Elegant Friends (2020)

SLICE OF LIFE

It was a pleasure to watch this drama which was all about life and is high on emotions.The murder mystery part is just the icing on the cake.The story is all about the people who are trying their best to live in their 40s while struggling in their day to day life but still try to find their happiness and the virtue of their life.The drama focused on everybody's life even the supporting characters(ample amount) which makes it more likeable for me. This drama is full of everyone's life stories and we get to see sufficient parts of it.Although the "crime" was not treated as the most important constituent of the drama and is not one of those major plots that drive the story but it does stir things up in the so called perfect life of "Ahn Goong Cheol" and "Nam Jung Hae"

The actors portrayed the emotions very well.I could feel those intense sentiments of sorrow..love... jealousy....hatred....I even cried when the other characters were crying which is not like me(I rarely cry while watching dramas).I enjoyed the storyline of the friends who were there for each other for more than 20 years and the story of others friendship includes the FLs of this story Every character was very relatable and had depth. I supported every couple out there in this drama and loved Ji Wook,he is just so precious!!

I could predict the mystery part of the crime well so for me it wasn't that mysterious but watching it unfold was interesting and the character's actions are very intriguing and same goes for the depiction the story of everyone in this drama. Overall it is a good watch for the people out there searching for well written characters and slice of life which is full of emotions :)

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Great Slice of Life Drama/ Eye-Opening Diversity of Character Stories

I started this drama thinking it was the next "World of the Married" (which I didn't watch, but wanted to jump on board before I was behind). I was very pleasantly surprised.

I personally think that most of this drama was quite plausible. It tells a story of a group of friends who have been together since their university years, now in the 40s and experience a whole new type of crisis. Each friend has a unique personality. Goong Chul is righteous, hardworking and fights to protect his loved ones. Jae Hoon is rich and competent. Choonbok is older but friendly and loveable. Manshik is thoughtful and shy. Last but no least, Hyungwoo is the pervert one but is the baby of the group. This drama tells of each of their lives, their families and the complicated ways people intertwine.

Don't mistake this drama for just any slice of life drama thats about a whole bunch of people! This drama still has a core element that ties it all together: the line between love, devotion and obsession. Surrounding this group of friends is a scammer, who has been taking advantage of their weaknesses, as well as 2 murders (one of which a cold case from their 20s which comes to light due to recent events).

My favourite part is however, is that this shows opens your eyes to various different lifestyles. A psychologist, a office worker working for a restaurant chain, an porn director, a porn actress, a professional golfer, a stay-at-home mom, a bar owner, etc. Each character has unique relationships, either that be with their child, spouse, parents -- no one like the other but each one a pain and suffering of their own. Yet, they all seem to have common struggles that come with a mid-life crisis: you worry about your family, about how you are going to protect them, how you will burden them, how you will care for them, what they think of you, if they are happy, if you've made a mistake... regrets, secrets, scars and laughter.

This drama, being rated 19+ also has various themes that make it more realistic. They mention rape, crime, prostitution, loans, corruption, fertility, etc. It makes the story heavier but I think with all due good reason.

I highly recommend this drama to anyone who is willing to watch a slice of life drama. The casts are all pretty well known actors in Korea, maybe not necessarily internationally. The only downfall is the repetitive use of OSTs but it does become entertaining at the same time.

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MEGA FAILURE CARRIED OUT BY A LEGENDARY CASTING

Watch this drama only for the legendary casting!
I gave it a 5 only due to the actors otherwise the writer was on weed and meth , and if it was a young cast it would've been a 1/10.
The first half of this drama had such potential and intensity, it went from Mystery and Suspense to the worst Melodrama you can ever imagine.
They made a 12 episode drama and stretch it to 17 episodes.
Kinda reminds me of Return (2018 ) but here the friendship was kinda cool.

I'm shell shocked how can you destroy something with a potential like this to absolute rubbish. It's insane.
There are parts which I enjoyed but those are solely on the merit of the casting /actors.

The writer was like let's insert every possible topic we can.
Who even approved such a shitty script ?
How can they insult this casting , I'm hell lot pissed seriously .
Ughhhh ! --_--

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An intense mystery / crime drama which keeps you at the edge of your seat

Overview : I came across few clips of “Graceful Friends” before I even started watching the series. I thought it was going to be like “The world of the married”. But this series was totally different and turned out to be pretty unexpected for me. I totally loved the series and as the story unfolds, it became more interesting and surprising. I was intrigued by the fact that this series has 17 episodes; because usually I have come across dramas with 12,16 or 32 episodes. Such an interesting plot with twists and turns.

Plus points : The casting is a major plus point for this drama. The whole cast were totally amazing and did a fantastic job. Even the characters who appeared only for a few minutes touched my heart - Especially the charming nurse Yeo and the security guard. The acting was top-notch. The music was so good and totally merged with the series. The bonding between the friends and their spouses was so heartwarming to watch. The younger selves of the 5 friends - oh my god they were so fabulous. The mysterious plot itself gets a plus point for the drama.

Minus points : To be honest, I totally loved the drama and I don’t think there are any minuses except for the fact that it was a bit dragging towards the end.

Conclusion : Definitely watch this drama once. Worth binge-watching - An emotional roller coaster ride with twists and turns.

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Awesome

From beginning to end I was captivated. Maybe because I’m older and I’ve lived long enough to know that we are perfectly imperfect. We have flaws. We make decisions that are irrevocable. Life is neither black or white. But the capacity to forgive is the driving force in this production. No frame was wasted. Each character presented a slice of reality. It was balanced with just the right amount of empathy. And how we can be affected by the rules of society is also depicted. I I loved the young characters so much. The music set the tone for each scene. I actually liked the ending. When I was much younger I questioned how people could forgive and seemingly forget past deceptions by those closest to them. So for me the ending was perfect. Though tempted neither gave in to lust. It is obvious that there are no other persons but each other in their hearts. Their focus is on making sure their son continues to love and respect each parent. Without a doubt they will always be in each other’s lives. The care and concern for one another will always be there. This too mirrors real life. I’ve seen couples who legally were apart but for the sake of family always were there for each other even to the point of death.

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Watch out what you wish for, i.e. complexity of life made messier by friends

You go through your problems and then a dear friend accidentally kills a prof, getting his friends to cover up to protect him. He drowns in depression until he meets the widow in a hospital and cares for her through volunteer work.
The friends are not that friendly to each other as one (a divorcee violent with his gf) is bent on make his pal's marriage crumble hoping to grab the wife, whom he feels should be his. He leverages an old acquaintance, who has her own agenda (she has cancer and wants to score the guy before she dies).
The marriage does fall apart, but no one wins.
Everyone pays and is left to pay for their sins in a Buddhist weltanschauung that permeates the whole series.

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Ends as gracefully as a belly flop

From the start, I knew this drama and I probably weren't going to be a love match, as middle-aged emasculation isn't a theme I typically resonant with, but I was curious enough to give it a try since the ensemble cast is ridiculously solid. It also seemed like a good drama to watch with my mom: we'd just finished Misty and loved it, and Graceful Friends is recommended as a similar show. But boy oh boy, was I wrong! The comparison isn't doing Graceful Friends any favors, especially when considering the writing and lead actress performances side by side.

Everything goes smoothly enough in the beginning. Although their characters are very, very different personalities, the four male leads sell their long-standing friendship flawlessly. In fact, the loose humor and easy camaraderie between the characters of An Goong Cheol, Jung Jae Hoon, Jo Hyung Woo, and Park Choon Bok are by far the strongest parts of this drama, so if you're someone who likes ensemble dramas centered around an unlikely group of friends, then I'd recommend you try Graceful Friends. That's not what I usually go for, but I can definitely understand the appeal of, like, a middle-aged man version of Age of Youth. As we have our pants charmed off by this gang of goofball friends, the show -- gracefully! -- sets up its mysteries and suspenseful secret/conspiracy road signs.

As the story progresses, cracks begin to form. First, the tone of the show becomes discordant: the silly mischievous antics of the friend group, along with the over the top performances by a few of the side characters, becomes too strange against the increasingly dark subject matter of infidelity and murder. Then, the show tries walking the line between melodrama sub-genres; hopping back and forth between "gotcha!" makjang twists and more subtle or sophisticated dialogue, which is reminiscent of a prestige drama. Finally, there's the issue of Song Yoon Ah and her interpretation of the female lead, Nam Jung Hae. Much of the plot rests on this morally ambiguous, professionally-driven and insecure woman, yet it was impossible to discern any depth or complexity in Song Yoon Ah's performance. She's flat, which does nothing to explain how two men have been in love with her for decades nor does it build connection for viewers, particularly those who are already disinclined to lend her sympathy as the secretive wife-villain who low key loathes her son (Speaking of, why doesn't she like her son? Spoiler alert: we never find out!) . The problem worsens as other female characters, like Kim Hye Eun's competent ex-adult film actress and Han Da Gam's effervescent "first love" interloper, come into greater focus. My mom and I found ourselves wanting to see more of them and hoping Goong Cheol would choose Hae Sook.

No matter how precarious and disjointed the middle, my mom and I were still on board. We wanted to solve the story's central mysteries and see resolution for the characters we had grown to care for. Unfortunately, none of that happens, and it's as if the writers just, I don't even know, lost interest? Some of the narrative arcs, which were carefully crafted over the course of the entire show, like the messy ties between Jung Hae and her rival Hae Sook, get waved away by a single conversation (unsatisfactorily, I might add: only one woman expresses remorse and apologizes, while the other, who is arguably more responsible for the pain of their relationship, stays silent). Similarly, the answer to big suspenseful questions, like who caused the professor's death 20 years before, are revealed with all the fanfare of a mild yawn. Central characters die -- or are brought back from the brink of death! -- entirely off screen. The final two episodes devolve into a string of dated plot conveniences, the type that were common in dramas from a decade or two ago, which are meant to keep us watching but don't offer any meaningful resolution.

When we finished this drama, my mom asked me, "What do you think was the message or theme of this show?" and my first thought, which I mentioned at the top, was middle-aged, middle-class male emasculation. Again and again, this show returns to story lines in which the men are cornered into humiliating circumstances, acquiesce to abusive superiors, and/or receive much-needed financial or professional assistance from their more successful wives. Their regular meet ups consist of bemoaning the role they play as put-upon husbands or frustrated employees; their intimate relationships are deeply shaming, whether they're the playboy husband kept by a wealthy older woman, the bread winning partner of a gorgeous young housewife, the emotive youngest son of a conglomerate family, or the do-gooder executive in a lucrative if legally questionable fried chicken franchise. In the starkest example of emasculation fear, one character instructs another to avoid confessing a crime to the police, insisting that he wants to save face as a man and would resent the damage to his reputation as a husband, if the truth were revealed.

What are we supposed to make of all this? It's impossible to say, since by the time the drama can answer that question, the script is in shambles. Unfortunately, one big thing becomes clear: this show is NOT a multi-dimensional exploration of middle-aged emasculation and the strengthened bonds of friendship that see these men through their struggles. Instead, it's a simplified confirmation that yes, these men ARE being emasculated, and, uh, it's wrong, but they "protect what they need to protect AS MEN" by staying close to their man friends. We also get some limp gesturing about how life deepens for people in their forties and a few nonsensical scenes about Goong Cheol and Hyung Woo breaking from their roles as children, by disavowing or clinging to their parent, respectively. Now, call me crazy, but it's impossible to see how Goong Cheol evidences growth or maturity when he rejects his father's profound apology, especially when his father explains that he'd once gone through THE EXACT SAME SITUATION that his son has just experienced.

This isn't a bad show, by any means, but it is a show that squanders its potential in the shallowest way possible. Graceful Friends could've utilized its group of young actors in flashback scenes to add depth to the characters' relationships in the present, but it doesn't. It could've explored how Goong Cheol and Jae Hoon exist as two sides of the same coin, both mild-mannered men who hide their festering rage and capacity for violence, but it doesn't. It could've dove into how the most intense youthful relationships are marked by affection and rivalry in equal measure, but it doesn't. It reduces Jung Hae into villain then victim then tragic idealized first love, without ever bothering to fully examine at her self-loathing or capacity for cunning. It blithely skips by Goong Cheol's maladaptive denial and Hyung Woo's infuriating infantilism. Aside from this obvious waste, the drama introduces and then fails to follow through with its own mysteries, like the dubious parentage of Yoo Bin or the mysterious person who tidies the crime scene, as if it simply doesn't care anymore, and when I realize a script doesn't care about its own narrative, it makes my investment in the show feel pointless. And if I had the choice between a bad show and a show that disrespects my commitment as a viewer, I would prefer the former every time, which is why this not-bad show still earns such a low rating from me.

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Graceful Friends (2020) - I bow down to the main cast. Their acting is on another level, the younger cast should be ashamed. Can anybody explain the ending? HAHAHAHA. I was so confused with the ending. Who was the killer? Since I'm so imaginative, I already suspected Choon Bok. Well, anyway the story revolves around the theme of friendship, maybe this just it. In fairness, I was not that stressed compared with The World of the Married, but still amazing, JTBC knows who to choose for the cast. I truly like the side stories outside the crime part, I did really like those. Touching.

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Em primeiro momento tenho que avisar que tem gatilho para estupro/abuso sexual e perseguição sexual, se for sensível a esses temas não veja!

Foi meu primeiro dorama exclusivamente para maiores de dezoito anos, isso que logo me chamou atenção junto com ter dezessete episódios, os primeiros capítulos foram mais lentos e achei que o foco seria nos dez, mas os homens são o que tem mais destaque. Bem se fosse para comparar, diria que é como uma novela das nove brasileira, cheio de mentiras, segredos, decepções etc. Não entendo porque todos os casais complicam o que poderia se resolvido com diálogo.

Não gostei da rivalidade feminina, pensei que a Coreia tinha parado com isso e achei que faltou um plot twist envolvente sobre o assassinato, mas não posso negar que teve muitos episódios fortes, que para mim foi o catorze é o mais me derrubou emocionalmente.

Se fosse para escolher um personagem favorito, escolheria o Ahn Goong Cheol, anjo injustiçado e sofredor.

Uma curiosidade, Uhm Chae Young estava em Was It Love? e aqui ao mesmo tempo, mesmo sendo pequenas participações.

O final não foi como queria e não concordo com rumo de certos personagens, mas não diria que me decepcionei, desde o começo mostrou que a camaradagem deles era mais importante.

Por fim, tenho que dizer a todos, mesmo focando em mulheres nessa mensagem, se foi violada ou intimidada de alguma forma denuncie, mesmo que a pessoa faça ameaças. Nunca esqueça que você é a vítima, a culpa não é sua. Não pense no que vão falar de você, pode ser maior que sua liberdade. Você é sua, de mais ninguém, apenas você pode decidir sobre a própria vida. A culpa não é sua.

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