Main Cast
Kim Rae Won/김래원/金來沅– Lee Jae Hoon
Gong Hyo Jin/공효진/孔晓振– Sun Young
Kang Ki Young/강기영 – Byung Chul
Ratings for the movie:
Acting – 7
Storyline: 6
Overall: 6.5
There is nothing really crazy, fanciful or dreamy about “Crazy Romance”, as compared to similar genre theme movies like “My Sassy Girl”.
The only crazy element here is what the leads would do when they get drunk.
It is very much about the ordinary love lives of people in their mid or late 30s, that you may see a little of yourself or your peers in the characters.
Gone is the warm, fuzzy feeling with butterflies flying in your stomach when you reach that age. No more fantasies, but it doesn’t mean less drama in our lives.
As we age, we ought to be able to deal with breakups better due to our life experiences.
However, is that so the case when it comes to matters of the heart?
As we would typically term it, “age is just a number”, but it doesn’t equate to increasing maturity as we age. It does not mean that a successful working professional would behave in the same manner when it comes to dealing with things that our hearts cannot cope with.
The movie title in Chinese “最普通的恋爱”, which also means “The Most Ordinary Romance” sums it up better about the romance between Jae Hoon and Sun Young.
The storyline is a little bland, because it is a portrayal of the lives of ordinary people. There is literally no climax, but there are scenes or incidents which we can relate to.
The saving grace would be the collaboration between Kim Rae Won and Gong Hyo Jin. Their last on-screen collaboration was 11 years ago and we are glad to see them both shining in their own ways with more matured acting now.
Kim Rae Won and Gong Hyo Jin are not your typical good-looking Korean celebs, but we can’t deny how they have captivated our hearts with their acting all these years. They make it work again with their on-screen camaraderie and acting abilities.
The protagonists are in their mid 30s, who have had their fair shares of bad breakups and are the complete opposite of each other.
One takes charge of her life and moves on even if her ex had cheated on her, while the other is a complete wreck who suffers hangover every day, after discovering his fiancé’s affair just a month ago.
Sun Young believes that once a relationship is over and done with, it is over, while Jae Hoon believes that there may still be a tinge of hope for rekindling the relationship for it is never easy to start or end one.
While Sun Young may seem aloof and casual about relationships, it isn’t easy for her either to be the subject of accusations or gossips. It is true that the women usually have it harder than the men. They will be termed as “水性扬花” while it seems that the society is more acceptable towards men being fickle.
There are a couple of things that this movie is trying to address, about cyber bullying, shaming others, the toxicity in work environment when the gossipmongers enjoy spreading rumours and also how the current generation relies on instant messaging apps like Whatsapp or KakaoTalk to communicate more than talking to one another. You would rather type message to one another even if you are just a few meters away in actual physical proximity.
It also addresses the following topics with regards to the use of social media:
- Toxic spreading of rumours/gossips via social media, including an ex posting fake news and your particulars on internet
- Replying to the wrong group chats
- Texting an ex nonstop to rant about his/her misforgivings
We have heard and seen a fair share of Korean celebrities ending up in suicides due to the relentless bashing of netizens. It is an unforgiving universe in the cyber world, where everyone just hides behind their keyboards and type all they want irresponsibly. It is an avenue for them to release their stress but also to unleash their evil side, to talk bad about others openly.
While freedom of speech is important, we need to be more mindful of not just our opinions, but how it would affect the receiving party.
This is also illustrated in the movie whereby Sun Young’s ex-boyfriend spread fake rumours about her online and how it affects not just how her family and friends view her, but also she became the target of office gossip and being labelled as a “tramp”.
Food for thought:
We often hear about others’ doings, be it right or wrong, from the mouths of other people. But how often do we seek to verify the truth or think twice before we disseminate this information to a third party?
Truth be told, Kim Rae Won and Gong Hyo Jin are the reasons why I decided to pay for a movie ticket. You know you would be guaranteed of laughter and some good on-screen chemistry.
Gong Hyo Jin is conferred the “Queen of Rom-Coms”, while many ladies would envy her for all the charming male leads she has as partners in every drama. Some of the more notable ones would be Jo In Sung and So Ji Sub.
Her latest drama “When the Camellia Blooms” is garnering more than 16.9% viewership ratings in Korea currently and she has proven that she is still one of the top picks for a female lead in rom-com dramas. She just has very strong on-screen chemistry with whoever she works with.
She is one of those female leads whereby you wouldn’t feel jealous of. There’s a very likable vibe about her and you would feel happy and comfortable to watch her act.
Kim Rae Won has not taken on a “comedic” genre drama or movie for the longest time. His focus was more on more serious and masculine theme movies for the last decade.
“Doctors” and “The Black Knight” were the more “romantic” dramas that he had chosen for his return to the small screen in recent years. They were good choices and have also lead to him to open his heart for rom-com in his movie endeavours.
The 1st drama that I watched Kim Rae Won starred in was “My Love Patzzi”. It has been 22 years but he gets more charismatic as he ages.
And I literally can’t say No to any of his works.
While it is an open ending, for there is no guarantee that two heartbroken souls would find solace in each other and live happily ever after, there’s still much for them to learn about each other.
Isn’t that so the same in real-life situations?
Life is a learning process.
We fumble and stumble along the way, we fall and break, but we try to pick ourselves up and be a better me.
We forge on, even if venturing into the unknown future.
Nonetheless, what the director wishes to convey through this movie is for people who have been hurt before, to learn to be brave and continue to believe in love.
Love is not just about the lovey-dovey moments and sweet nothings, but it is also about seeing through the hard times together as we learn more about our partner and ourselves through this process.
So here’s one for those who have been hurt and hope that they could believe in love again, and also for those who are in love, to continue to love in their most真切 ways.
The most ordinary love may not sound as “exciting” than short-lived 轰轰烈烈 romances, but they are worth a lifetime to upkeep that marathon.
