“A
Gentleman’s Dignity” (2012)
Are you into a more
mature romantic drama? Then this might be right up your alley. Usually, and I’m
talking from my experience with Korean dramas, the stories about a group of
friends is presented with female characters. In this case, we have a serious case
of 40-year-old testosterone in mass together almost 24hour, going through
whatever conflict a 40-year-old man goes through in 20 episodes. On the bright
side, we get fresh meat here and there -and we have Kim Woo Bin and Lee Jong
Hyun.
This story is about the
lives of four men, Kim Do Jin (Jang Dong Gun), Im Tae San (Kim Su Ro), Choi
Yoon (Kim Min Jong), and Lee Jung Rok (Lee Jong Hyuk), that have been friends
since high school and their relationships with women. By this time in their
lives they are all successful men: Kim Do Jin and Im Tae San work together and
run an architecture company; Choi Yoon is a lawyer and Jung Rok owns a café.
Though successful, not everything goes right, especially with women. Do Jin is
a player who finally falls in love at the age of forty, but the girl, Seo Yi Soo
(Kim Ha Neul) won’t give him the time of day. Instead Yi Soo is in love with
her roommate’s boyfriend, who turns out to be Im Tae San, Do Jin’s best friend
and co-worker. Confusing right? And that’s not the worst part because we’ve see
that kind of story before. But I will not keep spoiling.
In terms of the story,
it was simple and it had its surprises; but it was not out of this word.
Thankfully the acting came through and made it fun to watch. With a plot that
could cause a lot of drama, I appreciated the character’s, and specially Do Jin,
attitudes and personalities because it didn’t allow for the story to drag and
feel tedious. They are on their 40s’ so they know what they are doing. If it had
been teens the conflicts in the drama would have taken more than 3 episodes. In
all, the pace was okay.
On another and more
technical note, the OST went accordingly well with the drama. It reflected well
the mood without taking us into the realm of sadness, tragedy and broken hearts.
But seriously, the songs were cute.
I previously mention the
acting briefly because I’m getting into it right now. First, what is wrong with
Yi Soo? She does not behave her age, and that fact drove me crazy most of the
time -at least when it came to Do Jin. Another girl that drove me a bit crazy
was Tae San’s younger sister, Im Meari (Yoon Ji Yi). I will admit that at the
end I accepted her, but through the drama -more specifically every scene
related to Yoon- she was annoying and acted like a spoil child; but that’s my
opinion. From the guys, I found Jung Rok’s character cool. I mean, he was like
the comic relief and the one with the list of problems. Well, he actually had
one -maybe an important one? But what I mean is that, it did not present
anything romantically or dramatically drastic. I’m not sure if it is me but,
Collin’s character (Lee Jong Hyun), seemed a bit stiff -maybe because it was
his first tv drama? I also loved Kim Dong Hyub (Kim Woo Bin)’s crush on his
teacher; it was cute and charming.
The drama was good, but
if I had the choice of watching it again I would probably fast forward a couple
of scenes.
My rating for this drama
is: ♥♥
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