.
While I never had a problem believing Cha Ji Heon truly liked No Eun Seol (sometimes I worried he liked her a little Too much, he was so annoying and persistent about it), I never believed she liked him back, and it felt weird watching the writers trying to convince me that she did. There was zero romantic chemistry on her side. Friendship chemistry, sure, but not romantic.
And while Cha Ji Heon was an adorable man-child in the beginning who just needed a steady, guiding hand (in the form of No Eun Seol), he eventually stopped being adorable and just became annoying. I just didn't understand why No Eun Seol would fall in love with him.
I eventually reached a point in the drama where I could no longer figure out No Eun Seol’s motivation for staying at her job. It was clearly no longer worth it. Contrary to what the writers wanted me to believe, there were zero signs that she was starting to like Cha Ji Heon (and he’d started to become persistent in a way that was slowly edging towards stalkerish and creepy), she'd had the job long enough to use it as a reference on her resume, and she definitely could have gotten another job that paid equally as well. If I had been her, I would have just quit and never looked back. Her motivation for staying was clearly meant to be that she had fallen in love with Cha Ji Heon, but I have to call bull on that.
Lack of genuine romance aside, the thing that probably drove me the most nuts was the ‘princess lessons.’ No Eun Seol didn’t want to learn how to arrange flowers and eat with fancy silverware. She didn’t want to learn how to be the ‘perfect wife’ of a CEO. (Which wouldn’t have worked anyway. Women like No Eun Seol just don’t do princess well.) And I didn't want her to have to do any of those things either, so watching her be affectively forced into them was unbearable to watch. If I had believed in the romance, I probably could have overlooked this. I would have been able to put up with the ‘princess lessons’ and the petty fighting between the parents, because I knew our leads truly loved each other and would stand by each other no matter what. But I Didn’t believe in the romance, and that made all the difference.
I do think this is a drama a lot of people would enjoy, so I'm certainly not saying don't watch it. But it left me disappointed and frustrated.
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For me, this drama breaks the mould. Firstly, it is a real comedy, where the comedy really does seem to have more emphasis than the romance. The lead pair have great comedic as well as romantic chemistry, which is probably beaten only by the chemistry of the two secondary leads. Furthermore, the rapport between the female leads was heart-warming and fun, whilst the relationship between the two male leads was convincing and clever.
The cast of this drama is the highlight, as even the side characters such as the various parents and the grandmother are all played to perfection, aided by well-written comedic scripts. Furthermore, the drama gently parodies the things that we can both love and hate about dramas, with their crazy plot twists and stupid character motivations.
The core of this drama is that it does not revolve around pretty faces and angsty love, but rather, it is a family drama at heart. It is a celebration of platonic bonds of friendship, family and humanity in general and it has a sense of humour and fun that is contagious.
When I say this drama is about family, I know lot of people will turn away, but this drama is beautiful in its comedic simplicity. It strips away all of the ridiculous motives that are found in dramas and brings everything back to the idea that people are just people, filled with weaknesses yes, but also with real morals and real identities.
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Starts well
I really enjoyed the first few episodes of this, the always refreshing tough female lead had me rooting for her straight away. A couple of laugh out loud moments helped me to think I was on to a winner. I'm not fond of the pathetic man-child trope as it always makes it hard to respect the woman that ends up falling for him. Because, lets be honest, it means they are just after the money and a handsome face. Glory be! she very rapidly starts to give him short shrift, go No Eun SolChoi Kang Hee was an excellent choice for the role, able to convince as a rough, ordinary lass with an expressive face well suited to comedy but still attractive enough to be the love interest. I liked Na Yoon and Moo Won as well and could at least cope with the childish Ji Heon if only because he was at such harmless baby level.
Unfortunately by the time episode 5 came up things were starting to take a far more familiar turn. The refreshing twist was taken out of the cliches being served up and the same old same old crept in. All of a sudden Ji Heon is bullying Eun Sol in typical rich man-child fashion, unwelcome gifts, unwelcome contact, generally unromantic, in your face creepiness. And he pretty much remains unpunched!! The twat.
At this point the lack of chemistry between the leads starts to really take it away from the 'fun'. Not only is there no logical reason from the plot so far for Eun Sol to love the man-child, there isn't a great deal of evidence from her that she does love him. Fondness maybe? I get that from her, like for a naughty but entertaining child.
Ji Heon is more convincing but not in a nice way. If they'd left the romance out until after she'd beaten him into shape then maybe...
And really that's where it all ends for me.
Dropped!
Yet another interesting female lead that I can't respect because of the man she supposedly loves.
I revisited this and managed to get to episode 10 before giving up again. The comedy gold just couldn't make up for the chaebol man-child. SPOILER!! I sort of got my hopes up after Eun Sol told him he acted like a child making her see a future of mothering him, without being able to lean on him. Yet he just kept on with the childish harassment and competition with Moo Won so i dropped it again. What's adorable about a grown man acting like that ?
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at the beginning it was nice, heartwarming & cute
then it turned to be vapid & the plot became weak
i hated the character of kim jae so at the drama it was silly
if the drama was just 12 ep i think it 'll be much better cause it turned to be monotonous
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Divertente, un po' più lento dopo la metà
Protect the Boss è una serie in 18 episodi da un’ora circa ciascuno. Si tratta quindi di un drama piuttosto corposo, forse troppo, per quello che viene raccontato. Siamo nell’abusato ambiente degli uffici di una grande società gestita a livello familiare, nella quale tra l’altro non si capisce molto cosa facciano gli impiegati e i dirigenti, visto che paiono sempre più impegnati a persegui(ta)re l’anima gemella o a farsi le scarpe l’un l’altro piuttosto che a svolgere un qualsivoglia lavoro.I cliché abbondano, come spesso accade nei drama: si va dal presidente-padre violento ma sotto sotto amorevole, ai traumi infantili, passando per gelosie e complotti dei familiari, per finire allo stereotipo del ricco figlio di papà che si innamora della povera e grezza segretaria campagnola. Eppure, nonostante l’apparenza, le vicende non sono così scontate, perché su questa trama se ne vanno ad innestare altre che aggiungono sale e pepe a questa minestra che, altrimenti, risulterebbe molto insipida.
Invece, l’agorafobia del protagonista Heon Ji Cha, mirabilmente interpretato da un giovane Ji Sung, rende la prima metà del drama molto interessante, specie per il rapporto che viene a crearsi con la sua muova segretaria, l’energica Eun Seol No, che l’attrice Kang Hee Choi è riuscita a rendere al meglio, e che lotta con lui per guarirlo da questa malattia debilitante che non gli consente di prendere posto a testa alta nel consiglio di amministrazione, cosa cui peraltro egli non aspira, ma che il padre desidera. Siamo in Dramaland, quindi soprassediamo sul fatto che una ragazza qualsiasi possa agire da psichiatra dopo aver letto qualche libro, e riuscire a guarire il giovane in pochi mesi.
Le lotte intestine nella famiglia sono un altro asse portante della serie, coi genitori che cercano di spingere i figli in posizione predominante, facendo di tutto per scalzare la supremazia del presidente e scongiurare l’ascesa del figlio anticonformista. Peccato per loro, che i ragazzi finiscano ben presto per fare amicizia e opposizione alle trame genitoriali, mentre si innestano giochi di innamoramenti a formare un quadrilatero che ci metterà un po’ ad assumere forma definitiva.
Nel frattempo, si parla molto di fondi neri, evasione di tasse e così via, non mancando di rimarcarne l’illiceità. Peccato che gli evasori della nostra allegra società se la cavino sempre con qualche centinaio di ore di servizi sociali. Potenza dell’essere importanti e del sapere come impietosire il prossimo presentandosi su una sedia a rotelle…
Ma quella che veramente scalda il cuore di questa serie altrimenti piuttosto anonima è la grande amicizia che si viene a creare tra la protagonista, la sua compagna di stanza e Na Yoon Seo, ricca e viziatissima figlia di mammà, che passa dall’essere un’antagonista ad un’amica sincera. Queste tre ragazze ci faranno ridere e piangere con loro.
La serie procede senza troppa suspense a passo lento e sicuro, ma lento. Troppo spesso nei drama accade, come qui, che le situazioni diventino ripetitive, che le vicende sembrino ristagnare, mentre gli ostacoli posti sulla strada della coppia principale si moltiplicano a dismisura, uno dopo l’altro. Passata la metà dell’opera, finite le risate che le situazioni iniziali ci avevano strappato, arriva un generale rallentamento che ci porta a chiederci perché abbiano dovuto insistere a fare 18 puntate quando avevano materiale per 15. Un racconto più condensato sarebbe stato scintillante, mentre così la seconda metà risulta un po’ appannata. Peccato.
Perché, allora, ho assegnato un voto tutto sommato alto? Perché, come già detto, l’amicizia delle ragazze è qualcosa che scalda veramente il cuore. La lunghezza della serie ha consentito di descrivere crescite caratteriali importanti in diversi personaggi, primo fra tutti il protagonista, che di crescita da fare ne aveva veramente tanta. Ma, soprattutto, per l’interpretazione che ne ha dato Ji Sung. Di questo stupendo attore, magnifico qui a 30 anni e ancora meglio in altri drama a 40, non si può che dire bene: la sua recitazione è sempre impeccabile, le sue micro espressioni, il linguaggio del corpo, qualcosa di sublime. Se non mi credete e ancora non l’avete fatto, andate a guardare Kill Me, Heal Me, dove recita la parte di un uomo con personalità multiple. Non due o tre, ma sette, e le interpreta tutte…
Finita questa parentesi di adorazione per Ji Sung, bisogna riconoscere che l’intero cast ha lavorato benissimo, sia pur a tratti con qualche esagerazione nella mimica, ma non bisogna dimenticare che si tratta di una commedia, e quindi qualche smorfia è pur consentita. Se eccezione c’è stata, è da applicarsi a Jae Joong Kim, che ha interpretato il ruolo di Moo Won Cha, cugino, antagonista e amico del protagonista, un ragazzo bellissimo ma dalla mimica piuttosto legnosa. Purtroppo chiunque si trovi a recitare al fianco di Ji Sung è destinato a subire paragoni impietosi.
Il commento musicale che cade a proposito, i begli abiti di tutti (tranne che della povera protagonista!) le ambientazioni ben curate e una cinematografia sul pezzo contribuiscono a rendere questo drama una serie da vedere per tutti coloro che non vogliano azione a tutti i costi e non si lascino scoraggiare dalla lentezza.
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....Anstrengend...
Die Serie ist wirklich sehr anstrengend. Ich hatte bis Folge 14 das Gefühl, ich werde mit der Serie einfach nicht warm.Objektiv betrachtet, ist hier sehr viel Gewalt im Spiel. Sowohl verbal, als auch körperlich. Ansich muss das ja nichts schlechtes sein, bzw hab ich damit kein Problem... aber es wird hier oft übertrieben und viel zu oft auf dieses "Stilmittel" zurück gegriffen. Gefühlt sind alle in irgendeiner Form Choleriker. Jeder schreit mal jeden an...dann gibt's hier einen aufm Deckel, da wird sich aufgeregt. Es ist einfach bis zum Ende sehr unruhig und anstrengend.
Die Serie hat zurecht keine hohe Wertung. Die Handlung hätte man in weniger Folgen erzählen können. Eine echte Chemie entwickeln die Hauptdarsteller zueinander nicht. Wobei er macht seinen Job ganz gut...aber insgesamt baut sich da keine glaubwürdige Zuneigung auf. Es reicht zwar aus, um in die Geschichte zu tauchen, aber viel erwarten, sollte man nicht. Das einzige was mir sehr positiv aufgefallen ist, hier hat die Hauptdarstellerin tatsächlich mal eine Menge stolz...so dass sie nicht sofort pariert und nach einer Enttäuschung, realistisch handelt. Allerdings hält das nicht sehr lange an. Alles in allem ist es ein nahezu solides Drama. Kann man sich einmal ansehen...danach vermisst man es aber auch nicht.
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