Love Actually (2012)

This story revolves around a young lady struggling to survive on her own while caring for her young nephew. It started out very interesting and realistic, with the hardships she had to encounter to survive.

Now to the nitty gritty.
Acting: I felt the acting in this was good, for the most part the characters emoted realistic feelings. The more stone-faced character by Joe Cheng was portrayed correctly, but I was disappointed to see him type-caste in the same melancholy persona as ISWAK. It made this drama at times frustrating, because they used his uncommunicative and passive character to create unnecessary drama, while at other times he was extremely decisive and outspoken. I've seen him in The Rose, and know he can do so much more. Lee Da Hae did a great job as a protagonist, especially if you like those type who are almost TOO good and self-sacrificing to be true.

As a warning, voices ARE dubbed over (a Korean is playing a Chinese role), so if that annoys you, this drama is NOT for you.

Storyline: Moved along smoothly from 1 crisis to the next. Having seen my fair share of dramas, it is safe to say this drama included everything from jealous, maneuvering ex-girlfriends, past family feuds, hostile business take-overs, fake pregnancies, debt collectors, love-triangles, and annoying side-characters. There is, as any 34 episode drama would have it, too much dialogue about food and life towards the end of the series, but the positive side is they allowed character development to progress more naturally.

Overall, I'd rate this drama at a 6, to low 7, mainly because this wasn't a "new" plot or storyline, and in order to keep my attention and interest, you'd have to have "outstanding" acting to balance that out.

Lees verder