MBC America DVD mini reviews

by Pedro Rodriguez

Back in Pacific Media Expo the Korean television network called MBC America was handing out samples of their sitcoms that were just released here in DVDs. Here is is a quick look at the three DVD I received.

Coffee Prince

Go Eun Chan is a 23 year old woman who is constantly mistaken for a handsome guy. As the primary bread winner she takes on several jobs to keep her family afloat. Things don't get any easier when her overspending mother loses an expensive ring. Choi Han Kyul is a 29 year old who is heir to a coffee franchise and a bit of a moocher. His grandmother wanting him to take the next step in his life decides to set him up with an array of attractive yet... odd women. When Han Kyul meets Eun Chan, he makes the common mistake of confusing her for a guy. Because of the mistaken identity he comes up with an idea in order to drive the marriage prospects away: pay Eun Chan to be his fake gay lover.

If you think that this is the main plot you're only about half right. The plot doesn't actually take shape until near the second episode and we've only covered the first hour. Here's the real plot. When the marriage prospects idea fails grandma pulls out one more ace up her sleeve by forcing him to revive a failing coffee shop. Proven to show his grandmother than he can do something with his life, he decides to remodel, and pull in the high school market by hiring only attractive looking boys. Already confused for a guy, Eun Chan decides to hide her real identity a little longer and take a job as a waiter.

The show really takes its time in getting to the main plot, and what you have for the first two episodes is a handful of subplots where we see how some of the characters are unexpectedly connected to each other. Not to say that it's a bad thing. Despite the fact that it doesn't get on track for a while, there is an abundance of humor and character development. The relationship between the two main characters is rather strange, as straight Han Kyul begins to find himself strangely attracted to a presumably male Eun Chan. Aside from your own level of comfort with the subject, it's a pretty entertaining series that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Thank You

Why were you in such a hurry? You should've said goodbye at least.

When a brilliant surgeon named Min Ki Suh discovers that his lover's cancer is terminal, he tries to take her away so that they can make the most of the time they have left together. But when they arrive at the airport, she pulls out at the last second and runs away towards the harbor. When he catches up to her, she sees her buying a huge teddy before taking the fairy to a local island. Eventually he is able to confront her, and she tells him that when she was aiding a young girl in a trauma center several years ago, she had given her blood that was contaminated with HIV. Then before the passage was over she had made him promise that if she couldn't find the girl, that he would fulfil her last wish and tell her that she was sorry.

As people are introduced throughout the series you find that there are a lot of sub plots going on as people interact with each other. At the root of it all is the pompous and arrogant Ki Suh who tends to wallow in his own misery, and the people around him that are able to move on with their lives dispute their own tragedies. While there are elements of humor here and there, the show is driven by drama from adversity, and it can get pretty heavy. So while it's well written story it all depends on how you like your drama.

Couple or Trouble

Adapted from the 1987 movie "Overboard", "Couple or Trouble" (also known as Fantasy Couple) features Han Ye Seul as the rich and snobbish Anna Jo and Oh Ji Ho as the former carpenter now plumber Jang Chul Soo. Similar to the original plot, after a heated struggle over stolen money and lost payments goes into a near stalemate, Jang Chul Soo tries to one up a Anna Jo, by convincing the amnesia stricken woman that she is actually his wife.

Getting to the root of it, I have to give them high marks for stretching the first twenty minutes of the movie into a whole hour. Goldie Hawn's famous plunge doesn't even happen until the second episode, so basically what you have for the first hour is an improvised tug of war between the two. I was surprised to see Oh Ji Ho's character (originally played by Kurt Russel), so enthusiastic in making a dollar unlike the movie where they only really established his character to be just a hard working single father, and a disgruntled carpenter.

I think what really pulled me into this show was Han Ye Seul's ability to speak English so well. I honestly can't say I've heard anyone speak English as natural as her (of course being raised here in L. A. doesn't hurt either, but that's beside the point). The deal breaker came just after her return to Korea, and her car gets stuck in gravel in the middle of the night. With rain pouring down she takes one good look at her dying cell phone and yells out, "S*it!". It really is hilarious.

Having one several awards including performance by it's two lead actors, it comes to our shores with good recommendations. If you're looking for something different from anime then this would be a good place to start.