Stress-Free Watch But It's Missing Something
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.
I had been putting this one off, but I finally got around to watching it. I needed something calm to watch while I was sick.
Acting/Cast: The little kids were perfectly cast. They were great. The little girl in particular is such a good actress (Oh Eun Seo; 오은서). It's kind of embarrassing that the child actors outshined their older counterparts... Really, I would have preferred to watch the entire drama with just them. It's not that the older actors were terrible...it's that the younger ones were just so much better and more enjoyable to watch. Well, I really didn't like Kim San Ha's actor, Hwang In Youp (황인엽). He was great in True Beauty, but anything I've seen him in since, I haven't like him at all. In this drama, he had this odd way of speaking...like a certain cadence to his voice as if he's constantly trying to be soothing. It's annoying and real people don't talk like that. The female lead was okay...not as bad as I thought she might be. The brother was a little much. The chemistry was lacking between everyone (except the child actors of course). The dad was likeable most of the time, but he had reactions sometimes that didn't make sense. His blank stare face is too still, by the way. Whenever he would do that, I would think the video had frozen. 4.5/10
Writing: I wish they would have gone back and forth between the present and the past throughout the course of the drama. I thought they were going to do that since the child actors were so good. Apparently, that's done in the original...at least that's what I've heard. The writing keeps the characters as angelic as possible, which makes them feel inauthentic. It makes for a stress-free watch, however. The storyline is interesting, it's just that it feels like something is missing. Someone had said that this version has been stripped of the charm that the original has. Maybe that is what's missing - the charm. On a positive note, I'm glad that the writers didn't try to redeem all of the "antagonists". That was nice. I have an issue with feel-good dramas giving redemption arcs to people that don't deserve it. This drama handled it well. 5/10
Direction/SFX/Music: The OST is actually pretty decent. There is a song on it by Kim Feel that I like. The pacing of the drama is good. The vibe of the drama felt nice in the beginning, but it quickly lost that along the way. 5/10
Entertainment Value: I was kept entertained throughout the entire drama and the ending was satisfying. However, I've found that the drama is not memorable for me. Maybe it's because the characters didn't feel genuine or maybe it's because the drama was too smooth-sailing - no crazy conflicts. The beginning of the drama, though, was really good because of the child actors. I love the scene of them getting into a street brawl. That was the best scene in the drama. I'm sad because the rest of the drama wasn't like that. It was a bit when the female lead was trying to get people to think she was crazy in high school, but it was short-lived. 4/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 4.5/10. I compared it with Welcome To Samdal-Ri, which I had scored a 5.5/10. Both dramas are family dramas with so-so conflicts. However, I really loved Welcome to Samdal-Ri's cast of characters. They had a ton of charm and chemistry. Therefore, Family By Choice has scored a little bit lower for me.
I had been putting this one off, but I finally got around to watching it. I needed something calm to watch while I was sick.
Acting/Cast: The little kids were perfectly cast. They were great. The little girl in particular is such a good actress (Oh Eun Seo; 오은서). It's kind of embarrassing that the child actors outshined their older counterparts... Really, I would have preferred to watch the entire drama with just them. It's not that the older actors were terrible...it's that the younger ones were just so much better and more enjoyable to watch. Well, I really didn't like Kim San Ha's actor, Hwang In Youp (황인엽). He was great in True Beauty, but anything I've seen him in since, I haven't like him at all. In this drama, he had this odd way of speaking...like a certain cadence to his voice as if he's constantly trying to be soothing. It's annoying and real people don't talk like that. The female lead was okay...not as bad as I thought she might be. The brother was a little much. The chemistry was lacking between everyone (except the child actors of course). The dad was likeable most of the time, but he had reactions sometimes that didn't make sense. His blank stare face is too still, by the way. Whenever he would do that, I would think the video had frozen. 4.5/10
Writing: I wish they would have gone back and forth between the present and the past throughout the course of the drama. I thought they were going to do that since the child actors were so good. Apparently, that's done in the original...at least that's what I've heard. The writing keeps the characters as angelic as possible, which makes them feel inauthentic. It makes for a stress-free watch, however. The storyline is interesting, it's just that it feels like something is missing. Someone had said that this version has been stripped of the charm that the original has. Maybe that is what's missing - the charm. On a positive note, I'm glad that the writers didn't try to redeem all of the "antagonists". That was nice. I have an issue with feel-good dramas giving redemption arcs to people that don't deserve it. This drama handled it well. 5/10
Direction/SFX/Music: The OST is actually pretty decent. There is a song on it by Kim Feel that I like. The pacing of the drama is good. The vibe of the drama felt nice in the beginning, but it quickly lost that along the way. 5/10
Entertainment Value: I was kept entertained throughout the entire drama and the ending was satisfying. However, I've found that the drama is not memorable for me. Maybe it's because the characters didn't feel genuine or maybe it's because the drama was too smooth-sailing - no crazy conflicts. The beginning of the drama, though, was really good because of the child actors. I love the scene of them getting into a street brawl. That was the best scene in the drama. I'm sad because the rest of the drama wasn't like that. It was a bit when the female lead was trying to get people to think she was crazy in high school, but it was short-lived. 4/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 4.5/10. I compared it with Welcome To Samdal-Ri, which I had scored a 5.5/10. Both dramas are family dramas with so-so conflicts. However, I really loved Welcome to Samdal-Ri's cast of characters. They had a ton of charm and chemistry. Therefore, Family By Choice has scored a little bit lower for me.
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