There are a few kdramas out there that reach a level in quality far above others for smart writing, snappy dialog, rich plot and character development. Add the spice of comedy and the satisfying element of a very well told dramatic story and The Greatest Love is in this top tier. It is a Great story.

Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin: They are both amazing actors. They are perfectly cast and it shows through every goofy moment and every scene that pulls at your heart.

This story is set in the entertainment world and probably sheds a glaring spotlight on the trappings and "traps" of fame. Each character is fame's satelite planet spinning in orbit around it's shiny tempting sun.

Dokko Jin is a man with a lot of hits under his belt. His image is stellar and it wins him the best CF's and shields him from getting laid low when a movie release isn't quite up to par. He can play the press like a finely tuned piano. He understands his world and he's comfortable there...on top. Everything is image...even love. Gu Ae Jung is a woman who had a taste of fleeting fame in her young 20's and knows exactly what it feels like when you are knocked from that pedestal. She has learned how to work her bad reputation to make a living. She knows what to do, how to act and dress and she's comfortable at the bottom so long as she can keep working. When they meet it throws their perspective worlds into chaos. It is a chaos neither of them are ready for.

Dokko Jin doesn't know what to do with the feelings he has outside of and in spite of, the image he has cultivated. He has lived so long in his fame bubble he is emotionally stunted. What he has come to expect is completely different than what the real world will hand him. We get to watch him open his eyes, watch his dumbfounded, drunken baby steps toward the light. ...And it's funny! It's clumsy and awkward. It's so completely tender and heart wrenching as well.

Gu Ae Jung doesn't know how to handle this mess of a man; who invades her life, pulls her into his bubble and goes after her with all the grace and finesse of a bull in a china shop. She has lived so long understanding that one word taken out of context can flay her and one mistaken step can shove her down to the bottom and cause pain. She knows she has to be careful in this world that drags her into a light which seems warm and friendly at first only to burn her when she dares to step to close. She knows better.

...and yet when the heart starts beating of its own accord and the petals strewn across the path lead to someone you can't stop loving, you have to be brave and make choices.

Gu Ae Jung is our everywoman in this story. She is the one we identify with and root for. She is the reluctant hero. Dokko Jin is our damsel in distress. The charm of this show is that it is so well written and entertaining you don't realize at first and when you do, you realize its genius!

The second leads and side characters are written smartly as well. They aren't just comic relief or one dimensional characters built as foils for the OTP. They have good reasons to be in our main character's lives. Best friends, brothers, agents and managers etc... They serve the narrative of the story rather than break us apart from it as if we need some sort of forced breather from the action or story filler. Smart Hong Sisters!

Yoon Pil Joo: Best second lead ever! I fell in love with him falling in love. Yoon Kye Sang is amazing. Time to go find every other thing he's ever acted in and watch it.

I found this show sublime. 'Crack me up' hilarious and 'Wrench my heart, why don't you?' emotional. Don't miss it. It is extraordinary.

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I just marathoned this drama and I loved it. Wow can Kang Ji Hwan act his pants off! Typical of the Hong Sisters, this drama starts off looking like a comical farce but develops into a much richer, more dramatic story fairly quickly. I liked how they start out before the legend of Hong Gil Dong has begun and show you how it all started. Hong Gil Dong goes from a layabout wastril to reluctant hero to deserving of his legend and a true hero to the people. Kang Ji Hwan is so good at playing a carefree and careless rogue on the outside who is boiling with sadness, rejection and abandonment on the inside.

There is the central theme of the Gil Dong legend running through out, a series long plot to restore a displaced king and lots of love triangles all around. (love quadrangles?) In the mix, there are several short plot stories and baddies for Gil Dong to fight as he gathers his "band of merry men", rights the wrongs he sees, tries to protect those he loves and begins to suss out the worthiness (or lack thereof) of a future king.

The fusion sauguk element is fun. I wish I was even a little adept at Korean language and culture so I could truly appreciate the popculture and slang built into the language of the characters.

It's swashbuckling, over the top and a lot of fun. The writing is clever with some twists you just don't see coming and game changers that keep you moving along with the 24 episode tale.

I recommend it very highly.

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Punch! This movie is like a punch. Weird description, I know.

There were a lot of clever, artsy, indy details built into this movie that I got a real kick out of:

1) They played up the fact that this is a movie with a movie in a very obvious and clever way.

2) So Ji Sub's name is Kang Pae (gangster) and Kang Ji Hwan's name is Su Ta (star).

3) The scripts for the "movie" in the shooting scenes were the actual script for the movie.

4) And the ending...

I loved the intensity of both Ji Sub and Ji Hwan, their acting and characters. I loved that Ji Sub always wore black and Ji Hwan wore white. I loved the spoiled angry child in Su Ta and the way he got in over his head so deeply. Kang Ji Hwan always impresses me..Always.

I loved So Ji Sub's anger...his pure rage. His character's desperation and desperate grab for something more in his life, something he wanted, to make a change. The frustration of his inability to understand what to do with it once he'd grabbed on. And how his past, his personality and his lot in life were like a greased palm that made it impossible for him to keep hold. And then the terrible acceptance...He doesn't have to say much. That is the beauty of his acting. (sorry fangirl)

Watch it for the punch...beginning, middle and end.

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Rita's view hits the nail on the head but I wanted to add some thougts.

The lighting, the constant rain and even the angles of the house all lent themselves to the mood of the film. Which I thought was a clever technique. The acting in the film was very good. Hyun Bin may be gorgeous but time and time again he has proven he's got serious skills. I don't watch him because he's cute anymore. I watch him because I know I am going to be watching a really great actor.

Having said that: This film is shot in a really quiet way. In one shot in particular you just see the woman sitting on a chair, smoking a cig for a good minute or so. There were times when I thought the director was building upon the silence. Using the rain and the dark and the two character's obvious silences toward an end of some kind.

With the woman I felt frustration and guilt. From him I could feel sadness and quiet hopeless acceptance. Sometimes it felt that they were using their silence to punish eachother. I was waiting for some kind of breakthrough. For some of this emotion to surface. This was not to be... I felt like this movie ended in the middle of a sentance and now we don't know what anyone involved was even trying to say.

It's like going to an abstact art exhibit at looking at a painting of a single huge black dot on a white canvas and thinking..."Why?" and "I hope the artist didn't get paid for this" and "Yeah, I did one just like that in kindergarten." Sometimes when you try to be to artsy, clever and minimalist...you fail big time.

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I had a lot of fun watching this "highly entertaining, very different from the norm" drama. It has a very real human story within a fantastical framework. It was entertaining and thought provoking throughout its run.

The actors had great chemistry, the music was very fitting and the cinematography was wonderful. It is not your typical love story. It is not a rom-com. It isn't really comparable to other dramas that have recently aired. The writer and director of this drama stand out in a spectacular way.

For the writer's part: So Hyun Kyung told a very good story with twists and turns and a movable plot that kept you watching. Just when you think the story is moving in one direction it does a little flip and takes you on another, unexpected path. The themes of 49 Days are love, forgiveness, family, death and learning to truly live. It is a beautiful story.

For the director's part: He kept the plot moving and stayed true to the writer's vision. The camera work was very well done and I love when the lighting and the shots are part of the action and mean everything to how the story is told.

There are plenty of light moments but this show was never meant to be a comedy. I have seen comparisons to other more comedic shows and I feel that is doing this show an injustice. It's been a long time since I've watched a drama where the plot was so evenly paced and well planned out. Even though that plan may have taken me in places I didn't expect and were not the norm for a Kdrama.

It is easy to stick with this show and sometimes you will be on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen to the characters you have grown to love. (Han Kang! I adore you) I was satisfied with the ending. I was impressed and pleased with the story I was told. I recommend 49 Days highly.

If you haven't seen it, try not to read the spoilers!

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The reason I am giving this a 10 even though my other scores are a little lower might not make sense but I can not help it. In a sea of dramas with a certain premise we have all come to expect, this one is different.

It is about two people who have been friends all their lives. They turn to each other for comfort, for friendship and fun. They have seen each other at their best and worst. They yell, they fight, they comfort and criticize. They are REAL with each other. And slowly they begin to realize that this is not just a friendship. And once they realize that...What do they do with that knowledge? Go for it? Risk their friendship? Admit how they feel to the other person and most importantly, to themselves?

There is no grouchy, in denial chaebol hero. There is no plucky misunderstood girl who is downtrodden but so cheerful in the midst of her unfortunate circumstances. There is no backstabbing b*tch or scheming inlaws. They are just two people slowly but surely waking up and realizing that just maybe, the person they truly are meant to be with might have been there under foot all their lives. The writers make it so fun for the audience to watch it happening. The actors have great chemistry!

Give it a try. The music is a bit lacking. (I have a tendancy to be hard on music scores in my reviews. After the excellent OST of Coffee Prince and Soulmate I tend to be picky!) But I adore this drama...ADORE IT. Warm and sweet and surprisingly passionate. When you watch and realize it is not as quiet as you thought it is such a treat.

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I just finished watching this drama and I am not exactly sure where to start. Midas definitely had its moments of intrigue, action and fun. There were times when I watched that I could feel the tension and build up to the conclusion. But overall this drama ended up disappointing me. I hate to say it because I do love Jang Hyuk. His acting truly blew me away in Chuno and I really liked him in Robbers and Thank You as well. Plus...he is just so gorgeous. I will try and pinpoint the problems I had with Midas.

1) If you are going to create a drama with the premise of greed and its consequences then give us some payoff for those actions. Why did the antagonist truly have no commuppance in the end? Why shift the burden of guilt? (I cant say more or I will spoil it!)

2) If you are going to create a love story in the middle of all this intrigue that makes the protagonist feel the burden of his greedy ways, give me something rich and make the love a little more palpable.

I did not feel the chemistry at all. I understand this show was not a romance but the writers are the ones who placed that romance there. They made the loss of that love and the possible redemption of the protagonist through that love a plot point. I expected a bit more drama, a lot more emotional weight from that.

3) If you are going to set up all these intrigues, money games and power plays...Go For It! Go Out with a BANG..not a wimper. I wish they would have had more build up with Do Hyun being immersed in the world of selling his soul for money and his immersion in the greed for more and waited until closer to the end for him to feel the consequences. Or if not...as he was plotting and scheming in the second half I wish they would have kept up the intrigue. When that part of the action started I was excited for where it might lead. It held me for a few episodes then fizzled. The set up at the end with several scenarios and character story lines could have been played out a lot better. I can not describe them or it would be adding spoilers to this review. I can't blame the whole "going out with a whimper" thing on the extended episode because I felt the real tension and drama waning long before episode 21.

I wish this would have been better. Again it had some fun moments but mere moments are not enough to give this better than an average score.

I look forward to others reviews on this to see their take on this drama. **also...This drama is 21 episodes, not 16.

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After watching Dal Ja's Spring I loved Chae Rim. I watched this because of her and while it is very cute and I liked it fine, I just did not feel the chemistry between the two leads.

I could not understand at first why I was watching and felt something missing. Another review I read said they never seemed more than good friends 'chemistry wise' and that was my Ah Ha! moment.

This is a very cute story. There are some great moments and the male lead's character growth makes this drama for me. But I am giving this an 8 for story and 6 overall because I just could not love it completely.

There is not stand out soundtrack here for me. The music was just fair.

I probably won't watch this again but it was cute so I am giving the re-watch a 6.

If you really want to see a great drama that stars Chae Rim...Again, watch Dal Ja's Spring. It co-stars Lee Min Ki and it is fantastic!

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The two leads in this had very good chemistry but I almost think I attribute this more to Lee Seo Jin than to Kim Jung Eun. The story was okay. There were some moments that really got to me but for some reason I felt Kim Jung Eun was more wooden and Lee Seo Jin just made me believe. Maybe it was his dimples? The kiss scene where Kang Jae can't take it anymore and plants one on Mi Jo...One of the best I've ever seen. The fight scene in the alley ~ I won't say more..tore me up. I recommend this overall. Get your kleenex and be prepared for Angst! My score is lower because the constant crying and angst got to me. I felt the story dragged too much and would have been better told at 16 episodes.

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Most of the time I found this show charming and fun to watch. There were some moments I was a little overwhelmed by Yoo Rin and Lee Da Hae's overacting. But 90% of the time, I loved this. Lee Dong Wook is very sweet. Mostly great acting all around and the story was fun. Suspend disbelief fun...But isn't that why we watch? Really Lee Da Hae was mostly funny, cute and I enjoyed the secondary characters, especially Yoo Rin's friends. I liked Lee Dong Wook so much I went online and had to find another project to watch him act some more. This is a good one to watch after a tearjerker!

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