Monday, July 9, 2012

Drama Short: What Planet Are You From? (2006) Review



Grade: C+


What it’s about
A tragic male lead (the stunningly handsome Kim Rae Won) discovers a poor girl from the countryside who looks exactly like his dead fiancée. As she moves to the city and takes a job at his movie production company, birth secrets are revealed and their lives completely intertwine. The lovers decide to be together whatever the cost.

First impression
Call me crazy, but this is just the type of drama I love: It has its feet on the ground and its head in the stars. (Sometimes literally.)

Final verdict
A strong beginning, a realistic vibe, and two of the handsomest male leads imaginable couldn’t save this drama from its makjangy, listless second half. Repetitive plotting, unlikable characters, and a surfeit of teary meltdowns didn’t help the situation, either. None of the relationships felt particularly believable or worth rooting for. (Well. Except the male lead’s relationship with his fiancée in the first episode, which was tender and sweet. Weirdly, the dead girl and her lookalike were played by the same actress, but the two characters had completely different kinds of chemistry with the male lead. The dead fiancée seemed to belong with him, while the younger girl always felt more like a kid sister than a lover.)  


Stray thoughts
• It’s nice to see My Lovely Sam Soon’s lovely Jung Ryeo-won again—that girl can sure speak some English, unlike most other Korean actors.

• Well, that’s one question answered: I will never travel to Korea, because based on episode two they have giant spiders there. I don’t do countries with giant spiders. (Being broke may also have something to do with my lack of travel plans, of course.)

1 comment:

  1. My first drama! Jung Ryeo Won's pigtailed 'Kim Bokshil' stopped me mid-wave while channel-surfing and a whole new world opened up for me. I will always love her for that...

    robbo4

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