Home > Feature
[Herald Review] ‘Like for Likes’ is charming but predictably cheesy
Lee Mi-yeon and Yoo Ah-in star in “Like for Likes” (CJ Entertainment) |
It’s difficult to imagine how this setup could yield surprises, yet one still feels a tinge of disappointment at the way in which “Like for Likes” fulfills its promise to a T. If any romantic comedy could give the tired tropes a whirl, it seemed “Like for Likes” would be it, because of its all-star cast, if nothing else.
The first couple is made up of veteran actress Lee Mi-yeon (most recently in the hit drama “Reply 1988”) playing a haughty, sharp-tongued TV writer and Korean cinema darling Yoo Ah-in (“Veteran,” “The Throne”) playing a carefree, selfish international superstar.
Kim Joo-hyuk and Choi Ji-woo star in “Like for Likes” (CJ Entertainment) |
The third couple struts out Kang Ha-neul, who was in the movie “Twenty,” with model and actress E Som, who was in the movie “Scarlet Innocence”. Kang is a gifted composer with a hearing impairment who has no experience in love, while E is a savvy TV producer who finds her next plaything in Kang’s character.
It’s a cast of A-list names with solid, serious acting credentials playing cliched characters. Despite the film’s attempts to market itself as being fresh and trendy by having all three couples eventually hook up thanks to the power of social media, online networks play a minimal role in the plot itself. Any romantic comedy set in 2016, in fact, should incorporate Facebook stalking and messaging in order to seem realistic.
E Som and Kang Ha-neul star in “Like for Likes” (CJ Entertainment) |
Director Park Hyun-jin told reporters at the press preview that she wanted the female characters to be “independent” rather than be “swept around by the male characters,” and that intent jumps out through certain lines in the film. Choi Ji-woo’s character casually corrects the term “spinster” into “single woman” in conversation, and Yoo Ah-in’s character chastises his colleagues for calling Lee
Mi-yeon’s character bossy and headstrong saying that a man who had this type of personality would be considered self-assured.
Unfortunately, those socially conscious lines generally fall in awkward thuds even from the mouths of the excellent cast. They are jarring when considering the overall mood of the film, and these moments come across as a break in character.
“Like for Likes” isn’t bad - it is well-edited, smoothly paced and has an appropriate mix of cringe-worthy lines and laugh-out-loud moments. All of the characters are natural and comfortable and seem to fit well with the real-life personalities of the actors who play them. It’s a shame that it opens after Valentine’s Day weekend, because it seems like the perfect date movie. However, for anyone who expects this star-studded film to be something beyond effortless archetypes, the film is likely to leave something to be desired.
“Like for Likes” opens in local theaters on Feb. 18.
By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)