3
3
A failed experiment
I’ve always really liked Ahn Pan Seok as a director and commented that he invariably found good writers to collaborate with. After this production, I’ve realised that good writers found an able but not inspired director to produce their work. Because this production has all the hallmarks of an Ahn Pan Seok piece, in that it is quiet, has a slow and steady pace, keeps itself close to life and involves lamentable music choices (aside from the credits song, which is probably the best thing about the whole production), but without the insightful, clever writing, it’s as dull as ditchwater.
What was this anonymous writer (can anyone provide a name for MDL) thinking would make a good story? There was a perfectly usable and interesting backstory to the ML, which was barely hinted at until late in the piece and then rushed through in the last two episodes. It had all the potential for a great thriller which in capable hands could have been a good watch. But instead, the writer chose to fill the first ten episodes with random case studies on how to negotiate mergers and acquisitions. Well, I suppose it lived up to its title, but in the process lost much of its dramatic interest. It watched like the sort of thing that an enthusiastic but unfortunate training manager might dish up as modules in an Art of Negotiation course.
As a public education exercise it worked very well, because it involved an abundance of explainy, unrealistic conversations between executives about finances, all expressed in layman’s terms. And I admit that learning about the topic did keep me interested and watching. But on the other hand it came complete with Chairman/CEOs of the company supposedly not understanding the importance of the stock market to their existence and what rumours could do to their share price. As well as Board Members surprised to hear for the first time that the company had racked up a debt of eleven trillion won. (1st episode so not a spoiler) If that was supposed to be trillion and not billion, you can’t get into that much bother in the few months between board meetings without someone noticing and if you did you’d be calling a board meeting well before that figure was reached. In the real world they would be dead in the water before the week was out. An M&A team of only four people? I don’t think so. And that wasn’t where the credibility gap ended, there were endless far too convenient and timely events to push the feeble plot along. Educational? Yes. Credible? Hell no!
To say it lacked tension is an understatement. It was tedious. You need to really understand the ins and outs of corporate finance and the implications of events to fully experience the wind-up. Maybe it’s because I don’t know enough to feel the heat, but I do know that what would have helped me is some emotional investment and there was precious little of that. There was no character development and the attempts to attach the viewer to the bland-on-bland characters were only partially successful. If you are not emotionally engaged then tension is so much more difficult to generate, as you only have cerebral anticipation to work with.
As for the performances, the actors did an average job with a very average script. Lee Ja Hoon tried hard with his tsundere character but for me the best performance was from Sung Dong Il as the Chairman.
Ahn Pan Seok has strayed from his usual genre—romantic interest slice of life—to experiment with a thriller. Every genre has its own methodology and thrillers require variations in pace, clever timing and emotional investment. In order to achieve that, the events in thrillers are not normally real world and as a viewer we accept that because the story unfolds in its own make believe world. But here, Ahn Pan Seok’s style is very real world, so for me, the credibility gap is so glaringly obvious and uncomfortable that I can’t ignore it. Perhaps if he had chosen a scenario that needed less explaining to the audience he might have been able to make a better thriller, even though, admittedly, the last scene is chef’s kiss.
What was this anonymous writer (can anyone provide a name for MDL) thinking would make a good story? There was a perfectly usable and interesting backstory to the ML, which was barely hinted at until late in the piece and then rushed through in the last two episodes. It had all the potential for a great thriller which in capable hands could have been a good watch. But instead, the writer chose to fill the first ten episodes with random case studies on how to negotiate mergers and acquisitions. Well, I suppose it lived up to its title, but in the process lost much of its dramatic interest. It watched like the sort of thing that an enthusiastic but unfortunate training manager might dish up as modules in an Art of Negotiation course.
As a public education exercise it worked very well, because it involved an abundance of explainy, unrealistic conversations between executives about finances, all expressed in layman’s terms. And I admit that learning about the topic did keep me interested and watching. But on the other hand it came complete with Chairman/CEOs of the company supposedly not understanding the importance of the stock market to their existence and what rumours could do to their share price. As well as Board Members surprised to hear for the first time that the company had racked up a debt of eleven trillion won. (1st episode so not a spoiler) If that was supposed to be trillion and not billion, you can’t get into that much bother in the few months between board meetings without someone noticing and if you did you’d be calling a board meeting well before that figure was reached. In the real world they would be dead in the water before the week was out. An M&A team of only four people? I don’t think so. And that wasn’t where the credibility gap ended, there were endless far too convenient and timely events to push the feeble plot along. Educational? Yes. Credible? Hell no!
To say it lacked tension is an understatement. It was tedious. You need to really understand the ins and outs of corporate finance and the implications of events to fully experience the wind-up. Maybe it’s because I don’t know enough to feel the heat, but I do know that what would have helped me is some emotional investment and there was precious little of that. There was no character development and the attempts to attach the viewer to the bland-on-bland characters were only partially successful. If you are not emotionally engaged then tension is so much more difficult to generate, as you only have cerebral anticipation to work with.
As for the performances, the actors did an average job with a very average script. Lee Ja Hoon tried hard with his tsundere character but for me the best performance was from Sung Dong Il as the Chairman.
Ahn Pan Seok has strayed from his usual genre—romantic interest slice of life—to experiment with a thriller. Every genre has its own methodology and thrillers require variations in pace, clever timing and emotional investment. In order to achieve that, the events in thrillers are not normally real world and as a viewer we accept that because the story unfolds in its own make believe world. But here, Ahn Pan Seok’s style is very real world, so for me, the credibility gap is so glaringly obvious and uncomfortable that I can’t ignore it. Perhaps if he had chosen a scenario that needed less explaining to the audience he might have been able to make a better thriller, even though, admittedly, the last scene is chef’s kiss.
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