Beautiful Gong Shim (2016)

La ricetta per la commedia perfetta!

Al di là del voto che si può dare a una trama, alla recitazione, alla sceneggiatura o quant'altro, per me il metro di valutazione di un drama si riconduce spesso a un solo quesito: quante volte ho riguardato la serie? Nel caso di Beautful Gong Shim, direi abbastanza da farla finire tra le mie preferite.
Ci sono i tratti spensierati e divertenti - a volte proprio esilaranti - di una commedia fresca e frizzante. C'è un mistero da risolvere, questioni da dipanare, situazioni difficili da affrontare nel presente e da ricollegare nel passato. Non è una serie insipida e senza trama, che non sa bene dove inizia e dove vuole arrivare. Il punto di partenza e la linea di arrivo erano evidentemente ben chiare in coloro che hanno ideato la storia. E, nel mezzo, c'è lo spettacolo: quello di qualità, che intrattiene, che emoziona, che fa riflettere. C'è una protagonista che inizialmente mi ha spiazzata, nel suo aspetto un po' scialbo che non si mostrava come il finto brutto anatroccolo pronto a trasformarsi in un cigno, ma che così rimane fin quasi alla fine. Kong Shim si rivela un personaggio espressivo, dove l'aspetto perde di significato e consente di aprire una finestra che guarda dentro il personaggio, alle sue emozioni, alla scarsa autostima, ai desideri. Si entra in empatia con lei e si torna a seguirla "da fuori" osservandola con simpatia, perchè se non è "carina" esteticamente, è "carina" nel suo modo di essere. Se poi a un'attrice che per l'appunto si rivela davvero una notevole sorpresa si affianca poi uno dei migliori attori coreani - anzi diciamo pure il migliore, per quanto mi riguarda - non può che derivarne una coppia sensazionale. Namgoon Min, attore superbo su tutti i fronti, riveste i panni di un personaggio ben studiato e complesso, che gli permette di dare prova della sua versatilità e capacità recitativa, dando vita a un An Dan Tae espressivo e affascinante, singolare e intrigante, sensibile e intelligente, divertente e profondo. Gli attori secondari un po' scompaiono, al confronto, ma non è poi un gran problema: la chimica che c'è tra la coppia principale domina lo schermo senza mai annoiare. Entrambi i personaggi subiscono un'evoluzione, che se per lei è la conquista della propria autostima, della fiducia nelle proprie capacità e nel riconoscimento di queste da parte degli altri, per lui è un po' la ricerca del suo posto nel mondo, il venire a patti con le proprie radice, scoprendo i tasselli di un passato che mancava. Azzeccata la colonna sonora.
SPOILER: se dovessi proprio trovare un difetto, un unico passaggio poco sensato in una trama che per il resto è certamente coerente, è la motivazione - nella parte finale - dell'allontanamento tra i due: che fosse "preso" (24h su 24?) o che il mantenersi in contatto il vivere a distanza...nessuna delle due spiegazioni è sensatamente valida e realistica. Ma, del resto, senza una separazione - non solo geografica ma anche relazionale - non avrebbe potuto esserci il grand finale con la coppia che si ritrova. Diciamo che il meccanismo causa-effetto aveva bisogno di una "causa" un po' più credibile, al di là della riuscita dell' "effetto" desiderato. Ma si tratta giusto di una piccola svista, di poco conto rispetto al resto. Concludendo, un drama che vale davvero la pena vedere, una piccola perla che rischia di passare inosservata (io stessa ammetto l'ho scoperta solo perchè ero alla ricerca di altri drama con Namgoong Min).

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A good show with cute characters - for the most part.

(Possible spoiler at the end of review, clearly marked.)
I really enjoyed the majority of this series, but the ending was so terrible that it pretty much ruined it all for me.

The show starts out as a wierd cinderella style story with a lot of toxic family behaviours, and then takes a turn into mystery/intrigue/crime with dark secrets from the past etc etc.

The romance and "mystery" are all laid out for the audience by episode 10, but who's in alliance with each other keeps you guessing til the last episodes.

I did wonder how they could possibly stretch it out for another 10 episodes after the audience already knew everything. Surprisingly it kept my interest til the end.

I'm sad to say that I really really hated the ending.


*SPOILER AHEAD*
Spoiler for the ending: I thought the last episode was going to be a feel-good episode where you get to see all your favourite characters get their happily ever afters, but this one just really let me down in that department. I know there's a trend in k-dramas for the couple to be separated for a year or more, and then reunite, but there's no frigging way this particular relationship problem could be forgiven THAT easily.

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Idol-turned actress, Bang Min-ah has honestly surprised me with how well she acts. In my opinion, her acting was better than Nam-goong. The plot was intense with a bit of mystery and not as much romance as I would have thought. Min-ah has honestly ditched her idol looks and opted for a bowl cut to fit into her role which I thought was really cute. Her character was relatable to many younger siblings in the sense that she was the shadow to her beautiful sister. Jobless and without much looks but quipped with kindness that melted the two male's hearts, in my pessimistic opinion a bit unrealistic but you know, kdrama magic. I did cry a few times at places where I empathised with Min-ah's character and felt sorry for her.

If you're looking for a typical kdrama with a predictable plot then watch this drama. However, I can recommend you a bunch more drama with a better romantic plot? Overall, the drama left me with a mind that I should be a better person to others like how every heartwarming-happy-ending (does this count as spoiler?) kdramas always do to me.

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Beautiful Gong Shim (2016) – this drama started really great for me as a watcher. I think it is my first Minah drama and she is a great actress from being an idol, and she really suits the role Gong Shim. Namkoong Nim always delivers, he is really good in different roles and is a great actor overall. The cute banter between the leads at the start was so cute to watch. But as the story goes it became too serious to what it was supposed to be at the beginning. The pacing becomes dragging as the drama does not seem to hold its original stance. I did felt uninterested in the drama as it goes and somehow felt regret to how the story turned out.

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Cute story ~

I watched these series after finished with The Girl Who Can See Smells because of Nam Goong Min. I got a crush with the 2nd lead hero so because of that it leads me to this drama. 😂

My personal opinion, Nam Goong Min can play a psycho role better than the romantic one. I think he is not good in romance and I just can't feel the love that he was trying to deliver. But he is good in comedy also.

This drama is good. There is multi feelings mixed inside. There is sad, there is happy, there is funny. There is crazy also. If you are looking for a drama for you to laugh, yes you can choose this one. And it's not stressful also even there is conflict. And some of the problem in this drama, you can predict what and why.

I love all the character except the FL sister, Gong Mi and I'm not happy to see her until the end of the story. And I think the 2nd lead hero deserve someone's better. Ops! I'm sorry to reveal it.

So far, the storyline, the acting, the songs, all are good. Not very good but it's just good. Thank you for entertain me. Hope others will enjoy watching.

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Why i dropped this drama...

Because I began to get tired of it. It started off very well Gong shim (GS) was lovely and endearing. You felt for her and really wanted her to succeed. Ahn Dan Tae (ADT) - Nam Gung Min (NGM) was too funny, if you've seen him in other stuff like The Girl Who Sees Smells he plays a villain really well to the point that I was so shocked when I saw him play this role, he brings a goofy, lightness to the comedy that makes you laugh out loud. Joon Soo is too adorable, really fell in love with him and was kind of upset he was the second lead.

Now my problem and the reason why I dropped this drama...bare with me...

It went off track bizarrely....

This is the synopsis 'This drama is about the Love story of two sisters and two men. The talented older sister has everything, including a beautiful appearance, and her younger sister, who is less attractive but still has a warm heart. And two men appear in front of the siblings: a progressively more attractive man, who moved into a humble rental room on the rooftop of their building and another man who is handsome and wealthy from a plutocrat family. The romance-comedy drama depicts an eventful and unpredictable love story by the four people from such a warmhearted point of view.'
So you expect to not see the underhandedness of the older sister (cant even say her name she annoyed me so), the extra storyline of hidden identities and playing guess who became annoying because unfortunately we as the viewer knew what was happening before anybody else which made it seem like we were watching a trainwreck happen.
Characters began to change, GS didn't seem to grow anymore as her character was hidden by the 2 male leads storylines. Watching it on Viki all people seemed to comment about her after awhile, was about that bloody wig.
The bromance between ADT and JS (which was so endearing to watch deteriorated quickly which angered me as it was all a stupid misunderstanding.

It was almost like the writers got changed mid-show.

Music is alright (couldn't find on Spotify though)

Bare in mind I did drop this drama...so I don't know if it had a marvelous ending which brought it back. That's why I rated the rewatch value as 8 as when I have the time and energy to marathon watch it I may enjoy it more......keyword - MAY.

Do you know what. watching this drams is like watching someone run a race and they start off very well, even cracking jokes because they are in the lead then they stumble, you grimace, they get up and you hope they will be fine so you keep watching....then they keep
falling and don't even make it to the finishing line.....yeah....that what this was.

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Why call it a romance?

This was a wasted 20 episodes of a typical run of the mill drama.
The genre is comedy, romance and drama.
The comedy is cute in the first few episodes.
The drama drags on and on.
The romance - seriously don't trust it.

There was no attention paid to the development of relationship, no chemistry and not one single heart fluttering moment.

After I finished the 20 torturous episodes, I looked up the details on the cast.
The ML is 15 years older than the FL, which is not the problem at all - but then it all fell into place.
He was just so uncomfortable with her, barely held her hand or hugged her.
He was also presumably confirming his dating relationship that same year, so the romantic scenes may have been painful.

The second pair was even worse. Not their acting, just their situation. Pooooorly done.

Watch it for any other reason except the misnomer of romance.

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It was quirky but not like watching fools - I have seen dramas where they were goofy and trying to be funny but the humor was not to my liking (like Birth of a Beauty). Also, I was enjoying it and then I read the comments/reviews... kinda killed my love for it. You know, like if I should continue watching it or not. Well I did, it was still fun to watch - it is not a total loss, it lost its momentum but I have seen worst dramas. But the comedy in one scene when he was pretending to sleep so that somebody can tuck him in - I was laughing so much. The lead actor really looked goofy compared to the other dramas he has made - it was weird seeing him that way but he did the character justice. The sister, oh I hated her for her manipulativeness (you have to hate somebody in the drama, right?) The second leading man, what a waste (I mean he was nice too and almost felt sorry for him, I wish he would get nice girl too.) -- he had his own charming personality.

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