There was a lot of buzz
on Twitter about this one. I felt left out, because, being the K-entertainment guru that
I am, I should know about these things... So I set out to find it, and I did. But
was it worth it?
“Almost
everyone in this one is stupid. Honestly”
The Rundown
Behind the name: Also
Known as “Marry me Mary!”
Country:
South Korea, 2010
Genre:
Romance, Comedy
Network:
KBS2
Director:
Hong Seok-Ku, Kim
Young-Kyoon
Cast: Moon Geun-Young
(as Mary), Jang Keun-Suk (as Kang Mu-Gyul), Kim Jae-Wook (as Jung-In), Kim
Hyo-Jin (as Seo-Jun), Park Jun Gyu (as Jung-Suk), Park Sang-Myeon (as Mary's father), Lee
A-Hyeon (as Kim So-Young), Shim Yi-Young (as Director Bang), Lee Sun-Ho (as Lee-Ahn)
Compare with:
Full House
Hate it or Love it? Take it.
Synopsis in a Sentence: Poor, dense girl meets indie rocker under unfortunate
circumstances, but girl is too stupid to realise that her time is better spent
with someone else who would be the perfect partner for her.
An original Korean story
based on an internet comic, Mary Stayed Out All Night
seemed like a modern rendition to Full House, with some plot twists, of course…
On Writing: The
Plot
The
plot’s honestly, not that great. And that’s a recipe for disaster. If you’ve
seen a few Korean series, you already know the skeleton plan for this plot, and
you’ll know the “big parts” too. It’s the usual: boy meets girl under
unfortunate circumstances, girl and boy have to associate due to reasons
unforeseen, boy and girl fall for each other…then comes the third party love
interest to complete the love triangle. And of course, the same characters end
up together. Stating this isn’t a spoiler because the scenario is so overplayed. How do they not expect us
to know the end before it happens? Points deducted for lack of creativity. Many
points.
(2/5)
On Acting:
The Cast
The
cast actually wasn’t bad, but the leads weren’t great. Best actor in this one
goes to Kim Jae-Wook for playing a reasonable Jung-In,
and best actress goes to Shim Yi Young for
playing the detestable Director Bang.
 |
Quite honestly, I cannot understand how
the leads got accolade for their portrayals here. They honestly can do (and
have done) better in other productions. Oh well…
(3/5)
On Production:
The Creativity
If
the plot’s not great, of course creativity will suffer. So, creativity? None.
Even in production it wasn’t great. Just average.
(2.5/5)
On Resolution:
The Conclusion
Here
the producers try to deliver a ‘different’ ending to a South Korean series.
Different in that it’s not quite something you’d expect. So the resolution is
slightly better than any of the other parts; not because it’s great, but
because it’s an attempt at something
great.
(3/5)
The Verdict:
Not recommended. South Korea is capable of producing better TV series, and
quite honestly, your time would be better spent watching less cringe-worthy
moments of 'romantic comedy' totalling up to 16 hours... And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. But see
it for yourself and decide.
Overall Score = 10.5/20
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