Plot: There are about 4-5 different plot lines throughout this 50 episode drama. This drama is centered predominantly around the Uhm family and their 100 year old noodle company. The audience follows the journey of various family members as they work through professional crises, money issues, romance, marriage problems, divorce, sickness and other hardships. The primary focus is on the character Min Chae Won (Eugene), her divorce from Kim Chul Kyu (Choi Won Young), and her subsequent marriage to Lee Se Yoon (Lee Jung Jin).
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| Too Long. Too predictable. |
Recommendation: Honestly, I'm really torn on how to recommend this one. If you are a die hard k-drama addict, you will probably enjoy it. Everyone else might be better off investing their time elsewhere. The truth is that I fast forwarded through most of the family plot line and only focused on the parts involving Min Chae Won (Eugene) and Lee Se Yoon (Lee Jung Jin). I loved the chemistry between the leads but everything else was just noise and didn't add any particular value to the story. By episode 35, I found the constant obstacles to the main characters' marriage to be repetitive, boring, and unoriginal. The audience knows exactly how this drama will end by the third episode. That means the focus is on the the journey and, IMO, the trip should have been cut in half.
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| My what big teeth you have.... |
Other Thoughts: There are really two things that stuck out for me while watching this drama.
The first is Chae Won's crazy ex-mother-in-law, Bang Young Ja, played by Park Won Suk. She is a phenomenal actress that has a list of credentials that started before I was even born. I've seen her in several other dramas and she is currently playing the grandmother in the series,
Golden Rainbow. For
Hundred Years' Inheritance, she really channeled some serious Crazy. And, I mean
CRAZY! It was a little over the top. I think my illustration captures the expression she wore for about 90% the show.
The other thing that caught my attention was the styling. One reason that I love watching Korean dramas is because the fashion is so interesting. The stylists are really thinking outside the box and producing looks that are innovative and creative. But, in the case of Kim Chul Kyu, there should have been some editing and a little WWTGD (What Would Tim Gunn Do). There are only so many ugly sweaters and clashing patterns that my eyes can handle. A few examples are on display below but they are not by any stretch of the imagination the worst offenders.
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| Make it stop. Please. |
Recommendation: It's Alright, That's Love is easily one of the best k-dramas of 2014. This is what a grown-up k-drama should look like once it graduates from the school of bathroom humor, love triangles, and social status conflicts. The dialogue is smart, sexy, and fast paced. The characters are complex. The writers manage to deftly sidestep the presentation of k-drama stereotypes while giving the audience relatable characters with realistically messy relationships. I am not familiar with Zo In Sung's prior work but for me this was a stand-out performance. He captured the essence of mental illness without going over-the-top. In fact, it was the "quiet" moments where he most often brought me to tears. While the director executed the plot perfectly from start to finish, I found one small miss. The final episode was a little too... happy. Yes, I want my k-dramas to end on a positive note. However, mental illness is a predominant theme in the series, which is a lifelong struggle. The ending should have been less, "...they lived happily ever after," and more, "...they worked hard to make each day better than the one that came before it."
