A Business Proposal (2022)

Same-same then product placement… Repeat.

I’m a rookie reviewer for this genre of fluffy romcom. This one seemed standard to me even though it’s the first time I’ve go through to the end of one. Standard plot of misunderstandings, standard character types of rich and ordinary, standard production values, standard slapstick humour. There wasn’t anything that struck me as original about it.

I understand that this production was not aimed at me, however, that does not excuse lack of quality. To keep up quick fire momentum takes more than just energy—which for the first half was at a good level—it also requires imagination and inventiveness and I’m afraid this didn’t cut it. About two thirds through I began to find the TV drama everyone was watching more entertaining. Ultimately keeping a flow of fresh ideas is the responsibility of the writer and director and here the treatment was repetitive and unsophisticated.

It made a good start but quite quickly the script and plot became predictable. The acting tended to follow suit, with a lot of stock, same-same expressions and reactions to the manufactured situations. The first couple of times it’s funny, but very quickly becomes irritating. For example, the constant hiding begins to pall during Episode 3, but is still going in Episode 4, and then gets dragged out into Episode 5 by which time it is long past its use-by date. Ditto the pretending to be someone else theme.

There is a heavy emphasis on wealth with a lot of ostentatious display, along with the assumption that popularity and acceptance can be easily bought with a credit card. This message is backed up by the wall-to-wall product placement. Seo Hye Won’s part in the early episodes seemed to exist solely as a product placement vehicle. By Episode 10, scene after scene was built around it, reducing the dialogue to meaningless rubbish, destroying character integrity and disrupting the momentum.

On the plus side… there is plenty of fun with a load of eye candy. The couples have reasonable chemistry but lacked any sort of pizzazz. Kim Se Jeong and Ahn Hyo Seop were most believable in the tender scenes rather than the passionate ones. Seol In Ah and Kim Min Gue were more unevenly matched. I liked Seol In Ah’s performance, it had life and energy, whereas Kim Min Gue struggled to give depth to his more reserved character.

Shin Ha Ri’s family added the warmth and acceptance missing from the others. It’s a common theme that the wealth that is deemed so desirable comes at the cost of dysfunctional family relationships. But here the obligatory overbearing rich parents/family were not too forceful, just enough to provide a reason for our male and female leads to flex their muscles and prove their credentials.

The serious emotional interactions, which happened towards the end of the drama, were convincing. Kim Se Jeong especially made a good job of the hospital scene with Ahn Hyo Seop. But the ending was weak and unsatisfying, it just fizzled out without any real impact and needed to be much stronger to justify the build up given earlier in the episode.

The cinematography is okay, but nothing special. The colour palette was pleasing, with bright, engaging colours and an endless parade of cool clothes.

One of the things I really liked about the subs in this one was what I think is the literal translation of Korean sayings, which totally cracked me up. Thank you Choi Su In! Absolutely loved, “A face like a company perk” and “Like putting lipstick on a pig”.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Lire davantage

LOVED IT but the ending :(

The fact that I actually stayed up each week to watch the live broadcast/no subs (2AM) brought me back to my high school days!

What I liked:
1. Casting, everyone did so well esp the 2nd lead casting was *chefs kiss*!
2. Cliche romcom tropes executed well apart from the rushed end.
3. Changed up a few scenes from webtoon.
4. SPOILER* how they still continued their relationship online despite TM going overseas.
5. Did not drag.
6. Solved most issues quickly.
7. TM and HR hugs!!
8. No romance between HR bro and YS.

What I did not like:
1. Rushed end.
2. I'm all for closures but eh was not feeling the MW closure XD
3. They did not continue where they left off on ep 11 HAHA
4. I prefer the way grandpa approved of HR in the webtoon more, this grandpa was being difficult LOL.
5. Lying/hiding took way too long.

Overall 8.5, was going to be a 9 but the rushed ending was not it. cute but not it. :b Time to re-read the webtoon for the 100th time HAHAHA. I hope for more well-executed romcom soon and not rush the end pls <3

Lire davantage

It was a mediocre drama where FL character is annoying.

A Business Proposal is a Kdrama about Shin Ha Ri, a single woman who works for a company where she goes on a blind date to help out her best friend, Jin Young Seo, and meets a workaholic CEO, Kang Tae Moo.

Through many misunderstandings and mishaps, they both eventually fall in love with each other. I did not like the FL character and the actress (Kim Se Jeong) who played her. The actress was not attractive; I think the 2nd FL looks better than the FL.

The FL character is annoying, and the ML character is neither great. The onscreen chemistry between FL and ML (Ahn Hyo Seop) was neither great. The 2nd ML is better; I like the 2nd CP in this drama.

It was a mediocre drama, and I give it a 6.0 rating.

Lire davantage

A fluffy rom- com drama to blow off your stress

So there are dramas that pulls you in and leaves you craving for more. A Business Proposal is one of those drama. It is a cliche rom - com drama you might have seen before but that doesn't makes the drama any less mesmerizing. Maybe it is the cliche scenes in the drama that binds you to your seats. The cast of this drama was spot on to the characters they had to portray.

The characters in this drama are the types of character one would expect in rom - com drama. A perfectionist ML(Male Lead) and a bubbly but hardworking FL(Female Lead) and there brother/sister like best-friend SML(Second Male Lead) and SFL(Second Female Lead). So you might be like why should I watch this drama then. Let me give you the reasons why you should watch this drama.

First, the chemistry between the ML (Kang Tae Mu) and FL (Shin Ha Ri) is off the charts. They lit up the scene just by being in it together. Their first encounter had me rolling down with laughter. They have very well acted their parts and the visuals were insanely good too. Kang Tae Mu's jealousy was also a thing to watch.

Secondly was probably the chemistry between the SFL(Jin Young Seo) and the SML(Cha Sung Hoon). Jin Young Seo's aegyo( cuteness) just melted my heart. I never would have thought that Seol In Ah could pull such scenes off. As I have never seen her acting cute in other dramas. She definitely stole my heart with her aegyo. She was definitely a scene stealer in this drama.

Third is the brotherhood between Kang Tae Mu & Cha Sung Hoon and the sisterhood between Shin Ha Ri & Jin Young Seo. Their bond was quite special as they were always there for their friend.

Also the supporting actors in this drama. They were fun to watch. Be it the ML's grandfather or the FL's family members or coworkers. They all were a joy to watch on the screen. Especially the women of this drama were just too cute. A special shout out to Seo Hye Won and Im Ki Hong's characters. They both were just too good.

There are many other reasons to watch the drama which you would only know if you start this drama. So don't give a second thought and start this drama. As I assure you won't be wasting your time.

Lire davantage

The leaning tower of pisa of kdramas

I told my friend just after finishing episode 11 that Business Proposal was much like the leaning tower of pisa. It looks good, it's competently shot, well acted, the music is utilised decently well, but the foundation on which it rests on is extremely shaky.

To take from Folding Ideas video on 50 shades, the story is written much like a fanfiction. It follows the structure where plot A connects to B, B connects to C and so on, where you need all of them for the story to make sense, but A and C aren only tangentially related. The amount of times that plotpoints are picked up then dropped is very annoying, it makes the pacing pacing of the show much faster, which is extremely good for the "light, airy" feel it has, but definitely does detract from the story's quality as a whole.

After the reveal early on in the show, the quality of the show seems to dip considerably. The tightness of the first few episodes is very prevalent, minus some scenes that set up something later. It's later on in the show where emotional moments are brought up just for the sake of the story needing emotional beats. The story could have easily been "light and airy" all throughout, but it brings in a very poorly shoved in third act conflict.

If there is one thing that is good about this show it is the acting. The chemistry between the actors is very obvious, and the leads make one of the most natural lead couples I have ever seen. They all play off of each other very well, and with more time I think they could have also done more with other under utilised characters.

It's very difficult thinking about whether or not this show needed more episodes. There is a lot that could have been explored still, Hamin's relationship to the family, more about the grandfather, more with youngseo and yujeong's relationship, but I don't know if that would make the show more bloated than necessary. For the story to work, I think they should've cut the whole Yoora plotline completely. At the beginning of the show I really liked Minwoo compared to his webtoon counterpart who is somehow worse than the show version, but the contrived drama they create for him is so lacklustre, it's actually embarrassing.

Overall, the show is good. It isn't great, and it stems from structural problems that can only really be fixed by rewriting most of the script. If you want a quick laugh or a convincing romance, it is enjoyable enough.

Lire davantage

Heading off to a good start but failed to delivered as the show progresses.

Throughout this entire series, it was filled with cringeworthy moments as well as odd and questionable decisions made by the characters in this drama.

The only notable part of this show is the chemistry between the second two leads, which honestly made me not dropped the show.

The story was very bland and uninteresting, nothing really excited comes about in terms of the progress of the story. The two leads spend the entire series hiding their love from one another and the people around them. Shin Hari, the main female protagonist, seems to be a repulsive liar throughout the 12 episodes, doing her utmost best in avoiding the relationship between her and the main male protagonist, but digging a bigger hole for herself as the show progresses. Although sort of justified to do so, her character traits should not be meant for the main character of a show. Moreover, overreaction to everything makes any scene involving her cringeworthy and hard to watch.

Not worth even putting into your watchlist, best to skip the show.

Lire davantage

Common storyline

Drama name is "business proposal"... But where is business??? I was really expecting some business issues?? But in whole drama the chizzy lovely dovly ... I am quite dissatisfied with the name of the drama...?
Common storyline... rich male lead poor female lead, facing trauma due to accident.. male lead good at everything... Clumsy female lead... There is nothing new...
All I love about this drama super casting and comedy part. The actors made it super. They nailed the drama. The comedy parts are really lovable. This make it worth to watch either I may rate this 2 star

Lire davantage

Almost, but not quite there

This was so close to being a perfect drama: the comedy was funny, the acting was good, and the story moved at a really good pace. The relationship between the leads may have begun as contrived, but the development was genuine with the chemistry being off the walls good. The same goes for the second couple too. Where things fell flat, however, is after episode 7. The conflict was annoying and made the story stagnate. The grandfather behaved too out of character, and I felt the focus on his disapproval of the relationship took away from more development from the two couples. I would have liked to have seen some weddings and a happy-ever-after, instead of watching several episodes of the Grandpa's meddling. Overall, it was a good drama, and the writers did manage to stick the landing despite their meandering near the third act.

Lire davantage

This is an easy to watch drama there’s not much of major plots and twists but not like the other dramas they are light and have simple plots but boring… BUT not with this drama this drama is on another level you’ll have so much FUN with every episode of it and make you interested of what’s going to happen next even without having the major plots.

There we’re two couples in this drama one main lead couple and another secondary couple.. both couples are really adorable, funny, cute and sweet to watch, though others were comparing them and saying negative things but as for me no one is above and no one is below all of them did a really good job… both male lead are looking so hot and handsome with there characters that makes you really envy their female leads hahaha…

As for the re-watch value I’m giving it as a perfect score cause I really enjoyed the whole drama, as a matter of fact I already downloaded this and going to watch it over and over.. I’m pretty sure that you are going to love and you’ll have fun with this drama, you will not regret giving your time on this.

As a closing statement, I would say that I’m so sad that this drama come to its end.. probably going to take a very long time before I could get over with this… another drama hangover hahaha..

Lire davantage

Started out ok but...

By the time I was on episode 7, I was barely tolerating this drama and was watching it just to finish it.

I've been an avid K-drama consumer since the early 2000s, so when I see so many comments about people saying this drama is all the "cliches done right", I couldn't disagree more. What irks me the most is that the FL spends over 50% of the drama lying (to the ML, to her parents, etc.) and is indecisive, and has low self-esteem (to the point where the feels like she needs to reject the ML because she's not "good enough"). I loved the actress in "Uncanny Counter" and I feel like she's more fitting for the strong FL roles, rather than this meek one.

The ML was ok - it's my first time watching Ahn Hyo Seop and I don't know any of his previous work to compare, but I thought his acting was on par with the character he was trying to portray. Granted, it's the chaebol role that we've seen millions of times before, but acting wise, it wasn't bad.

Let's talk about the chemistry (or lack thereof) between the leads. There was almost zero to little buildup for their relationship and the ML just all of a sudden decided he liked the FL (even though all she did in the beginning was pretend to be a person she wasn't). I didn't sense any chemistry between them at all, tbh. I'm just so confused how/why he ended up falling for her. If you love slow-burn romances, this is the furthest thing from it and it doesn't make much sense either, so don't keep your hopes high.

Overall, it is a lighthearted, and cute drama but far too unrealistic for me and borderline annoying at some points.

Lire davantage

Just ok

I think that one of the problems of this drama is that it didn't have much material or that said material wasn't well developed to make it worth your while. With this I'm trying to say is that they basically tried to recycle a lot of old kdramas clichés and trying to act like they were -modern- about it by picking fun at them while also using them themselves. Which isn't bad, but they just took them and dropped them unfinished, or pulled back and it was lackluster in the delivery instead of shocking or hilariously ridiculous, which was the point of those old kdramas. So the story felt like a mix of every middle class hardworking secretary/rich boss with a sad past that you've seen, crushed all together, and not as charming. They also based the male character's style and manerisms way too much in the male character of "What's wrong with secretary Kim?", so it felt at some points that it was trying to borrow from that kdrama and a tiny bit from "The secret life of my secretary".
The characters weren't charming or alluring, I got bored by them pretty quickly. The first two chapters were good enough to make me consider keep watching to see a light romcom drama, but there's so much you can do when the stakes aren't that high and you don't develop your characters. The acting wasn't good, tbh, I do like the male mc actor, but he's done a better job in other dramas. The female mc actress made me cringe at times by how bad the acting was, and the two second leads characters were way 2D to actually bother. I think a big part is because this drama kept putting things that could've lead to more interesting or profound aproaches, and just used them to move forward the story and acted like it didn't happen. Like the weird stalker, it could've been a good thing to focus on the female characters but was mostly used so the second lead couple would make up and the female mc was impressed by Tae Mo helping capture the creep.
The music was just ok, I think thet overused some of the lyrics so instead of making you feel more into a scene it was like, oh,this for the fifth time in the same episode...
I think this is a good drama if you want something fun and easy to watch without having to invest much of yourself on it. Like if you're having a tiring week and want to relax and watch something that'll distract you.

Lire davantage