Completed
manicmuse
14 people found this review helpful
Nov 25, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 5
Overall 7.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
I'm not sure what made me decide to watch this, or continue watching. I will say that the show had an odd appeal in spite of it's flaws. Part of it is a mature romance, but most of it is a light thriller revolving around a gifted paralegal who is good at getting to the bottom of a case... I guess it's pretty obvious that that is the lady with the suitcase.

Choi Ji Woo is great as Cha Geum Joo, and I admit I have never seen her in a drama before. She was likable early on, and I liked that she was a savvy lead, not a doormat. Her acting isn't perfect however, and there are more dramatic moments where she seems to try to play cute to the camera, which didn't really work for me. Luckily for her she was cast with two attractive and talented leads. Joo Jin Mo
as Ham Bok Geo "Hamburger" is grown and sexy, and a great match for her. I loved their flirty moments, and chemistry, especially in the beginning, although I kept wishing they would take things up a notch. He is an absolute charmer, and he charmed me in this role, though he's another actor I've never seen before.
Then there is Lee Joon as Ma Suk Woo, who was cute perfection. He was honestly my favorite character of them all, and I think the best actor. He managed to seem innocent, yet not naive. I loved watching his chemistry with Geum Joo when they worked together, though I admit she seemed waaaaaaaaaaaay too old for him. The love triangle between these three is pretty hilarious, even if it's a little unrealistic, they pull it off well. This was the highlight of the show for me.

The rest of the show is a messy melodrama revolving around a scandal I had a hard time following, and a mystery that didn't really grab my interest, but there is a villain that is really creepy, who I wish had a better storyline and more screen time. I still managed to enjoy the court scenes, which featured a great supporting cast, even if it was pretty obvious how things would go.

Then there's Jeon Hye Bin as Park Hye Joo (who I will forever think of as Oh Hae Young) who plays the main character's complicated sister. She is really good at playing a low key b!tch, but she honestly didn't have the acting chops to pull off such a complicated role. Her acting was so bad at times she seemed to be making fun of the role. There was just not enough depth, and I think that's this show's biggest problem. The character also had a few transformations that made no sense, especially at the end, but that could have maybe been fixed with better acting too, i think.

The show is pretty light hearted even though it deals with some very heavy themes, which I think worked against it. People treated things like going to jail, sex trafficking, being a fugitive, and even murder so lightly that I could barely take it seriously. The later episodes also focus so much on the melodrama that the show lost much of it's appeal. Still I liked watching the story unfold for some reason, and never thought about dropping it. The ending could have also been a lot better, but since the story wasn't a strong point, I'm not sure if it would have made much difference to my overall thoughts on the drama.

Overall, a pretty good cast made this show decent, and enjoyable. Like most shows it loses much of it's charm in the final episodes, but the cast made me want to stick with it. I doubt I'd watch it again, but I will miss some of the characters. I doubt this show will be high on anyone's favorite list, but I'm glad i checked it out. The fact that there are no other reviews seems so weird since I've seen much worse dramas with tons of reviews! I'd say it's the perfect "In the meantime" drama for those with nothing on their queue, and wiling to give it a chance.

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Completed
Yoli C
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 26, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
Great main plot and addicting sub-story lines. I'd say a story about relationships - to self, a career, a sibling, colleagues. I really, really liked them, Paralegal Cha and CEO Ham!
An enjoyable watch, I seriously recommend it!
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Completed
XS33
0 people found this review helpful
Jun 30, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 5.0

Not too bad for a legal drama

LIKE

How Bok Geo moved on from prosecutor to opening his own law firm

How Geum Joo and Bok Geo worked together against all odds

DISLIKE

Nothing I could remember of

MUSIC

Small Commas - Alex

REWATCH VALUE

It doesn't matter if I re-watching or not
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Completed
clinchamps
2 people found this review helpful
Feb 2, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers

Les gens qui bossent dans l'ombre peuvent devenir des héros.

Je viens de voir (et revoir pour le 1) trois épisodes de Woman with a suitcase, et j'y suis complètement entrée, mais le démarrage est quand même confus, les flash-backs pas toujours évidents, les intrigues croisées nombreuses et par scènes très courtes, la deuxième vision du 1 n'a pas été inutile ! !
Ceci dit c'est très intéressant, pour les personnages (particulièrement l'héroïne dont je n'étais pas sûre de pour voir l'endurer au début ! Heureusement elle change ! )les acteurs très bons.
L'intrigue je ne sais pas encore je n'ai vu que 3 épisodes je sens bien que l'essentiel est à venir !! Et la relation entre Hamburger et Cha machin est tout à fait réjouissante, elle me rappelle ces comédies américaines des années 40/50, avec Cary Grant et Katharine Hepburn, avec une relation d'opposition complice chien/chat pétillante d'esprit et d'humour !
j'aime beaucoup l'héroïne Geum Jo, (c'est assez rare chez moi !! ) bien qu'au tout début je l'ai trouvée parfaitement détestable ! Elle me fait penser à Mae Ri (Princess Prosecutor) sauf que là, heureusement, elle ne met pas 8 épisodes à évoluer !! mais elle a un grand courage et une belle faculté à se remettre en question et reconnaître ses erreurs !

Mais l'espèce d'horrible bonhomme, le président Lee, qu'on a envie de piétiner joyeusement,  c'est bien lui aussi qu'on aurait volontiers étripé dans Signal, non?
Il faut que cet acteur fasse gaffe : il va y en avoir qui vont lui faire sa fête au coin d'une ruelle sombre un soir de nuit sans lune !!


Avis final :

J’ai fini hier Woman with a suitcase, et j'avoue que le dernier épisode a fortement tempéré mon enthousiasme pour ce drama ! Non à cause de l'absence de conclusion évidente entre les deux principaux acteurs (au contraire, j'aime assez que ce soit le travail et la force d'indépendance de cette femme qui soient mis à l'honneur, plutôt que la recherche acharnée d'un mari ! )non pour ça donc, mais pour le côté brouillon de l'évolution des personnages...
Spoiler:
Le Président Lee est en prison... et 20 s plus tard il s'entraîne au golf... l'implication du NIS est vraiment floue et peu crédible (ou alors je n'ai pas tout compris ) le départ de Ma chez les procureurs n'est pas expliqué (encore une fois il y a eu des moments où, même en français, je ne voyais pas à quoi cette suite de mots correspondait ! )et surtout le retour de la jeune sœur du côté lumineux de la Force, s'il est sympa, est aussi un peu rapide, parce qu'on survole assez vite les galères (méritées ! ) qu'elle traverse après sa chute !
Tout ça pour dire que cette fin me laisse un sentiment mitigé de légère déception ! Mais malgré tout les 15 autres épisodes sont très bien (avec quand même des trucs vraie vie des dramas : Hamburger qui devrait être menotté à son lit d'hôpital et qui s'y balade tout à fait librement !! , où les manifestations bruyantes du public dans le prétoire sans que le juge dise quoi que ce soit... ) mais cela ne rompt pas le rythme, ni ne nuit à la tension de l'intrigue !

Au total je ne sais pas si je le mettrais dans mon top 10, mais il pourrait être à la 11è place !!

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Woman with a Suitcase (2016) poster

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