The Nice Guy / The Innocent Man (Korean Drama)
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The Nice Guy is a Korean drama that tell the story about a hurt and emotionally damaged man. The story is not sweet or cute, but really rough around the edges and painful.
The Korean Title is 'Chakkan Namja', or 'sesange odido omnum chakkan namja' - meaning 'a nice guy like this won't be in the world anywhere else'. Gang Ma Ru, who play the title role, was once a good boy, but after getting betrayed by the girl he love, he turn to a bad guy... But he actually doesn't. He actually never turn to a bad guy... That is the best part in this drama...
What I liked the most about Nice guy is that Ghang Ma Ru doesn't just try to get revenge... He is not intentionally trying to get revenge. He just get closer to Seo Eun Gi to make his ex-girlfriend, Han Jae Hi, realise her mistakes. Despite his wrongdoings, he is never ruthless, or cruel or emotionless...
Revenge is shown really mildly here...
And Ghang Ma Ru, despite having deep pain inside, despite the betrayal changing him, and making him seek for revenge, he remain as the world's best nice guy deep inside. That was the best part...
So above all this drama is worth to see for just seeing Song Joong Ki... :-)
But I must say, as much good looking Song Joon Ki is, he is such a good actor. Each expression on his face will bring out the character he is playing in to it's perfection. Such a good actor that it's hard to say that Cheol-Su of 'A Werewolf Boy', Ghang Ma-Ru or 'Nice guy', Gu Young Ha of 'SungKyungKwan Scandal', King Lee Do (young) of 'The Tree With Deep Roots' are one and the same person. He lives as the character, so each seems like the character than he himself. That is a trait only an excellent actor can achieve... So hats off to Song Joong Ki. If his wish is to be good actor, he don't have to go much far. He already is a great actor.
I read that he left for his army service. Hope he gets back soon and acts in more Movies and Dramas... Waiting for him impatiently...
But despite 'The Nice Guy' is a nicely made story, it is really not perfect. There is still something lacking. I kept feeling like there is something lacking in it... But despite that, it is quiet enjoyable. Plus the story is good, and unlike we have seen. And the pain gets through you all right. It will make you ache a bit... That is another best quality of this drama. It doesn't beautify things and just cut a knife through you... That just strikes at the right point.
Still there was something lacking... At some points you feel like something is edited out. Something in the story that should have been there is not there. Like there is a void inside the story. Or maybe like it is going too fast.
And the ending is a bit irritating. (It's not a sad ending...Just a bit...off). Though there is a logical explanation for that ending that Ma Ru wanted a restart... But still it is enough to make the viewers who were seeing the drama for so many episodes a bit disappointed. Well, after all we all want a really perfect 100% happy ending with 'and they lived happily ever after' sealed with a kiss and all. Though that kind of a perfectly happy ending would not have suited this drama so much...or would it have?? (I am still confused about the ending if to like it or hate it... Coz it leaves you halfway between...)
I loved the characters of the drama, and I think you all will too. Though Ghang Ma Ru is the top one in the list of favourite characters, I think another character that I will never forget is 'Gang Choco', Ma Ru's sister. She was really too cute. And the name was too unique and Lovable - 'Choco'. It suits her so much. I think the selection of that name for that character was perfect, because it might have been that small thing that added a really cuteness to this drama. And we will never forget the name 'Ghang Choco' and the character too...And I thought the way Choco always says 'hul...dhaebak...' (Meaning : Shocking... Incredible) was so cool and catchy... And her fascination of 'Ashton Kutcher' was cute too.
The character of Seo Eun Gi is another strong point of the drama. She is a strong and arrogant girl, unlike the usual cute or lovable heroines. Eun Gi is self sufficient and doesn't trust people so easily, and is so rude and arrogant.
But we get to see a flip side of her when she lose her memory and she becomes a cute and lovable girl... Despite that Ma Ru and the viewers wish her to go back to her rude self. That was how she should be. That is only right for her to go back being rude...
The Camera of 'The Nice Guy' is really sort of good, but easily notable that effort is made to make it look good. The 'The Rule of Thirds' in Photography, where an object or a line should be placed on the 1/3 or 2/3 of a frame is followed so strictly in the cinematography of this drama that it can be found in almost every frame. Though people who have not heard of 'The Rule of Thirds' won't notice this much... I am not saying that is a bid thing to do. It's actually a good thing, and it makes the frames beautiful. But to strictly follow that rule on almost every frame was a bit extreme, I think... I mean, it makes the frames too beautiful, but for the people who know 'The Rule of Thirds', this factor makes us think 'it's used in this frame as well', every time, and that is sort of a bit distracting.
Just a bit distracting, it doesn't make us the drama story getting in to us... It still pierce in to us with it's sadness and sharpness.
Characters :
Song Joong Ki as Ghang Ma Ru : A really nice guy who was once a Medical Student, but gets betrayed by his lover. He was sweet and had only simple dreams. As he was intelligent and handsome a lot of girls were interested in him. But he was in love with Han Jae Hee, an older girl who is his neighbour. Jae Hee and Ma Ru becomes a couple too... But then, something happens...
Moon Chae Won as Seo Eun Gi : The daughter of a really rich company president. She is an arrogant and rude girl. But she is smart and self sufficient, and manages the company very well. She doesn't trust any one. And hates Han Jae Hee, who becomes her very young step mother...
Park Si-yeon as Han Jae Hee : She was Gang Ma Ru's neighbour and older girlfriend. But she always hated to live without any money and hated her life in that small slum like place. She always wanted to escape that world. And for that she doesn't even mind to use Ghang Ma Ru.
Lee Yu Bi as Ghang Choco : Ghang Ma Ru's sister. She is physically unwell, but yet is a really spunky and smart teenager, and she loves her brother despite his bad behaviours. She also has a crush on Ma Ru's best friend Jae Gil.
Lee Kwang Soo as Park Jae Gil : Kang Ma Ru's best friend. He is a run away son of a rich dad. He lives with Ghang Ma Ru, and takes care of Choco when Ma Ru is away or has some work.
Lee Sang Yoeb as Park Joon Ha : Eun Gi's legal advisor, and her childhood acquaintance. Though Eun Gi has stopped calling him 'oppa', and regard him as just her subordinate, he still think of her as a childhood friend and even has feelings for her. So he always tries to take care of her maximum.
Kim Tae Hoon as Ahn Min Young : Chairman Seo's legal advisor. He has a crush on Han Jae Hee, and hence he joins with her for later bad deeds.
Story line :
Gang Ma Ru is a really nice guy who is a Medical Student. He is sweet and has only simple dreams. As he is intelligent and handsome a lot of girls are interested in him. But he is in love with Han Jae Hee, an older girl who is his neighbour. Jae Hee and Ma Ru becomes a couple too...
One night Ma Ru returns home to find his younger sister Choco sick. But just then he gets a call from Han Jae Hee asking for help. Ma Ru leaves his sick sister promising her to come back as soon as he can, and runs to his Jae Hee nuna. But going to the hotel room where Jae Hee called him, he finds a guy dead and see Jae Hee in a really traumatized state... He realise that she killed the man to save herself from get assaulted. Though Ma Ru first tell her to admit her crime, seeing how scared she is and how she says her dream of getting out of that bad housing situations and dream of becoming a reporter will be shattered because of that, Ma Ru tells her that he will owe up to the crime. She tells him that she will never forget his favour and will wait for him...
Five years later Ma Ru gets released from prison. He doesn't know where Jae Hee nuna is, and doesn't believe that she just forget about him. He think there must have been a reason why she suddenly stopped coming to visit him in prison. Ma Ru has turned bitter now, and works as a male escort or more like a male prostitute now, and dating rich women to get money for Choco's treatment and to make a living. Kissing girls with no feeling is no big deal for him now, and he just does that to get information for swindles or to get money.
Meanwhile, Han Jae Hee married a rich company president, who has a daughter not much younger than her. Seo Eun Gi, the daughter of the company president just hates Han Jae Hee, and her son, Eun Gi's step brother, Seo Eun Soek.
Gang Ma Ru, meet Han Jae Hee again once day in plane, as Seo Eun Gi faints while in plane, and there is no doctor on board, and Ma Ru being an ex-medical student try to save her. He see Han Jae Hee and gets hurt by the fact that she got married to someone for just money.
But as Soe Eun Gi finds out that Han Jae Hee knew the person who saved her in the plane, she tries to investigate more in to that, then to save herself Han Jae Hee lies that Ma Ru has tried to black mail her and puts him in prison. This makes Ma Ru meet his limits...
Ma Ru meets Seo Eun Gi, and helps her out in situations, by hiding the fact that he knows Han Jae Hee and has a past with her. Eun Gi falls for Ma Ru, and starts trusting him and loving him...
But when Ma Ru starts having feelings for Eun Gi, he feel bad about himself. When Eun Gi find that she had been used for revenge, she goes to Ma Ru asking about this. But Ma Ru, just lie to her and behaves badly in order to make her hate him. He think maybe that will be best for her.
But things go wrong as Han Jae Hee and Ahn Min Young kill Chairman Seo, Eun Gi's dad. Eun Gi gets too angry, and drive straight in to Ma Ru's car. Ma Ru doesn't try to avoid the hit, though he easily could have. An accident happens...
Eun Gi disappears after a few days in hospital... And Ma Ru goes back being bad. He doesn't touch woman now (maybe because he is in love with Eun Gi), so he cheats people for money and becomes a con man. Choco is agitated over this and think it was better when her brother was a male escort.
But Eun Gi comes back searching for Ma Ru one day, and now she has lot her memory. Eun Gi is a sweet person unlike before, and seeing Ma Ru's photo in her old camera knows that he was her boyfriend, though she doesn't remember being with him. But only knowing that Ma Ru was her boyfriend makes her feel happy, and she says her heart still loves him.
Eun Gi's old office PA ask Ma Ru to help her regain her memory and claim her position in the office. Ma Ru's guilty conciousness makes him go all out for helping her and he stay by her side in getting the company back from Han Jae Hee... He knows that Eun Gi will leave him the moment she regains her memory.
Plus Ma Ru now had haemorrhage in his brain, and he needs an operation. If the operation gets too late, he might die too. But Ma Ru always postpones the operation for later saying he has many thing to finish doing...
One day Eun Gi, regains her memory...
(Well, I will stop telling the story here... Else no fun. )
I still think that the ending was a bit too disappointing for the viewers. There should have been a bit more... More sort of a togetherness... But...
Anyway, so 'The Nice Guy' is a good watch, but yet not really a perfect thing...
My Ratings of this Drama : 8.5/10
