Heartwarming awkward love (and tears) in When a Man Loves

23 January 14, 2014January 14, 2014

Heartwarming awkward love (and tears) in When a Man Loves

by javabeans

Hwang Jung-min’s next project is just a week away from premiere, the movie When a Man Loves (no relation to the Song Seung-heon drama of the same name), and it looks like it’ll be serving up equal doses of comedy, romantic cuteness, and harder melo edge, all of which Hwang is amazing at portraying. The trailer itself took me on a mini-roller coaster of emotions, which went from (1) Oh, this looks darker and more serious than I was expecting to (2) Oh there’s the comedy to (3) Now that’s just adorable to (4) Oh no, he’s crying, and now I’m crying!

The premise appears rather simple: Uncouth gangster man with no romantic experience falls for a woman and becomes a new man. Comedy ensues, and also some heartbreak and tears. But Hwang Jung-min has a way of playing roles in a way that only he can, and just oozes so much heart that I find myself drawn in as though this familiar story were new again.

Hwang plays a character named Tae-il who, in the series of promo stills below, is described as “This man who knows noooo~thing of love,” “This man who knows no pity when collecting debts,” and “This man who still lives with and mooches from his older brother.” And yet, “This man who gets scammed by his own niece.”

Tae-il is a rough-around-the-edges debt collector working for a loan shark, and does his job crudely and effectively. But then he falls for Han Hye-jin when he goes to collect on her father’s debt, and turns into an innocent fool for love, suddenly caring about what clothes to wear and how to style his hair and practicing his walk. So cute. The part in the preview where he starts following her around like a lost little duck? It kills me.

But things turn melo, as they must (although, must they really?): After discovering a happier side to life, Tae-il is told he has a brain tumor. Aieeeee. Hence the tears and suffering. Is it too naive to hope for a happy ending anyway? Are you laughing at me for asking? *clings to naivety desperately*

When a Man Loves will release on January 22.

Via Herald

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Tags: Han Hye-jin, Hwang Jung-min

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1 byuldreamer

January 14, 2014 at 2:24 PM

awwhh...the ending is so sad in the trailer..why oh why?

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kdramafan

January 14, 2014 at 7:19 PM

Such a shame it turns into a melo but is that really the way it ends? Clinging to hope here.

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2 Dam

January 14, 2014 at 2:30 PM

This is like every other korean movie, but we still watch it.. cuz its awesome! They portray the emotions so well. I dont care if its a theme theyve used over a 100 times. Lookin forward to this movie.

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3 meanrice

January 14, 2014 at 3:05 PM

The actress playing the niece looks like Ha Ji Won in one still and Park Bo Young in another.

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miszmuja

January 14, 2014 at 5:45 PM

second to that!! mostly, the Ha Ji Won part..

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niKai

January 15, 2014 at 9:04 AM

i thot she looks like that joseon girl in My Lover From the Stars.

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4 bmore

January 14, 2014 at 3:08 PM

PLEASE have a happy ending! PLEEEEEAASE???. I just love him. He is such a terrific actor and always wears his emotions on his face. Sadly, I will be waiting a LOOOOONG time for the opportunity to watch this.

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5 canxi

January 14, 2014 at 3:10 PM

Wow, I really want to see this. It looks great but also...I do feel I will cry as well ):

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eny

January 14, 2014 at 6:20 PM

the teaser make me excited

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6 coffeenlucia

January 14, 2014 at 4:35 PM

niece-- so they're related?

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sotongpok

January 14, 2014 at 8:09 PM

pretty sure his niece is the schoolgirl in the third and fourth promo stills (with captions), not han hye-jin, haha

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7 Pearl

January 14, 2014 at 7:23 PM

He wears a lot of batik. In the stills alone I'm counting 4 patterns.

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luna.tic

January 14, 2014 at 10:20 PM

that caught my attention, too.

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tiq

January 15, 2014 at 4:42 AM

Right,,,batik,,just in 1 shirt tough,,but i think they choose pattern for wedding party,, *sad face* but its batik!yay

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8 Julia the Berkshire Beanie

January 14, 2014 at 8:39 PM

brain tumor? thanks for the warning, count me out.

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Daisy

January 14, 2014 at 10:10 PM

Same here. Real life is sad enough.

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9 eynay

January 14, 2014 at 10:21 PM

I love to see HJM again! Korean movies always not end with happiness, thats why I love to watch their movies.

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10 alua

January 14, 2014 at 11:19 PM

I like Hwang Jung-min, but this sounds like every other Korean movie, except with a top-notch actor in the lead. Unless the reviews are stellar and hint at some sort of originality, I'm skipping this.

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alua

January 15, 2014 at 1:59 AM

Modern Korean Cinema has review (I'm guessing Pierce went to the press screening since it officially premieres next week), giving it a pretty meh 3/5 and making clear what the ending is.

(If you don't want to know, don't read the review.)

Link:
http://www.modernkoreancinema.com/2014/01/review-when-woman-loves-woman-loses.html

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11 Oo

January 14, 2014 at 11:19 PM

Besides horror genre, I will watch any movie with HJM in it.

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12 Queen Naive

January 15, 2014 at 12:19 AM

Isn't the whole brain tumor part what usually hits us unexpectedly while watching? It usually isn't a good thing saying it before premiering. So I'm thinking it might get resolved. He gets surgery, gets away from the rest of the guys and turns into a family man. I can hope.

I'm going to watch it for HJM no matter how it ends. I just hope it ends well.

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13 Elise

January 15, 2014 at 1:42 PM

I get the feeling movies usually dont sugarcoat their endings cuz they can, which also makes up for some unrealistic drama endings (case in point, Lee Dong Wook's comeback drama whereby the girl with cancer didnt die, I mean really-yes miracles can happen but this was just wtf?!) I guess dramas have to cater to viewers who could watch one week and drop the drama the next, whereas with movies the moment u buy the ticket that's it you've contributed to the sales already, too bad if you don't like the ending ;)
so yeahs to answer ur question, he IS gonna die, thats just how kmovies roll!

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14 kookicookie

January 15, 2014 at 2:16 PM

@javabeans question: any word on how the production team got by with using the same title and similar premise as the drama? Not a fan of the drama or anything, but kinda curious.

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