[비즈한국] The authentic melodrama ‘Our Movie’ is seeing sluggish ratings and lukewarm viewer reactions. With 8 out of 12 episodes aired, let’s be honest: it’s unlikely that ratings will suddenly skyrocket in the remaining four episodes. It’s not hard to understand why the response to ‘Our Movie’ is so lukewarm. Low ratings always have a reason. Even so, I can’t seem to drop this drama, because beyond the main thread of the melodrama, I’m curious about the subplots.
‘Our Movie’ is a love story between film director Lee Je-ha (Namkoong Min), who hasn't been able to release a new work since a successful debut, and Lee Da-eum (Jeon Yeo-been), a terminally ill actor for whom today might be their last. In an era dominated by genre works and light romantic comedies, an authentic melodrama about a terminally ill patient acting alongside a director who falls in love with them? It’s bound to be heavy. The emotions are heavy, but the problem is that I’m not curious about the ending. It’s obvious. Lee Da-eum will die within a few months. Unless this drama is a fantasy, it can’t end with a "they lived happily ever after" for someone whose death is already set in stone.
Ultimately, the key is the intense emotional arc that should keep viewers glued to the screen, but I just can't connect with the romance between Lee Je-ha and Lee Da-eum. The setup itself isn't bad. Je-ha, trapped for five years by the weight of being a master's son and a sophomore slump, decides to film a melodrama about a terminal patient and ends up casting a real one as his lead. Even if Da-eum wanted it, why would he cast them knowing it could draw immense moral criticism? While Da-eum’s acting was excellent, it was also a calculated move to generate buzz through noise marketing. But falling in love? A director and their lead actor need to be close, but they also need to maintain clear boundaries. Sure, people can still fall in love. But a romance knowing how it ends? Wouldn't the line from ‘White Love’, the movie Je-ha is filming inside the drama, naturally pop into one’s head: “Can’t you tell the difference between cheap pity and love?” In such cases, the acting should provide plausibility, but unfortunately, the chemistry between Namkoong Min and Jeon Yeo-been doesn't quite feel like a perfect match.
Instead of the melodrama that fails to garner sympathy, what intrigues me is Lee Je-ha’s narrative as a film director. His father was Lee Doo-young (Kim Jae-chul), a director dubbed "the master loved by Cannes." However, to Je-ha, his father was nothing more than an irresponsible and shameless man who left his sick mother to have an affair with a young actress. Isn’t it compelling that a man who drew a line even at his father's death, calling him just a "biological father with whom I cut ties," ended up becoming a film director—the very profession where he would inevitably be compared to his father? His obsession with being a different director and a different person than his father led him to distance himself from his first film’s lead, Chae Seo-yeong (Lee Seol), after a scandal broke, telling her, "I only used you for the film." And then, after hiding away for five years, he chooses his father’s film ‘White Love’ as his comeback project. Doesn't that make you curious?
In particular, the reason Je-ha accepts the remake of ‘White Love’, which he had resisted all along, is a major element that makes the drama intriguing. ‘White Love’, considered the masterpiece of director Lee Doo-young, is a melodrama starring the woman involved in his scandal, Kim Jin-yeo (Ye Soo-jung), so naturally, Je-ha’s feelings toward it couldn't be positive. However, the situation reverses when Kim Jin-yeo tells Je-ha to "find and read the first draft of the script," hinting that it was actually his mother, Yoo Eun-ae (Lee Sang-hee), who wrote it, not his father. As both a son and a director, Je-ha must be conflicted. The confusion that the reputation of his "master" father might have actually relied on his mother’s talent. And the question of why his mother made that choice. Furthermore, perhaps the affair between his father and Kim Jin-yeo isn't even true. If so, why? Am I the only one who thinks focusing on this story rather than the romance would be more fun?
Another subplot that sparks curiosity is the hidden motivations of the people who make movies and those who watch them. It’s often said that film is the art of the director, but a film isn't made solely by the will and ability of one director. It requires the effort of hundreds of staff and actors, and the investment of billions of won. While completing and releasing ‘White Love’ might mean something for Je-ha and Da-eum, for the producer Bu Seung-won (Seo Hyun-woo) or Han Seong-ho (Han Jong-hoon), an executive at a venture capital firm who pushed for a 6-billion-won investment, the success of the film is paramount. Then there’s talent agency head Ko Hye-young (Seo Jung-yeon), who has to watch her top star client Seo-yeong take a supporting role; Da-eum’s father, Professor Lee Jung-hyo (Kwon Hae-hyo), who has to watch his terminally ill daughter leave the hospital to film a movie; and assistant director Yoo Hong (Kim Eun-bi), who is highly talented but uninterested in becoming a director. Like ‘Worlds Within’, which was well-received for dealing with the lives and loves of people at a broadcast station’s drama department, I think it would be fun to follow the complex situations and psychology of the people entangled in the film industry. It’s a pity that it’s being overshadowed by the melodrama and drawn in a one-dimensional way.
How will ‘Our Movie’ end? Personally, I plan to watch the remaining episodes to see if ‘White Love’ inside ‘Our Movie’ manages to finish and get released, what kind of evaluation it receives, and whether Je-ha can step out of his father's shadow and make his mother's name known to the world. As for the romance, well, they'll figure it out on their own.
Who is the writer, Jung Soo-jin?
I have worked across various magazines covering film, travel, and pop culture. I don't want to fall behind on trends, but watching the latest dramas has turned me into an old-timer who predicts every cliché as the next scene. I am drifting through the vast OTT universe, trying to regain my lost touch, and my current wish is for an integrated OTT subscription plan.