thewestliesahead

The worst thing about this movie is easily the lack of chemistry between the two main characters. I don't blame the actors for this; I blame casting. One chemistry read during auditions would have revealed that these two people have zero romantic/sexual chemistry whatsoever. (The male lead should probably not have been cast anyway, because he is easily the worst actor in the movie.)

It's worse than there being no spark, however. Quite often it feels like they're not even in the same scene together. As if their scenes were shot separately and then spliced together by the editor. They don't react to each other. It's all just reading lines from the script instead of responding to what is actually happening within a scene while still following the script. Their eyes very rarely meet (surely one of the most satisfying 'having a moment' moments within any romance movie!), they don't respond to each other's physical or verbal cues. The actors don't play off each other. They don't seem to connect.

In the typical 'falling in love' scenes, the leads frequently just don't look at each other. No swooning 'I'm falling for this person' gazes: they just gaze over the shoulder of the other person. The male lead is especially bad at this; he even does it when he's directly talking to the female lead. Cue romantic stare? Nope, just an empty stare into the middle distance. Come on, director, reshoot the scene!

I stopped watching when they were linking their arms together to have a drink. The female actor swats away a fly (definitely non-scripted) while the male actor takes a drink and then he has to sit there waiting while she takes a drink. Such a painfully awkward scene when it's supposed to be a scene of them getting to know each other and starting to fall in love.

I don't recommend this to anyone, least of all people who like romance, because the romance is executed so clumsily and unconvincingly that it is simply not enjoyable at all.

This is an aggressively average movie. It packs in all the usual clichés - the team sucks, a few players have some talent that isn't used (yet), the coach doesn't want to be there and gives up and then returns with an inspirational speech etc. - which is fine. Clichés are clichés for a reason: they work. But you have to DO something with them. You can't just plonk them in the script and think that's it. The fact that the team sucks is supposed to be funny - it isn't. When some players finally realise their potential it's supposed to be triumphant - it isn't.

The only thing that halfway works is the story arc of the coach and that has more to do with the actor's charisma than with the writing. Park Seo-Joon gets very little to work with, but he's good. As is Lee Ji-Eun. Their rivalry provides some much needed humour. Everything else is bland, even though the characters should be compelling. They're all down on their luck and they've all been through things, but they're written in such a way that it's hard to feel anything for them all.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but hardcore fans of the two leads. If you want to watch a sports movie, there are loads of other, way better ones.

This is such a great drama. It's about a forbidden love - a young man falls in love with his married piano teacher, who's twenty years older than him - but it never feels like they're engaged in a tawdry affair. It's clear, right from the beginning, that this is love and it's pretty epic. The two leads are fantastic. Yoo Ah-In is mesmerising. He infuses his role with exactly the right amount of awkwardness, sincerity, intensity and passion. Kim Hee-ae is equally impressive, though her portrayal starts out more restrained. The two shine when they're together. Whatever their characters are experiencing - happiness, despair, intimacy etc. - they hit the perfect note every single time.

The music is gorgeous in and of itself, but how it manages to convey their moods and their growing connection is absolutely marvelous. I especially like how joyful it feels when the two leads play piano together. The plot could've been fairly standard but the acting, writing and directing has elevated it to excellence. It all feels so effortlessly natural and real.

Seriously, watch this. It's fantastic.