It wasn’t what they tried to make it be

Understanding that this was a short film, I really was not expecting much.

It was a look at the stereotypical gay club lifestyle and hook up culture. But it also wasn’t that.

They tried too hard with this short film, trying to tell a story of connections once sex is removed from the equation. A story of two men learning about one another and finding a bit of themselves in the process.

I think if this had a bit more time to fully round out their development, it would be much better. As is, we are left with doubt and confusion and an open ending.

The actors didn’t make their characters interesting (no real expressions even) and the fact that we had to have two separate scenes with food in one night was unnecessary (time filler?).

The gritty filter on the filming made the scenes and the actors look dirty instead of artistic.

I personally have no interest in ever watching again.

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All the Liquors (and Food)

Let me start by saying first and foremost, I think Won Do Hyun did an excellent job for his first main role. I had watched Kim Jun Hyung previously (definitely has talent) and hope to watch more of both of them in the future.

Now, about this movie version of the series.
(TL;DR AT BOTTOM)

I love the premise as of course food and alcohol are a timeless pairing. It makes sense to have these type of situations come up in marketing. But it is a little bit far fetched in this. The Chef Ki Hoon is an unknown with zero social media presence and no culinary background to speak of other than Grandmama had a tteokbokki shop that he grew up in that has been since renovated into a small restaurant with an exposed kitchenette that he cooks in.

Before I go further let me focus on our cute main lead Ji Yu. How is he not gaining weight? All this character does is eat, drink, eat again, sleep, repeat. We see him at work a couple of times talking about food and soju. We see him at a variety of places eating and drinking. Bestie Ji Ha (Jeong Ho Gyun - he needs a main he’s hilarious and so expressive) meets up to: you guessed it! Eat and Drink. Kind of hard to give any depth when the character is stuffing his face constantly. But we love him anyway and his personality is like a confused chipmunk.

Back to Chef, he is strict and stern. Kind of. For a minute. No Alcohol! Okay, let’s have some alcohol because cutie Ji Yu wants it. Huh? That quickly? I think there were a few steps missing. All of a sudden, Chef is taking Chipmunk on a trip and agreeing to this contract and how did we get here? It’s disjointed and in a way that left me rewatching scenes to make sure I didn’t miss something. So my complaint is the editing or the storyline itself. No idea who is to blame but it is a tough few cuts and jumps while watching.

Then we have the kisses. The actors looked so uncomfortable and there was zero passion or feeling in those couple of kisses. I don’t need tongue so don’t take it like that - I do need something other than camera angles trying to make it look like they are doing more than barely touching lips. They sold their relationship as though it was building up to something but that wasn’t anything. The director should have done better. Workshops or coaching to help and different camera angle may have helped. It just was nothing. I felt it did a disservice to the characters (no matter how disjointed and underdeveloped they were). And the final blow was the fact that their relationship wasn't even established until the last scene even though they already had (implied) slept together and at least a couple weeks had passed if not months. Weird choice.

TL;DR:

So much eating and drinking by cute chipmunk male lead.
Chef storyline made no sense (no social media or culinary accolades but hired for big corporate event?).
More eating and drinking.
Corporate Job for Chipmunk? Huh? Where?
No character depth anywhere to be found.
Why is there so much food & soju and so little actual story?
Flirty with no chemistry.
Kisses that were completely bland.
Needed more of Bestie here or elsewhere.
Wait - they weren’t even a couple? Was this a bromance disguised as a BL?
Ooooh more food and soju and wine this time too!

Eh. It’s forgettable but still I like the actors and they did the best with what they had. I don’t fault them. I blame the scriptwriter(s) and Director.

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Everyone Praising This (except me)

I was really looking forward to this movie after all the hype my group mates made about it.
I really wanted to like this movie.
I really wanted to have hope it would get better as a watched.
I really could not believe I sat through it all.

Some people like shows/films because of who the actors are. That’s all I can figure. Win’s fan base is massive. He seems like a great guy and a good actor. If you exclude high-five bro that is. But F4 Thailand I thought he recovered and went up from there. But I digress.

The plot was predictable, the acting was mostly average with a few better scenes and a few not so good ones (Win was very good), the characters were frustrating at some of their choices and actions, the ending was just sad.

There is a trope has developed lately of sad endings, killing off a main character and showing the remaining one trying to reconcile and heal. And if you are a glutton for heartache, a masochist, someone who just enjoys a good devastating cry, this is absolutely it for you. It just isn’t for me. Before you come at me for the whole “healing is part of life and this is a happy outcome overall” I just can’t see it that way. No convincing will work.

I will keep watching Win’s works as I come across them (hopefully with happier endings). But I will avoid this one much like I avoid 2gether.

You don’t need trauma to have a good show.

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