This review may contain spoilers
I Enjoyed Being Fooled
It's been a while since I watched a kdrama movie and it was a nice respite from the 16-20 hour time investment for a series. Without even realizing who the FL lead was, other than "she looks familiar, hmm", I thought "what a pleasant, attractive character." Imagine my surprise when figuring out that she was the FL in When The Phone Rings, a series where she had basically two facial expressions, neither of which was smiling. Her nurse character, especially as she interacts and develops a relationship with her jaundiced patient (ML), made for a positive, good vibe. He certainly seemed out of her league and the fact that their relationship bloomed just added to the depth of her character. She saw something in him that maybe others had missed.
He was so inspired by his good fortune to be in a relationship with her that he decided to lose the weight, becoming more attractive and interesting in the process. That he was being depicted by a different actor at this point was just one of those things one comes to expect. He starts working long hours and still has feelings for the FL, but the relationship is challenged when she finds out she is pregnant.
At this point in the movie I felt that the SML (second actor playing the fit male lead) was sincere about wanting to stay in the relationship, but torn because he wanted to succeed in his demanding job. His attractive co-worker (SFL) was more interested in him than he was in her and in a moment of weariness he made what I took to be an honest mistake and called the FL by the SFL's name. FL wasn't too happy and was fully aware of how difficult it had become for SML to commute to visit with her and pressed the issue, to which the SML admitted that he felt sorry for her, indicating that there was some "duty" involved as his motivation for staying in the relationship. She gives him an out and he does something dumb and more or less succumbs to the advances of the SFL. I believed that he still had feelings, albeit confused, for the FL and the SFL was merely a rebound relationship. He finally realizes that he wants to try to mend things with the FL and dashes off to the airport to join her on a trip they had planned to Jeju.
MAJOR SPOILER FOLLOWS!!
Which is when the gotcha occurs. I was totally suckered in by the illusion that the ML had worked hard enough to transition into great shape as portrayed by the SML. In that moment of realization that in fact the SML wasn't the same character as the ML, merely shared a name and occupation, and as it turned out had a similar hospital experience where FL was the nurse, only on a different timeline, I had a great appreciation for a twist well done. The rewind segment helped fill in the blanks and also explained the strange "Sneakers" segments. That the SML tried to comfort his bruised ego by returning to pursue the SFL was a bit pathetic, although that relationship likely had a better chance of succeeding that the one with the FL and the ML. The look on the FL's face in the last scene seemed to me to say that she still had feelings for the SML and that the ML was just a convenient temporary substitution. Not a bad deal under the circumstances for the ML but I doubt their relationship would last very long. Too much water under the bridge for the original duo (FL/SML) to return to their relationship, but the FL's looks and personality were so attractive that I doubt she would have any problem finding other men who are interested in her.
He was so inspired by his good fortune to be in a relationship with her that he decided to lose the weight, becoming more attractive and interesting in the process. That he was being depicted by a different actor at this point was just one of those things one comes to expect. He starts working long hours and still has feelings for the FL, but the relationship is challenged when she finds out she is pregnant.
At this point in the movie I felt that the SML (second actor playing the fit male lead) was sincere about wanting to stay in the relationship, but torn because he wanted to succeed in his demanding job. His attractive co-worker (SFL) was more interested in him than he was in her and in a moment of weariness he made what I took to be an honest mistake and called the FL by the SFL's name. FL wasn't too happy and was fully aware of how difficult it had become for SML to commute to visit with her and pressed the issue, to which the SML admitted that he felt sorry for her, indicating that there was some "duty" involved as his motivation for staying in the relationship. She gives him an out and he does something dumb and more or less succumbs to the advances of the SFL. I believed that he still had feelings, albeit confused, for the FL and the SFL was merely a rebound relationship. He finally realizes that he wants to try to mend things with the FL and dashes off to the airport to join her on a trip they had planned to Jeju.
MAJOR SPOILER FOLLOWS!!
Which is when the gotcha occurs. I was totally suckered in by the illusion that the ML had worked hard enough to transition into great shape as portrayed by the SML. In that moment of realization that in fact the SML wasn't the same character as the ML, merely shared a name and occupation, and as it turned out had a similar hospital experience where FL was the nurse, only on a different timeline, I had a great appreciation for a twist well done. The rewind segment helped fill in the blanks and also explained the strange "Sneakers" segments. That the SML tried to comfort his bruised ego by returning to pursue the SFL was a bit pathetic, although that relationship likely had a better chance of succeeding that the one with the FL and the ML. The look on the FL's face in the last scene seemed to me to say that she still had feelings for the SML and that the ML was just a convenient temporary substitution. Not a bad deal under the circumstances for the ML but I doubt their relationship would last very long. Too much water under the bridge for the original duo (FL/SML) to return to their relationship, but the FL's looks and personality were so attractive that I doubt she would have any problem finding other men who are interested in her.
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