Ever since I saw the series for the first time, it has been my favourite. I rewatched this movie numerous times. In fact, every time I need cheering up, I watch this!
Nevertheless, even though I love this story, I am not blind to its many flaws especially where writing and execution are concerned.
The story is nothing new: two people, an actor escaping from a scandal and a chef barely making ends meet, with opposite personalities, meet but they start on the wrong foot. The second meeting doesn't go much better but since they are forced to live together, actor's cheerful disposition melts the iceberg that is the chef. And there's all, folks!
Both main actors have great chemistry and are really skilled and play their respective characters to perfection.
The dynamic between the supporting characters (agent, journalist, manager) was excellent and often very funny!
The issue I have is mostly with writing. I watched this on Viki so I guess the translation is rather accurate. The story is full of clunky and illogical dialogue. For example: when they meet for the first time in the restaurant, as the actor is leaving, the chef stops him and tells him to stop bothering him and leave. Considering that the actor was doing just that BEFORE being stopped, I do not understand the point of this dialogue. And that is just in the first 5 min! There were few more moments like this in the movie! And don't start me with a few scenes of US fan, completely superfluous and nonsensical (i.e.they are in front of the restaurant but she takes photos of them leaving on a motorcycle?!? or the photo she takes of them in the night looks as if it were taken at noon!) On the other hand, the scandal subplot was treated well!
Production was mostly on the cheep side: empty scenes, no extras, cold and unnatural. It is obvious they did not have a lot of money but that does not excuse ugly cinematography (see Thai Wayufilm Production short movies to realize what a talent can do on a shoestring budget!). To be honest there were exactly two scenes where cinematography stood out: nightime basketball game and walk in the park and the chef's run through the autumn park/city towards the end. The rest of the movie is gray, lit up only by the main leads' smiles! Quite literally!
The movie has two hummable songs, nothing extraordinary!
A special shout out to the director of this movie: she is definitely hugely talented storyteller. I have loved every one of her works: Where Your Eyes Linger was the first bl I ever watched. She is amazing. I hope she will regale us with many more stories in the future and not necessarily BL ones!
To My Star stays firmly at the top of korean BLs. It is a sweet movie, full of clichés and misunderstandings but those are not annoying. It is a must watch for any BL enthusiast but as well for anyone who appreciates a good romcom!