Now to the nitty gritty.
Acting: I felt the acting in this was good, for the most part the characters emoted realistic feelings. The more stone-faced character by Joe Cheng was portrayed correctly, but I was disappointed to see him type-caste in the same melancholy persona as ISWAK. It made this drama at times frustrating, because they used his uncommunicative and passive character to create unnecessary drama, while at other times he was extremely decisive and outspoken. I've seen him in The Rose, and know he can do so much more. Lee Da Hae did a great job as a protagonist, especially if you like those type who are almost TOO good and self-sacrificing to be true.
As a warning, voices ARE dubbed over (a Korean is playing a Chinese role), so if that annoys you, this drama is NOT for you.
Storyline: Moved along smoothly from 1 crisis to the next. Having seen my fair share of dramas, it is safe to say this drama included everything from jealous, maneuvering ex-girlfriends, past family feuds, hostile business take-overs, fake pregnancies, debt collectors, love-triangles, and annoying side-characters. There is, as any 34 episode drama would have it, too much dialogue about food and life towards the end of the series, but the positive side is they allowed character development to progress more naturally.
Overall, I'd rate this drama at a 6, to low 7, mainly because this wasn't a "new" plot or storyline, and in order to keep my attention and interest, you'd have to have "outstanding" acting to balance that out.
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This review may contain spoilers
Its okay, but don't expect too much.
The female lead, Qiao Zhixia, should have wings and a halo. No actual human can come close to that much forgiveness and self-sacrifice. She should have cut her brother out of her life and told her nephew that she was his mother. The brother abandoned his son and didn't even know what he looked like. She allowed him to take her money so that she and her nephew would have to sleep on the street?!?!The male lead, Chen Haofeng, was dumped 10 years prior and his ex-girlfriend then disappeared (because her father basically kidnapped her). QZ heals CH and they fall in love. When the ex shows up, QZ decides that CH should get back together with his ex, just because their love had been interrupted. Once again....What?
The way she treated the ex-girlfriend was surreal. You faked a pregnancy to destroy my relationship? That is okay, I'll still be your best friend because you must have been in so much pain.
QZ was cute, spunky, loyal, and did what she had to do to raise her nephew. As the drama went on, QZ was a doormat. I almost wanted her to start dating the brother, he at least showed loyalty to QZ.
I loved the father of the three boys. He actually behaved as a loving father.
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LOVE ACTUALLY (2012) borrows skeletal elements of the German film MOSTLY MARTHA (2001) and its American 2007 remake NO RESERVATIONS. If you love food-oriented films or dramas, you might enjoy the first 12 episodes of the series. After that, the remaining 2/3 of the series goes off the rails into a crazy melodrama that no amount of fast-forwarding could fix. I FF'ed through ep. 27 and skipped to the last episode because I just couldn't take it any more.
Chinese dramas would be helped tremendously if they cut down the episode count. There's no reason for this story to be 34 episodes. 18 tops is enough.
[ACTING/CAST]
As Wang Xiao Xia, actress Lee Da Hae is so awkward at the beginning that I pretty much laughed non-stop the first two episodes. Fortunately, she quickly improves and isn't a distraction from the story. As other commenters previously noted, Xiao Xia is so pure, sweet and forgiving to the point of disbelief. Still, I love her scenes where she wields her super taste buds.
Cheng Joe is a beautiful, beautiful man which makes his emotionally frozen Chen Hao Feng somewhat tolerable. He is charming when he smiles, for sure.
Everyone else is fine but they have to portray characters who are crazy in their unrequited love, driven mad by the thirst for revenge, or just generally mean.
MUSIC didn't leave an impression on me and I will NEVER REWATCH this.
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Typical Chinese Drama
This drama tends to have the same problems as other early 2010s drama I've seen. The acting by Joe Chen and Yueyuan Liu (plays Tang Xiao Hui) was spectacular. They were multi-dimensional! The others showed growth in their characters, but otherwise seemed one-dimensional. All of the actors shined though through their interactions with Jason Chen (Yang Guang). Each of the story lines seemed to fit the series very well and the series seemed well paced.I would recommend this series to someone interested in watching something specifically involving family drama with regards to running a business and love triangles. However, I would not recommend this to someone who's tired of the same old thing.
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This review may contain spoilers
My advice : Skip it !
J'aime bien Li Yi Feng, le plot semblait interessant, donc je me suis lancée dans ce drama.Mais j'ai rapidement déchanté : l'écriture est nulle, irréaliste, pas cohérente, la réalisation super lente et agaçante, mais le TOP, c'est l'actrice coréenne qui joue la FL : hormis le respect des canons de beauté asiatique (tête de poupée), elle n'apporte RIEN et elle joue mal !!
Le contexte est classique : les rivalités familiales au sein d'1 restaurant traditionnel, mais on a droit à TOUS les clichés (retour de l'ex, fausse grossesse, magouilles, perte de la vue, etc.).
Trop, c'est trop : je ne suis allée au bout qu'avec beaucoup de zapping ! Donc un conseil si vous ne voulez pas perdre votre temps, zappez-le !
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