"The Lover" Episode 2
One of the problems of having a drama built around gag comedy sketches is a lack of plot. I have no idea where"The Lover"is going as a narrative, so that means I have to evaluate it on terms of jokes. Whereas the first episode was definitely more hit-than-miss, this one either breaks even or loses out slightly. I can't say which it is for certain because several of the best jokes are stretched out for longer than they should be.
To some extent this is obviously intentional. Do-si and Doo-ri genuinely seem to love fighting about dumb stuff. In context, of course, they're always just annoyed, but it's surprising how little they can grasp of each other's basic preferences having lived together for so long. If their taste in ramen is that irreconcilable why are they even bothering to share a dish in the first place? And what kind of crazy person eats ramen for the broth rather than, you know, the ramen?
Elsewhere it's clear that Jin-nyeo is with Yeong-joon because he makes her feel young. Not necessarily in exclusively good ways. Their main comedic sequence here involves them acting like furtive, secretive teenagers, in conversation with an actual teenager. Meanwhile, Takuya and Joon-jae act like college students. Which is somewhat more acceptable, because they're the right age for that. Although Takuya's general cluelessness is starting to strain believability.
Even so, I'm not completely humorless, and can well appreciate a decently told joke even if the set-up is obvious because hey, some humor is oft-repeated for good reason. It's obvious right away that those weird sounds emanating from the apartment can't possibly be what they sound like. Even so, I'm at least curious as to what specific set of circumstances created this misunderstanding. Also I'd like to know why that one guy just wears a robe everywhere. He seems like a nosy hobo- a station in life I can well identify with.
Still, it needs to be noted that there's a fine line between a classic joke and a crass one. The mystery of the disappearing condoms is...well, look, any punchline that starts off like that is going to have a fairly crude delivery relying more on shock value than merit. This much is unavoidable. Humor is a matter of personal taste, so I'm not going to be too hard on"The Lover"for not quite living up to my hopes from last time. Even so, it would be nice if this drama could try to lead up to something more amibitious.
Review by William Schwartz
"The Lover"is directed byKim Tae-eun-III, written byKim Min-seok-IIand featuresOh Jeong-se,Ryoo Hyeon-kyeong,Jung Joon-young,Choi Yeo-jin,Park Jong-hwan,Ha Eun-seol,Terada TakuyaandLee Jae-joon.
Source from :Hancinema