Mrs Boo - 30 Lifer Crisis

I read a review before I watched the series. The reviewer gave it 3 stars, and I was reluctant to give it a shot, after watching so many great shows in recent weeks. Two reasons that made me gave this a shot: 1) I have about run of series to watch (those I Want to watch anyway); 2) This show featured prominently two of my favourite Korean actors - Rain and Lee Dong Gun. Some nice pics for us to salivate over our heros before I dive into the review…..

Alright people, enough, let’s wipe your drool and get on.

Synopsis: Cha Sang-Doo, played by Rain, is a single father caring for his terminally ill 7 year old daughter, Bori with his good for nothing uncle. In order to pay for Bori’s medical expenses, Sang-Doo works as a full-time gigalo, conning rich old women of their money. One day, Sang-Doo met his high school sweetheart, Chae Eun Hwan, played by an insipid Gong Hyo Jin, who is now a high school teacher and engaged to a pediatrician, Kang Min Suk, played by Lee Dong Gun. Min Suk, coincidentally, happens to Bori’s doctor in charge (well I guess he has to be, otherwise there will be no drama to tell, right?). Added to the quadruple relationship is Bori’s mother, Han Se-Ra (Hong Soo Hyun), who allegedly had a one night stand with Sang-Doo, gave birth to Bori and dumped Bori to Sang-Doo to raise, but always harboured notions of marrying Sang-Doo despite the fact that he only loves Eun Hwan.

Told in flashbacks, we came to know how close Eun Hwan and Sang-Doo were in school, and how, Sang-Doo, a popular dude from a rich family, accidentally killed a man trying to retrieve Eun-Hwan’s deceased father’s mementos and set off a chain of events which led him to be sent to a deliquent centre, kicked out of school, separated from Eun-Hwan, and his foster parents left him alone to fend for himself after his release. And therefore his current pathetic state was all thanks to Eun-Hwan!

Suffice to say, the lovebirds, after seeing each other again, realised that they still loved each other, but of course they encountered numerous obstacles in the form of fiancee, mother of his child, Bori, his criminal/gigalo life, etc. And since the problems seemed so insurmountable, what do the producers do? They conveniently killed the lovers off so that they could be together in death!

I have a problem, no, two Huge problems with this show.

First off all, the very uneven tone of the series. What started out as a comedy (from the flippant title and the VCD cover shots) when Sang-Doo and his uncle plyed their trade, and Sang-Doo making a fool out of himself trying to ingratiate himself back into Eun Hwan’s good books by enrolling into the high school she was teaching etc - the producers/writers have a sudden change of heart and suddenly everything descended into a gloomy love tragedy in the last few episodes, with a stereotypical “death is the answer” ending.

The lead actress, Gong Hyo Jin, is neither pretty nor has any semblance of spirit nor fire in her. She is over skinny, looks totally plain and has zero charisma. Her character in the show is weak and whiny. She is constantly bullied by her students and comes across as a well-meaning but totally ineffective teacher. It boggles my mind how she can have two hunks fighting over her - like harlow!?!? Is she the only woman left in South Korea?! Are you blind or what? And the fact that Sang-doo (aka Rain) has basically dumped his whole life down the drain, because she is the true love of his life, makes this series so hard to swallow down. Get Choi Ji Woo, Song Hae Gyo, someone else for goodness sake that is more worth the sacrifice!

Honestly the saving grace here is Rain’s acting. This being his debut, he is totally impressive in conveying all the moods and emotions of Sang-doo as the troubled young father, and the besotted lover. When he has to shave his daughter’s hair when she has to undergo chemotherapy, his grief is overwhelmingly real. Compared to his acting in “Full House” where he did much less, his role as Sang-doo is meaty and he carried it off well. Unfortunately, no matter how good he is, he had zero chemistry with the female lead. In fact, he has the greatest chemistry with my darling Lee Dong Gun - their fight scenes are hilarious. They should consider doing a “Brokeback Mountain”! Hehe.

Rating: 3 boos out of 5 (all credit to Rain and Lee Dong Gun! If ONLY they found a better female lead!!)