Dick Tracy (1990)

In the summer of 1990, Dick Tracy was everywhere – the market was saturated with Dick Tracy merchandise (the soundtrack to the movie, posters, action figures, etc.);  a Making Of special aired a few weeks before the movie was released; Dick Tracy comic strips were reprinted in comic book form and being sold in bookstores across the country (I purchased a few issues – there are two I distinctly remember – Dick Tracy vs. the Influence and Dicky vs. Mrs. Pruneface), and the local station (Super 18) re-aired old episodes of the Dick Tracy cartoon from the 1960s. All of these were an attempt by Disney to manufacture excitement for their upcoming Dick Tracy adaptation.

Dick Tracy was Disney’s answer to Batman, which was a huge hit for Warner Brothers. They took a few of their cues from Batman – an well respected (and Oscar nominated) actor was cast as the lead villain (Jack Nicholson in Batman, Al Pacino in Dick Tracy); Danny Elfman was commissioned to write the score (just like he did for Batman); a popular pop artist was hired to perform original songs on the soundtrack (Prince in Batman and Madonna in Dick Tracy). Both movies are highly stylized productions – Gotham City is a stylized version of New York, while Dick Tracy resides in a stylized version of Chicago.

It seemed like Disney was going to have a huge hit on their hands – it all got off to a great start with a 22 million dollar opening weekend (which was huge in 1990), but Dick Tracy quickly
fizzled out at the box office. It grossed over 160 million dollars worldwide, not a bad sum for 1990, but it also cost Disney over a 100 million dollars to produce and market the movie. It did less than half the business of Batman (which grossed over 400 million worldwide) and, to add insult to injury, it got beat by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was made for about a quarter of the budget and released by an independent studio, New Line Cinemas. It is also interesting to note that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, despite being geared towards children, is also the darkest of the three movies. It pays to remember the context of 1990 – comic book adaptations were a rarity in cinema, so the fact that three of them were released over the course of one year was truly amazing. In the 1990s, movies were still driven by star power – which is why signing big names like Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino was such a big deal. Now, it is all about the intellectual properties and the actors have become interchangeable (though, ironically, so have all the IPs. There is almost no difference between Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Star Trek).

Why did Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rake in the money while Dick Tracy floundered? The answer is simple – name recognition. In 1990, younger audiences were more familiar with Batman and Ninja Turtles than they were with Dick Tracy. The Batman comics, and reruns of the Adam West show, were still in heavy rotation throughout the 1980s. Not to mention, there were the various Saturday Morning cartoons that featured Batman. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon came out in 1987 (the comic book began in 1984) and was extremely popular among children (as were the TMNT action figures).  In fact, I remember after seeing Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles in theatre, my two younger cousins were disappointed that it was more faithful to comic book than the animated series (most notably, Splinter’s origin).  However, by 1990, audiences had pretty much forgotten about Dick Tracy – the character was popular among the silent generation and the baby boomers, while Gen Xers and millennials might, at best, vaguely recognize the squared jawed detective. As for Gen Z, well, they weren’t born yet.

The other problem is that the character of Dick Tracy isn’t that interesting. He doesn’t have a cool back story like the Ninja Turtles nor is he a troubled soul like Batman – he is a total square. The highlight of the comic strips was the grotesque villains Dick Tracy faced off against. The comic book wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to its villains – their names were a too on the nose (Pruneface, Flattop, Itchy, The Brow, to name a few) and most of the time they were petty c criminals. The Dick Tracy comic strip first appeared in 1931, during Prohibition, so it’s not surprising that Dick Tracy would be squaring off against bootleggers, racketeers, and gangsters. It was very much a product of its time. It would also be difficult to update Dick Tracy without stirring controversy.  Hell, the 1960s cartoon is now a subject of controversy because of its use of ethnic stereotypes (Dick Tracy would often call upon minorities to do the footwork for him – there was the Japanese detective, Joe Jitsu; the Mexican officer, Go Go Gomez (he is basically a human Speedy Gonzalez); and the Irish police officer, Heap O’ Calorie).  Even in his own cartoon show, Dick Tracy was the least interesting character.

There had been previous attempts at adapting Dick Tracy to the big screen – there were four serials made between 1937 to 1941 that starred Ralph Byrd as the detective (Dick Tracy, Dick Tracy Returns, Dick Tracy’s G-Men, and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc). In 1946 and 1947, RKO studios produced four Dick Tracy movies (Dick Tracy, Dick Tracy vs. Cueball, Dick Tracy’s Dilemma, and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome), the first two starred Morgan Conway as the title character, and then Ralph Byrd reprised the role in the latter two. These were low budget movies that were produced to make a quick buck and, interestingly, none of them feature a villain from the comic strip.  Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome gets a huge boost by having Boris Karloff as the title villain, but it is still forgettable fare.  Ralph Byrd was perfectly cast as the strait-laced detective, while Morgan Conway is an extremely bland leading man (he is a poor man’s Humphrey Bogart). It is not surprising RKO brought back Byrd for the latter movies.  There is the occasional stylish moment in the series – in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball, there is a scene where the title villain strangles a double-crossing woman, and it is shot from his point of view – anticipating the slasher genre by a good thirty years.  Dick Tracy vs. Cueball was also included in the Harry/Michael Medved book, Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way). The book is an interesting read, but it also has a few questionable entries. Dick Tracy vs. Cueball is no classic, but it is not that bad! The four Dick Tracy movies RKO produced are mildly entertaining – there are certainly worse ways to waste sixty minutes.   Fun fact: Mike Mazurki, who played the villain, Splitface, in the 1946 Dick Tracy has a cameo in the 1990 version as “Old Man at Hotel.” It was his final screen appearance.  It is a nice tip of the hat by Beatty to Old Hollywood.

I first saw Dick Tracy at second run theatre (the Rivoli in Cedarburg) and enjoyed it immensely. My eleven-year-old self didn’t like the scenes with Breathless Mahoney and Dick Tracy, but I liked the colorful villains and, hell, I even liked the Kid.  Thirty-five years later, I still have a soft spot for Dick Tracy, though my opinion of the Breathless Mahoney scenes hasn’t changed (I do, however, like the musical numbers that Madonna performs throughout the movie). It’s no surprise that Madonna excels in the musical number scenes but struggles in the more dramatic moments. Movie stardom is something that has eluded Madonna – the more successful movies she appeared in she was a supporting actress (Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own). The only exception to the rule was Evita, which has based off a popular stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Prior to Dick Tracy, her two starring features, Who's That Girl and A Shanghai Surprise were box office duds. Her later starring vehicles like Swept Away and The Next Best Thing didn't fare so well, either.  However, in the context of 1990 it made perfect sense to cast Madonna in a femme fatale role – she was the current IT girl and a controversial figure. She was also coming off one of her most successful years as an artist – in 1989, she released the album, Like a Prayer, which featured the hit singles Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, and Cherish.  The album sold over 15 million copies and was a turning point in Madonna’s career. In 1990, months before the release of Dick Tracy, she kicked off the Blonde Ambition tour. She was all over the place. She was also dating Warren Beatty, her Dick Tracy co-star and director. This is an example of corporate synergy at work – Disney, and Beatty, were hoping to cash in on Madonna’s notoriety and cast her in the role of the nightclub singer/femme fatale, Breathless Mahoney. There was also a Dick Tracy soundtrack that featured Madonna performing original songs by Stephen Sondheim. 

The interesting thing is that even though Madonna and Warren Beatty were having a torrid love affair in real life, it doesn’t translate to the silver screen. The movie’s idea of seduction is to have Breathless Mahoney wear revealing outfits and utter a few double entendres at Dick Tracy. I always found the scene in Breathless Mahoney’s dressing room to be more cartoonish than sexy (“Don’t you want to frisk me?”). It is also reminiscent of a similar scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where the animated femme fatale, Jessica Rabbit, visits the cynical detective, Eddie Valiant, at his office. Yet even though this scene is played for laughs, it some how is filled with more sexual tension that any of the scenes with Dick Tracy and Breathless Mahoney.

There is also no way that a square like Dick Tracy would fall for a woman like Breathless Mahoney – he is too in love with Tess Trueheart to even consider another woman. Warren Beatty, definitely! Dick Tracy, hell no! There also significantly better chemistry between Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart, largely because Glenne Headly is a superior actress. Tess Trueheart is the type of role actresses dread to play – she is the long suffering but loyal girlfriend. There really isn’t much depth to the character, but Headly gives an endearing performance and even manages to inject humor into her characterization – when the Kid tells Tess, “I don’t like dames.” She responds, “Good! Neither do I!” and then gives him the stink eye.

There are even aspects of Beatty’s performance that I like. He doesn’t look anything like the character from the comic strip, but his performance is spot on. Beatty’s Dick Tracy is a man who likes the status quo – Tess and him eat at the same diner and engage in comedic banter with the owner, Mike. Even though he loves Tess, he still can’t bring himself to pop the big question, because it would change their current relationship. He is at home in Mike's diner, but he sticks out like a sore thumb, with his yellow fedora and overcoat, at the nightclub that Breathless works at (and that “Big Boy” Caprice stole from “Lips” Manlis). He is awkward and stiff whenever he is in the same room as Breathless Mahoney – she puts the moves on him, but he shoots her down and tells her that he wants her to testify against “Big Boy” Caprice.

Beatty and his screenwriters deserve credit for trying to give Dick Tracy some depth – this a truly Herculean feat given how one dimensional the source material was. He is a devoted, and honest, detective but it comes at the expense of his relationship with Tess. The two of them rarely enjoy a quiet moment together – Dick and Tess are watching an opera when he gets a call over his wrist radio and is forced to leave to check out a murder scene. Later, when Tess tells Dick Tracy that she is leaving town (and moving in with her mother), their conversation is interrupted by a call over Tracy’s wrist radio – he wants to talk her out of moving away, but duty calls and Tess urges him to go. Dick Tracy's work interrupting his private life was often a running gag in early film adaptations and each time this happened it would end with an exasperated Tess shouting, "OH DICK!"  In the 1990 movie, it eventually takes its toll on their relationship. 

While Dick Tracy is hesitant to take risks in his private life, he is willing to take a role of the dice when it comes to his job. While investigating the scene of “Lips” Manlis, Tracy comes across a bunch of smashed walnut shells and suspects “Big Boy” Caprice because of his fondness for walnuts. He takes a roll of the dice and has “Big Boy” Caprice arrested, despite the flimsy evidence. When the forensic department fails to find fingerprints on the walnuts, he has no choice but to release the gangster. “Big Boy” uses this as an opportunity to complain to the press about police corruption. He later brings in “Mumbles” for questioning and tries to sweat a confession out of Big Boy’s incoherent lackey – he sits Mumbles under a heat lamp and asks the same question over again, “Who killed Lips Manlis?” He taunts Mumbles by drinking a cold glass of water, which causes the perspiring henchmen to break down and incoherently babble. Later on, when Tracy plays back the recording to Mumbles and slows it down, he clearly says “Big Boy did it!”

The heart of the movie is Dick Tracy’s relationship with the Kid (who later chooses the name Dick Tracy, Jr.) The movie is at best when it focuses on Dick Tracy slowly embracing the role of fatherhood. The Kid is first introducing running out Mike’s diner – he has stolen the wallet of a patron. Dick Tracy chases after him and finds him living under the tyrannical rule of a hobo, who forces the Kid to commit petty crimes in exchange for food and shelter. Tracy saves the Kid from the abusive hobo, but then he is left with the question on what do the Kid.  He initially wants to hand the Kid over to orphanage, but he grows fond of the boy and keeps putting it off. More importantly, he proves to be a positive role model for the Kid – it is implied that had the Kid not met Dick Tracy, he might have easily fallen into the clutches of Al “Big Boy” Caprice, or some other gangster. A common tactic used by crime bosses was to groom wayward boys into a life of crime – they would often pay children good money to run errands for them (get the paper, shine their shoes, etc.) and when they grew up, they would be chosen to do more illegal activities. This is an interesting plot point in the James Cagney classic, The Public Enemy.

Beatty also avoids making the Kid overly cute and precocious (especially when you compare The Kid to “Junior” in the 1940s Dick Tracy movies– like most preteen boys, he is kind of a shithead. He scarfs down his food and always asks, “When do we eat?” When Tess wants to buy him a new set of clothes, he makes a huge fuss out of it. He also rides on the backboards of cars, despite the objects of Tracy. However, once Tracy has gained the Kid’s trust, he proves to be a loyal and valuable ally. He even manages to save the detective's life on two occasions. When Dick Tracy is framed for the murder of the corrupt D.A, the Kid stands by him and goes to the police chief to express his belief in his mentor's innocence.

The most memorable aspect of Dick Tracy is its galley of grotesque villains – the make-up artists certainly earned their paychecks on this movie. Al Pacino chews the scenery with his portrayal of the flamboyant gangster, Al “Big Boy” Caprice. I always enjoyed Pacino’s over the top performance, because it perfectly suits this film genre. The comic strip had a larger-than-life quality, and a more naturalistic performance would be out of place. “Big Boy” wants to run the city – he eliminates the first obstacle in his path, “Lips” Manlis and then arranges a meeting where he tries to persuade the other crime bosses to unite with him. The only hold out – “Spud” Spaldoni (James Caan under heavy makeup) – gets blown up for his refusal. This also leads to one of my gripes about the movie – most of the memorable villains from the comic strip are relegated to being Caprice’s henchmen. For instance, the character of The Influence is practically a background extra – in the comic strip he wore a special set of contacts that gave him the ability to hypnotize his victims. In the movie, he has a few lines of a dialogue, fades into the background, and then gets killed in the final shootout.  

There are a few standout performances: Dustin Hoffman is a riot as “Mumbles.” A running gag throughout the movie is how Dick Tracy will bring in “Mumbles” for questioning and be bombarded with incoherent babble.  William Forsythe and Ed O’ Ross are appropriately creepy as Big Boy’s henchmen, Flattop and Itchy. Both characterizations are accurate to comic strip – they were usually depicted as killers for hire (in the cartoon, Itchy was Pruneface’s lackey). 

The plot has always been criticized for being “threadbare” but that was also the case with the comic strip. Dick Tracy is a rather simple premise – the comic strip (and cartoon) all followed “the villain of the week” format – a villain would go on a crime spree and Dick Tracy would have to stop them. The villain was usually disposed of in a rather gruesome manner. The movie tries to liven up the proceedings by introducing a mystery to the plot – a gangster known as “The Blank” (because their face is devoid of features) uses 88 Keys (the piano player at Big Boy’s club) to frame Dick Tracy for the murder of D.A. John Fletcher.  The Blank later frames Big Boy Caprice for the kidnapping of Tess Trueheart. With the Blank’s two rivals out of the way, they will control the city.  The audience is supposed to keep guessing who this criminal mastermind is, but it’s pretty obvious from the get-go. There is only one character who has a clear motive for wanting to get rid of them both, and who inhabits both of their worlds. However, in this one instance, I will not spoil for the people who like to figure it out for themselves.

While one might find the storyline lacking, there is no doubt movie the movie is triumph of production design. The movie looks like the Dick Tracy comic strip come to life – rather than shoot on location, Beatty shot entirely in and relied heavily on matte paintings to expand the city and bring it to life. As a result, each shot in the movie looks like the panel of a comic strip – Beatty will often keep the camera stationary as characters walk in out of frame. When we are first introduced to Dick Tracy, he is framed though the window of his apartment building, grabbing his yellow hat and jacket. The also has a limited color palette – primarily red, green, blue, and yellow, each of the exact same shade. This further adds to the comic book look of the movie.  It also fitting that the Beatty uses film techniques that were popular in the 1930s – the use of matte painting is most obvious, but his use of montage editing (when Dick Tracy is arresting Big Boy’s lackeys) looks like something out of a Warner Brothers gangster movie from that period.  

Dick Tracy is definitely curio – it was an attempt at old fashioned filmmaking before CGI took over the industry. Out of the main comic book adaptations that was released in 1989/1990, it is the odd man out. It is also interesting to watch a comic book that wasn’t made with the intent of starting a movie franchise – both Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were given the sequel treatment, but Dick Tracy is a self-contained movie. There is nowhere Beatty could go with a sequel, considering that he killed off all of the main villains from the comic book. It is almost Beatty knew this would be his only shot at making a Dick Tracy movie and decided to include as many villains as possible. Warren Beatty has sat on the rights to Dick Tracy for the last thirty plus years and, with the exception of two specials, has done nothing with the character – probably because he knows it would be tough for this character to compete with all the CGI spectacles that dominate theatres.

 

Cast: Warren Beatty (Dick Tracy), Al Pacino (Al “Big Boy” Caprice), Madonna (Breathless Mahoney), Glenne Headly (Tess Trueheart), Charlie Korsmo (Kid), William Forsythe (Flattop), Ed O’ Ross (Itchy), Mandy Patinkin (88 Keys), Dustin Hoffman (Mumbles), Dick Van Dyke (D.A. Fletcher), Seymour Cassel (Sam Catchem), James Keane (Pat Patton), Charles Durning (Chief Brandon), Michael J. Pollard (Bug Bailey), James Tolkan (Numbers), R.G. Armstrong (Pruneface), Henry Silva (Influence), Paul Sorvino (“Lips” Manlis), Tom Signorelli (Mike), James Caan (“Spud” Spaldoni), Frank Campanella (Judge Harper), Kathy Bates (Mrs. Green), Catherine O’ Hara (“Texie” Garcia), Estelle Parsons (Mrs. Trueheart), Allen Garfield (Reporter), Charles Fleischer (Reporter), Mike Mazurki (Old Man at Hotel), Ian Wolfe (Munger).

Director: Warren Beatty
Writers: Jim Cash, Jack Epps, Jr. Based off the comic strip by Chester Gould.
Running Time: 105 minutes.

I Need Romance (In Need of Romance) (2011 - 13)

 

The I Need Romance series are a simultaneously fascinating and frustrating look at the different dating philosophies of women in their thirties. The first two series follow the same formula – three females friends try to navigate dating in their thirties, which leads to surprising results. I Need Romance is a much different beast than the other K-dramas that I have reviewed on this blog – it was made with an adult audience in mind (specifically women in their thirties) and features frank discussions on sex and steamier love scenes (at least by South Korean standards) – the show was clearly inspired by Sex and the City.  The biggest hurdle the series has to overcome is, unfortunately, the characters themselves – these are some of the most self-absorbed people you will ever meet. They are the kind of people who begin a sentence with, “I think” and “I want”, but rarely consider the feelings of person they are talking to. At least in I Need Romance 2012, the main character, Yeol-mae, acknowledges this as a character flaw and works to improve on her personality. This is an instance of where I like the actors far more than the characters they portray – Cho Yeo-jong (the star of the first series) and Jung Yu-mi (the star of the second series) both have appealing screen presences and really sell the material they have been given.

However, as I mentioned before, I am not the demographic that this series was targeting, and it is more than likely that women in their thirties will have a significantly different (and more favorable) reaction to the series. In fact, if you want to read a woman’s perspective, I recommend you check out Dramabeans reviews of the series – her reviews are incredibly thorough with a lot of interesting insights. The website has been incredibly helpful to me when I need to refresh my memory.  The first two series are not only connected by themes but characters as well (Tae-woo, a minor character in series one, has a more prominent role in I Need Romance 2012, while the juvenile leads of series one, Hyun-joo and her fiancé Deok-soo briefly appear in I Need Romance 2012. Also, the lead male character of the first series, film director Sung-soo, is referenced multiple times throughout the second series).  I Need Romance 3, despite sharing similar themes and plot points, often feels like an entirely different beast – it may be the only entry in the series that gives its main protagonist, Shin Joo-yeon, a satisfying character arc. It could be argued that the female protagonists in the first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae, actually regress by the series end – they are in the same place they were at the beginning of the series.

In the first two series, the three female characters all have found successful careers – in season one, In Young is the concierge manager at the posh hotel; Seo-yeon is the editor of a lifestyle magazine and also models on the side; and Hyun-joo is a lawyer.  In season two, Yeol-mae is a music director (she produces music for movies) and composer; Jae-kyung is a shoe designer who is married to a popular news anchor; and Ji-hee (the most likable of the six women I have listed) is the vice manager at a popular movie theatre. 

In Young and Yeol-mae have been involved with the same man for over a decade – In Young has dated the film director, Sung-soo, for ten years and has known him since middle school, and Yeol-mae has had an on and off relationship with Seok-hyun for twelve years and has known him her entire life (they are even next door neighbors – and their houses are connected by an outdoor extension).  In Young and Sung-soo’s relationship comes to an abrupt after he cheats on her with the young actress, Yoon Kang-hee, who is the star of his upcoming movie.

When I Need Romance 2012 begins – Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun called it quits three years ago but have remained friends. It is revealed that their last break up was incredibly painful – the two of them got into violent argument in a marketplace, which resulted a trip to a jail. However, Yeol-mae is still attracted to Seok-hyun and, more importantly, is incredibly horny. She suggests to Yeol-mae that they do the whole “friends with benefits” things until they start dating another person. Seok-hyun agrees, as he has no intention of being in a full-time relationship with Yeol-mae (though, it is later revealed there is a specific reason why he keeps pushing her way. Hint: it is your typical “noble idiocy” that plagues so many K-dramas).  At first, things are all peachy keen – Yeol-mae’s sexual desires are being fulfilled and Seok-hyun likes the “no strings attached” part. However, Yeol-mae doesn’t just want to be sex partners with Seok-hyun, she wants to get back together with him permanently, and he tells her in no uncertain terms that this isn’t going to happen.  She is, naturally, heart broken by his rejection and spends the next few days in complete stupor.

After In Young and Sung-soo break up, In Young has a total break down – in fact, she begins to harass and stalk Sung-soo – she calls him at bedtime for a week straight and then sneaks into his apartment so she can scold him in person. She can’t believe he is able to fall asleep with such relative ease after their breakup. Even though Sung-soo has done her dirty, she can’t stop thinking about him; this is entirely believable – the two of them have dated each other for over a decade, and have known each other since middle school, he has been her security blanket for all these years and the idea of not having him around is scary one. She doesn’t know who she is without Sung-soo – it’s like a part of her has died. Normally, this would be a golden opportunity for our heroine to do some soul searching and figure out what she truly wants in life, but instead she immediately jumps into another relationship with Bae Sung-hyun, who is the grandson of the hotels CEO and In Young’s junior by five years (this the only example of accurate casting in the entire series. As the actor Choi Jin-hyuk was, indeed, five years younger than Cho Yeo-jong).  This is a trope that all three series have in common – the three female protagonists become romantically involved with a younger man. The other trope is that the other man in their life is someone they have known since childhood. 

When Yeo-jong first met Sung-hyun, she trained him to be a concierge. The two of them worked together for a year, and she had no idea who his real identity was. The two of them did exchange a kiss, but Yeo-jong viewed it as being done in the heat of the moment. It was nice while it lasted, but it was also something to forget about – at this point, she was still dating Sung-soo. Yeo-jong just wrote it off as her junior harboring a high school crush on her.  When Sung-hyun quit his concierge job, Yeo-jong was disappointed but she also moved on with her life. 

 Her two best friends, Seo-yeon and Hyun-joo, have their own problems. Soo-yeon is not interested in long term relationships, she treats men like accessories - she will date a man for three months, dump him, and then move onto the next thing. She witnesses the pain that her two best friends have gone through in their long-term relationships and doesn’t want any of that. Her promiscuous behavior does, on occasion, create problems – she ends up having an affair with a married man, whose wife is pregnant, only to the find that the man’s wife is suing her for adultery.

 It feels like the series is going to do something interesting with this character -outside of the courthouse, the pregnant wife assaults Soo-yeon but begins to go into labor. Soo-yeon, still feeling bad about the affair, drives the woman to the hospital and acts as her guardian (she claims they are sisters). After the woman gives birth, Soo-yeon becomes attached to the baby boy – she looks after the baby while the mother is resting.  It is the only time in the series that Soo-yeon behaves in a truly selfless manner – she has found something greater than herself. She is heart broken when she is separated from the child – while the mother is grateful to Soo-yeon for looking after her, she still doesn’t anything to do with Soo-yeon. I initially believed that this brief narrative detour was set up for Soo-yeon becoming a mother in the final episode – it is written as a life changing moment for her. However, this minor subplot is nothing but filler – by the next episode is back to her old ways.  She is even more callous in her behavior – she starts seeing two men, Joon-yi (a photographer) and Alex (In Young’s co-worker and friend) at the same time.  In Young proves to be a rather terrible friend to Alex – she verbally objects to Soo-yeon dating him and is appalled when she finds out that Soo-yeon is cheating on him, but she doesn’t bother to give him a head’s up.  Alex is one of the two honest characters in the entire show – he is a straightforward person and is devoid of any agendas. He tries to understand Soo-yeon, but he can’t continue their relationship. Soo-yeon just coldly shrugs him off and regrets her actions after he has left Korea.  It is a credit to the actress, Choi Yeo-jin, that Soo-yeon comes off as sympathetic as opposed to being a cold-hearted temptress.

The third leg in the trifecta is Kang Hyun-joo – she is 33 years-old, an attorney and still a virgin. At the beginning of the series, she is engaged to Tae-woo, who doesn’t have any interest in sleeping with his future bride. Hyun-joo initially believes that Tae-woo is saving himself for marriage, but it turns out that the reason Tae-woo doesn’t make a move is because he doesn’t find her sexually desirable. On the day of their wedding, he leaves her at the altar. This devastates Hyun-joo, but she is determined to lose her virginity, and the man she chooses is Kim Deok-soo. The first time she met Deok-soo he was working for a small company called “Disposable Men” – they are hired to do specific tasks (clean, maintenance, etc.) and then be on their merry way.  Hyun-joo’s first interaction with Deok-soo is disastrous – she spills coffee all over his pants.  While she finds Deok-soo attractive, she is a disappointed that he is lacking in “book smarts.” She brings up novels she has read, but he has no idea what she is talking about.  When Tae-woo stands her up at the altar, she calls Deok-soo and asks him to stand in for her former fiancé’s place.  He agrees to go through with the marriage ceremony – Hyun-joo doesn’t register the marriage, so it technically (on a state level) doesn’t count. While she views Deok-soo as her intellectual inferior, he is the perfect one-night stand – all she has to do is seduce him.

 Deok-soo is the second genuinely honest character in the entire series – he has no hidden agenda and is very straightforward with Hyun-joo.  He is at the age where he wants to settle down, get married, and have a family, and sees Hyun-joo as a potential mate. He also owns a paddle ball club, which Hyun-joo finds embarrassing. The other thing Hyun-joo finds frustrating about Deok-soo is how content he is with his life – he is perfectly fine with owning a paddle ball club and being a pillar to the community. He is not interested in monetary gain – he just wants to make people happy. After Hyun-joo has successfully popped her cherry to Deok-soo, she tries to distance herself from him – to the point that she pays him to leave her alone. Her interprets that as her paying him for sex, loses his temper, and gives her a slap across the face. This will, undoubtedly, make western audiences uneasy – though, if the roles were reverses, there would be a lot of “Yes, Queen” cheers from the audience. Also, she deserved it! She is dismissive of Deok-soo’s feelings, uses him for her own agenda, discards him, and then is surprised that he is hurt. Deok-soo is a very lowkey character – he is not the kind of guy who has violent outbursts, but man, Hyun-joo really does a number one the poor guy.   

Hyun-joo’s mother tries to set her up on blind dates with prominent males – one of them is a lawyer and, like Hyun-joo, is extremely well read. It seems that she has found a suitable mate but, in true K-drama fashion, he is a total lech and forces himself on Hyun-joo.  Deok-soo just happens to be in the area and chases the slimeball away. I always find this type of writing contrived – Hyun-joo hooks up with a man who is too good to be true and, of course, he is a scum bucket.  It would have been interesting if he was a genuine good dude, who Hyun-joo doesn’t have any interest in (despite their compatibility).  The show Familiar Wife does this type of storyline to perfection. 

I have similar criticism of the resolution to In Young’s romance with Sung-hyun. The writers desperately want to get In Young back together with Sung-soo (despite his two-timing) and they paint themselves in the corner by making Sung-hyun the ideal mate for In Young (despite him being five years her junior).  The writers throw two monkey wrenches into their relationship. The first one being that Sung-hyun is in pre-arranged marriage with the daughter of a potential investor. Now, this is something that Sung-hyun could have explained to In Young (“My parents want me to marry this woman, but I am trying to break it up. Just bear with me for a little while”), instead she is blindsided by this revelation. His fiancée shows up at the hotel and unleashes her wrath on the employees.  Before his fiancée shows up, Sung-hyun says to In Young, “Trust me” and “pretend you don’t see or hear anything for the next week.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? How does he expect her to react when she sees his fiancée in person?  There are two things that annoy me in dramas – noble idiocy and a character’s inability to explain a problem that is easily resolved. Both of these tropes appear in all three I Need Romance series.  However, this only proves to be a minor speed bump in their relationship – Sung-hyun successfully breaks off the engagement and then proposes to In Young (who is initially ecstatic – even though they have only been dating for a few weeks).  

The second monkey wrench thrown into their romance proves to be fatal – Sung-hyun introduces In Young to his wealthy the parents and they agree to the marriage, but with that stipulation that Sung-hyun moves to United States, changes her name, and waits for Sung-hyun to join her (which would take about a year) after the scandal has died down. It’s no surprise that In Young can’t agree to this stipulation and she breaks up with Sung-hyun. This is a plot point that I just couldn’t buy – In Young’s and Sung-hyun’s relationship has survived all sorts of challenges, but when this inconvenience gets in their way, In Young immediately wants to end it all. There also the fact that Sung-hyun offers zero push back on his parents – he knows that demands are ridiculous but goes along with them, regardless. I don’t believe it! These two characters, as written in the previous episodes, would have just said, “Fuck the parents. Let’s get married without their blessing,” but, because the plot demands it, Sung-hyun turns into a quivering pile of jelly and really makes no effort to win back Sung-hyun. He resigns himself to the fact that their relationship is over. 

After having they have successfully disposed of Sung-hyun, this gives the writers the freedom to reunite In Young with Sung-soo (the two-timing dipshit).  Where do I begin with this?  It is interesting reading the comments section of I Need Romance recaps, because the fan reaction to In Young going back to Sung-soo is overwhelmingly negative.  Who can blame them?  Sung-soo is an extremely unlikable character – the writers try to give him a character arc where he sees the error of his ways, owns up to his mistakes, and tries to atone for his adultery, but it is to no avail.  Even if Sung-soo is a changed man, In Young is always going to have a lingering doubt about him. He is a film director who works with all sorts of young, attractive actress – the minute In Young sees a picture of Sung-soo with one of these starlets, she is going to assume the worst – that is one of the few constants of her character. It’s a tragic ending masquerading as a happy one. It is also incredible how quickly In Young gets over her breakup with Sung-hyun – the two of them were practically engaged and just weeks after the fact, she gets back together with Sung-soo.  Though, her relationship with Sung-hyun also escalated quickly – they only have been dating for, at best, a few months and she is already willing to marry the guy (despite knowing very little about him). 

 It is rare that I bring up the technical aspects of K-dramas – they are usually efficiently done that you don’t pay attention to the detail, but the editing in I Need Romance is extremely jarring at time – there will often a scene dialogue scene between two characters with the traditional shot/reverse shot set up, but then it cut to awkward two shot of the characters (shot from either a low angle or angle) and the color temperature doesn’t match – the scene will go from muted to colors to being overly saturated with color. An odd stylistic choice that all three series make is that a scene will often cut to a still shot of the character during a critical moment – it is incredible annoying (though, I Need Romance 3 dials it down significantly) and interrupts the flow of the scene. The first time this happened; I thought that the picture on television had frozen up.

I Need Romance 2012 often feels less like a follow up and more of a remake of the first series. It once again follows the lives of three female friends (Joo Yeol-mae, Woo Ji-hee, and Seon Jae-kyung) as they try to find love in their thirties. Yeol-mae gets caught up in a love triangle between Yeon Seok-hyun (a man who she has known here entire life and a screenwriter) and Shin Ji-hoon (a man two years her junior and the owner of a coffee shop).  Yeol-mae is a music producer (and composer) and lives next door to Seok-hyun (their mothers were best friends and after their fathers died, built the house two of them currently live in). Even though they live in separate houses, their two homes are connected with an extension, and they share the same living room.  Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun dated on and off for twelve years, and after their last painful break up, they decided to remain just friends.  The two of them have co-existed peacefully for three years, but Yeol-mae finds that she is still sexually around by Seok-hyun and suggests they go the whole “friends with benefits” route until they find a new partner.  At first, it feels like a win-win scenario – they both can satisfy their carnal desires without being bogged down by the pressure of being in a full-time. After all, their previous attempts at being a couple ended in disaster, because Seok-hyun often acted cold towards Yeol-mae (especially when writing) and Yeol-mae has a very short temper and would often berate Seok-hyun for not opening up to her. The two of them were always a trainwreck waiting to happen, so “friends with benefits” seems like a more ideal solution for them.

However, against her better judgment, Yeol-mae realizes that she still loves Seok-hyun and wants to get back together with him. Seok-hyun adamantly shoots this idea down (his reasoning proves to be lame, but more on that later) and his refusal stuns Yeol-mae. It doesn’t destroy their friendship, but it does make things awkward between the two of them.  This also is where I need to point out that both of the actors (Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook) are excellent and do wonders with the material that is given to them.  It is easy to relate to Yeol-mae’s increasing frustration with Seok-hyun and his unwillingness to confide in her. It’s not surprising that she finds him to be a cold person, because he constantly just brushes off her concerns. The last time they broke up was over marriage – Yeol-mae wanted to get married while Seok-hyun shot down the idea.  This is the trope of many K-dramas – the stoic male lead who is hesitant to reveal his true feelings for the lead female. These are plots that could usually be resolved if the male character just uttered three words “I Love You,” but usually spends most of the series either second guessing himself or coming up with nonsensical reasons why he can’t be with the lead woman.  The better K-dramas tend to avoid this trope, or if it is incorporated into the storyline, it is done so in a believable manner.  Unfortunately, I Need Romance 2012 is not one of the better K-dramas and Seok-hyun’s behavior becomes increasingly infuriating as the show progresses – to the point that I started to lose interest in the main storyline – this is an instance where I like the side characters more than the leads.

After Seok-hyun’s rejection, it is not surprising that Yeol-mae ends up in the arms of another man – in this case, it is Shin Ji-hoon. The two of them bond over vinyls (Ji-hoon owns a vinyl that Yeol-mae has been looking for) and coffee (he taught a coffee making class and Yeol-mae was one of his students). It also turns out that Ji-hoon attended a music class that was taught by Yeol-mae and has harbored a crush on her ever since.  The two of them hit it off and pretty soon Yeol-mae is spending the night at Ji-hoon’s house. At first, Seok-hyun tries to be supportive of their relationship – he even invites Ji-hoon over for a cookout, but eventually his more jealous nature begins to take over.  Both Seok-hyun and Yeol-mae have a habit of taking each other for granted, they just assume the other one will always be there regardless of their relationship status. When it looks like Seok-hyun might permanently lose Yeol-mae to Ji-hoon, he freaks out.  Even though Ji-hoon and Yeol-mae have just started, he is already talking about marriage and wants her to meet his parents to get their approval. Seok-hyun finally confesses his feelings for Yeol-mae, but she doesn’t believe him.  He believes that the window on their relationship has been closed forever and does the correct thing, by putting his house up for sale.  At this point, after making a public spectacle of himself, he realizes that he will be content with Yeol-mae being with Ji-hoon, as long as she is happy.

The question you ask: If Seok-hyun loves Yeol-mae then why did he initially reject her proposal that they get back together?  The answer: (oh boy) It turns out that his father and sister died of a disease that is hereditary and there is a 50/50 chance that he might develop it, as well. It turns out he loves Yeol-mae so much to allow her to suffer as he slowly disintegrates in front of her eyes.  He is making the noble sacrifice.  Where do I even begin with this?  The thing that irks me about the noble sacrifice in K-dramas is that deprives the lead female of making her own decision.  In Yeol-mae’s case, she has an unconditional love for Seok-hyun, but he just assumes she wants a more convenient relationship. If he gets sick, that could make things inconvenient for her, and he doesn’t know if she could endure it. UGH! He should tell her the facts and then allow her to make up her own mind. It doesn’t occur to him how devastating it would be for Yeol-mae to learn, after the fact, that her boyfriend died of a disease and that was the reason he broke it off with her. The main thought that will be going through her head will be, “If only I could have been there for him in his final days.” Also, he breaks it off with Yeol-mae over a hypothetical – “I might get this fatal disease.”  That’s akin to not going to work, because you might get into a car accident. What’s even odd is that this disease subplot is totally unnecessary, because the writers already provided Seok-hyun a legitimate reason for not wanting to get back together with Yeol-mae.  The two of them have been an on and off for over a decade, and their last break up was especially a painful one (that ended with them in the police station – they were in a marketplace and began to throw produce at one another. Their fight escalated so quickly that Seok-hyun even smashed a few of the vending carts).  After that last break up, it makes sense that Seok-hyun would be hesitant in wanting to get back together with Yeol-mae. They often bring out the worst in one another.

I also found it impossible to get involved with the Yeol-mae/Ji-hoon romance, because I knew it was ill fated.  It was akin to the Shi-won/Tae-woong romance in Reply 1997, where the writers laughably tried to sell us on the idea that those two might end up together – just like Shi-won and Yoon-je were destined to be together, the same applies to Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun. The two characters have known each other since childhood, have dated and broken up multiple times, and always returned to each other in the end. Ji-hoon is a likable guy, but he is nothing more than a rebound romance for Yeol-mae. When Yeol-mae learns about the death of Seok-hyun’s sister and his fear of inheriting that lethal disease from his father, she immediately goes back to him. Seok-hyun, to his credit, tries to do the noble thing by telling her to go back to Ji-hoon. His noble stupidity is annoying, but it is also understandable in this case.  He realizes how his irrational behavior has hurt Yeol-mae and believes the best thing he can do is remove him from her life.

I Need Romance 2012 also features another one of my least favorite K-drama tropes – the time jump. Seok-hyun decides to move out of his house and puts it up for sale and decides to spend his last day with Yeol-mae by going on a drive with her. He then tells Yeol-mae she should go back to Ji-hoon and that he will be moving out so she can move on with her life. She doesn’t respond well to either of these things and storms off in a rage and decides she is going to walk home. This leads to another absurd moment in the series – Yeol-mae walks cross country, by herself, for a week. She discards her phone so no one can get a hold of her, but it never occurs to Seok-hyun or Ji-hoon to notify the police about her disappearance. When she returns home, Seok-hyun has moved out (but he still hasn’t sold his house). Flash forward to one year later – Seok-hyun has completely fallen off the map (though his house still hasn’t sold) and Yeol-mae is still single (which is probably a good idea).  She feels guilty about breaking up with Ji-hoon, but she is convinced that Seok-hyun is her destiny. Also, one should never feel too bad about breaking off a relationship, especially if your heart wasn’t in it to begin with.  Ji-hoon, to his credit, doesn’t bear her any ill will and moves on with his life. Seok-hyun lives in a cabin that is located in the middle of nowhere and, somehow, Yeol-mae finds him. The two of them reconcile and officially are, once again, a couple – he even proposes to her this time around. It needs to be restated, both Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook are terrific actors (he is especially good in the time travel thriller, Nine) and have a great chemistry together, but the Seok-hyun/ Yeol-mae relationship gets very tiresome. Hell, though I like Lee Jin-wook’s performance – there was actually point where felt that Yeol-mae might be better off with Ji-hoon (despite the non-existent chemistry). It is difficult watching two characters treat each other so poorly. Ji-hoon is a laid-back guy and, to be honest, is too good for Yeol-mae. I initially believed Ji-hoon would hook up with Seok-hyun’s cute co-writer, Kang Na-hyun.

The character of Kang Na-hyun is a peculiar one – Seok-hyun is adapting a screenplay that was written by her, and she is less than thrilled by the changes he has made to her script (at the studio’s behest). The two of them have a heated argument that ends with Seok-hyun kicking her out of his house. However, after he has had time to cool down, he approaches Na-hyun and asks her to help him with the screenplay. She ends up moving into Seok-hyun’s house, much to the annoyance of Yeol-mae. Even though Na-hyun is interested in Seok-hyun, he doesn’t return her feelings and only views her as a business partner. Though, the main reason he doesn’t make a move on her is because of their age difference (which isn’t all that extreme – she is 25 and he is 33).  Plus, he still is in love with Yeol-mae, even though he won’t admit it.  It is odd that it never occurs to him to date Na-hyun after Yeol-mae begins dating Ji-hoon.  But again – Na-hyun is really too good for Seok-hyun. She should have ended up Ji-hoon.

The storylines involving Yeol-mae’s two female friends are more compelling. Seon Jae-kyung is a shoe designer, who is married to a popular news anchor, Lee Jang-woo. However, their marriage is one of convenience – Jae-hyung uses him to hook her up with potential investors. Neither of them is faithful to each other – Jang-woo hooks up with various woman, while Jae-hyung is having an affair with Han Jung-min, her business partner and first love (who she broke up with so she could marry Jang-woo).  Jae-hyung’s plan is to divorce Jang-woo and reveal all of his infidelities to the press, but he beats her to the punch. He announces his divorce from Jae-hyung and sic's his journalist buddies on Jae-hyung, effectively turning her into public enemy number one.  He effectively plays the role of the wronged husband – he publicly cries about their breakup but wishes his ex the best of luck. The public can’t believe Jae-hyung would cheat on such a decent huma being and they brand her a harlot. This leads to huge boycott of her shoe business and all of her employees end up quitting, so they won’t be dragged through the mud with her – only Jung-min remains by her side. Eventually, the controversy dies down and Jae-hyung can get back to her life and restart her business.  Jang-woo’s credibility takes a huge hit when he is busted for illegal gambling. This storyline isn’t anything spectacular, but it didn’t annoy me as much as the main storyline.  Again, the performances are excellent.

The relationship I found myself rooting for the most was one between Ji-hee and Tae-woo. One of the more pleasant surprises of I Need Romance 2012 is that it gives a redemption arc to Tae-woo – the man who wronged Hyun-joo in the first series.  When the series begins, Ji-hee is dating a doctor but is less than satisfied with her sex life – he just doesn’t turn her on in the bedroom. She tries to bring this up him in the nicest way possible but can never find the right opportunity to talk to him about it. However, before she can bring it up, he beats her to the punch and publicly complains about how she is a dead fish in the sack. Their conversation is overheard by Tae-woo, who just happens to be sitting on the bench next to him. He is listening to headphones, but he hears everything. He is visibly appalled by the things the doctor is saying to Ji-hee.  He even takes the time to offer Ji-hee some words of encouragement – he is convinced they will never see each other again, so he figures, “why the hell not?”  

However, the two of them keep bumping into one another – to the point that Ji-hee suspects that Tae-woo might be stalking her (it is completely unintentional). The movie theatre that Ji-hee works at is getting a new manager and it turns out to be none other than Tae-woo.  At first, things are incredibly awkward between the two of them – it makes Ji-hee uncomfortable that he knows a lot about her private life. It is also revealed that Ji-hee used to date Deok-soo (who is currently engaged to Tae-woo’s ex-fiancée, Hyun-joo). They even run into Hyun-joo and Deok-soo at a restaurant. 

As Ji-hee gets to know Tae-woo better, she realizes that they two of them have a lot in common and that he is a man that she can depend on. Tae-woo’s problem is that he is not the most romantic of men – he very lowkey asks Ji-hee to marry him and it annoys her – she wants to be swept off her and he just casually brings it up while they are eating at a restaurant. There is also a sense that Tae-woo doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past – he still feels guilty over the way he treated Hyun-joo and doesn’t want to disappoint Ji-hee. Mercifully, he avoids falling into the noble stupidity trap – he just wants to make sure Ji-hee is on the same page as him before he commits to her. The two of them are easily the most likable of three main couples – neither of them has an agenda they wish to pursue, they just want a straightforward relationship.  Despite their minor arguments, they also accept each other’s idiosyncrasies.  Tae-woo is not the most obvious of suitors, but he is a perfect match for Ji-hee.

 I Need Romance 2012 has its issues, but it is step above the first series. The showrunners clearly learned their lesson from the first series and fixed a lot of the mistakes that hurt the first series. As annoying as the main characters can be in the second series, they didn’t piss me off as much as the main characters in the first series.  I genuinely was pissed when In Young got back together with Sung-soo, while Yeol-mae getting back together with Seok-hyun doesn’t bother me as much. The show does a good job of establishing that the two of them are destined to be together – it just takes them forever to realize it.

I Need Romance 3 is the best series out of the three – it has terrific leads in Kim So-yeon and Sung Joon, and much more satisfying character arc for its female lead. In real life, Kim So-yeon is ten years older than her leading man, Sung Joon, but there is no denying the two of them have incredible chemistry together.  The series also acknowledges this age disparity – in the context of the show, Shin Joo-yeon is six years older than her would be suitor, Joo Wan. Just like in the first two series, Joo-yeon and Joo Wan share a long history with each other – Joo-wan was actually raised by Joo-yeon and her mother until the age of nine. His mother was preoccupied with her business and hired Joo-yeon and her mother to look after her son. At the age of nine, Joo-wan and his mother moved to the States, and he was separated from his childhood crush. It is also interesting how Joo-won and Jo-yeon remember this time of their lives – to Joo-wan, it was the best time of his life. He has fond memories of Joo-yeon and the time they spent together. To Joo-yeon, she is reminded of a difficult time in her life – she lived in poverty with her mom and, despite being a child, she was often tasked with looking after Joo-wan. It has worn her out both mentally and physically.

 Seventeen years later, Joo-wan is back in his career – he is now a popular DJ and composer, and goes by the stage name, Allen Joo.  Joo-yeon’s mother offered to let Joo-wan stay at the family house during his stay in South Korea, but Joo-yeon vehemently opposes this. When Joo-wan calls her on the phone, she tells him she doesn’t want him crowding her space and to look for another place to stay.  She tells Joo-wan that she has a boyfriend and the sound of their lovemaking would make Joo-wan uncomfortable.

 Joo-yeon is the fashion marketing director at a home shopping channel – she is in charge of the new brands department. The best way to define Joo-yeon is that she surrounds herself with colleague but there is not a single person she can call “friend” – her team at work often talk behind her back and she, in turn, doesn’t feel comfortable when they talk about their personal lives.  She is a cold and distant person and avoids getting close to people. When her boyfriend breaks up with her (after she is expecting a proposal), she just shrugs it off and moves on with her life. She has had her heart broken so many that she has become desensitized to the breakup process.  In first two series of I Need Romance, the female lead had two best friends she could lean on, but in I Need Romance 3, Joo-yeon is on her own. When Joo-yeon was in college, her best friend, Oh Se-ryung, stole her boyfriend away from her. Oh Se-ryung has grown up to be a famous stylist and, more importantly, is the ex-girlfriend of Joo-yeon’s boss/mentor, Kang Tae-yoon. She is also close friends with Joo-wan (talk about a small world).  Joo-yeon and Joo-wan are reunited at a club, where he is DJing under his stage name, so Joo-yeon has no idea that Allen Joo is actually the boy she used to babysit. Joo-yeon gets into a verbal spat with Oh Se-ryung, and when Joo-wan finds out that this cold woman is Joo-yeon, he can’t believe how much she has changed.  The Joo-yeon he remembers was a warm and giving person, while this woman standing in front of him is a cold-hearted bitch. He is determined to change her back into her former self (even though, what he perceived as her former self was an illusion).

 The two of them become romantically involved until Joo-yeon finds out Allen Joo’s real identity – he is the bratty kids she used to look after. She believes he was trying to make a fool out of her, but he insists his feelings for her were genuine.  Joo-wan eventually moves into Joo-yeon’s house (he lives in the attic) and, at first, the two of them are at odds with one another.  Even though, Joo-yeon was initially attracted to the grown-up Joo-wan, once she finds out his identity, she no longer views him as a man but as the child that gave her a difficult time. She constantly uses their six-year age difference against Joo-wan. To Joo-wan’s credit, he doesn’t pressure Joo-yeon into dating him – at first, he is okay with being her friend.  What Joo-yeon finds so jarring about Joo-wan is his honesty – she comes from a world of brown nosers and backstabbers that when she encounters a genuine person she doesn’t know how to react – there has got to be a catch. 

The more interesting aspects of I Need Romance 3 is the gender role reversal – normally, in K-dramas it is the female protagonist who has a positive influence on the jaded male lead – he begins the drama cold and distant, but by the end, thanks to the heroine’s undying love, he is a changed man. Here, it is the opposite – Joo-yeon starts off as a cold-hearted bitch who transforms into a more open, and caring, individual, and this achieved due to Joo-wans unwavering love and support.  At first, the changes he makes to her life are minor – when he moves into Joo-yeon’s house, Joo-wan begins cooking for her. We can tell, just by her reaction, that it has been a long time since Joo-yeon has enjoyed a home cooked meal – her diet consists mostly of take out and eating out. The only item she keeps in her refrigerator is pouches of Red Ginseng – it is usually what she has for breakfast. Joo-wan also gives her house a thorough cleaning – to the point where she doesn’t recognize it. He also has a gentle way of pointing out her flaws – he doesn’t scold her but just tells the areas she needs to improve on in her life. 

When Joo-yeon’s co-worker, Lee Min-jung, gets pregnant, she needs someone to air out her grievances and concerns, but Joo-yeon completely shuts her down.  In Joo-yeon’s defense, Min-jung was doing this in the workplace and she doesn’t have time to deal with her co-workers personal. Plus, she finds the exchange awkward and doesn’t know what to say. When she tells Joo-wan about this, he chides her a little bit and then tells her that Min-jung wasn’t looking for advice, she just needed someone to talk to. The next time Joo-yeon and Min-jung are working together, when Min-jung starts talking about the difficulties she is facing, Joo-yeon begins to ask her questions, and this results in the two of them forming a sisterly bond.

 It is also Joo-wan who points out that Joo-yeon has feelings for her boss, Kang Tae-yoon. She notices that whenever she is around Tae-yoon that her heart seems to beat at a faster pace, but she doesn’t know why it is. She has become so jaded with life that she doesn’t know her true feelings about people. Joo-wan has to spell it out for her – at first, she is in denial but eventually realizes that this is true.  In theory, Tae-yoon is the perfect mate for her – he is her senior, they work in the same industry, he is competent at his job, and he is a handsome man.  The two of them start dating and Joo-yeon can’t help being disappointed – while it is true that Tae-yoon is a professional when it’s come to his job, he is at a loss when it comes to romance and often has a hard time separating his personal life from his professional life. He is also jealous of the fact that Joo-wan lives with Joo-yeong (actually, this is understandable) and insists that Joo-yeong kick out Joo-wan. This is something she is reluctant to do, because she has become fond of Joo-wan.

 

She also begins to develop romantic feelings towards Joo-wan but is in total denial over this fact – he is six-years her junior, after all.  Joo-wan initially supportive of Joo-yeon and Tae-yoon’s relationship, but even he can’t overcome the jealousy bug. It also doesn’t help that Joo-yeon keeps sending him mixed signals – she keeps insisting they are nothing more than friends and tells Joo-wan to keep his distance, but she is also all touchy feely with Joo-wan. Eventually he makes an ultimatum to Joo-yeon – it is either Tae-yoon or him. Joo-yeon doesn’t give him a straightforward answer but scolds him for being rude to Tae-yoon.  Joo-wan interprets this as her choosing Tae-yoon and he moves out of her house. It is only after Joo-wan moves out that Joo-yeon fully realizes her true feelings toward him. To quote the hair metal band, Cinderella, “Don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”  While Joo-wan does love Joo-yeon, he will not accept until she can say those three words, “I love you.” 

Oh Se-ryung is an interesting character in her own right – in most shows, she would be set up as the irredeemable villainess, who would try to seduce the lead male away from the heroine. In I Need Romance 3, Se-ryung is actually a decent woman who make one critical mistake in her life.  She doesn’t bear Joo-yeon any ill-well, though she doesn’t show any remorse for stealing Joo-yeon’s boyfriend in college.  She has grown up to be a successful influencer and the station wants to hire Oh Se-ryung to promote their latest clothing lines -this means that two rivals will be working next to one another.  Joo-yeon, to her credit, can separate her personal life from her business life and agrees that hiring Joo-yeon is a good business move.  Oh Se-ryung does bring in the viewers and sales go up because of her endorsement, much to Joo-yeon’s annoyance.  Oh Se-ryung is Tae-yoon’ s ex-girlfriend and even though they broke up over a year ago, she still has feelings for him. She is naturally livid when she finds out that Tae-yoon and Joo-yeon are dating. Joo-wan tries to play the role of peacemaker between the two of them, but Se-ryung’s jealously gets the better of her – she tries to sabotage Joo-yeon’s team by breaking her contract and signing a contract with another network. When the deal falls through, she desperately needs her job back at Joo-yeon’s network but also refuses to swallow her pride. Joo-yeon also needs Se-ryung to promote her brands but won’t be the one to extend the olive branch. It’s a scenario where the two of them need each other, but neither one wants to be the first to yield. Min-jung recognizes how ridiculous the entire situation is and gets on her knees and asks Se-ryung to come back. After the ice has been broken, Se-ryung and Joo-yeon talk it out and bury the hatchet.  The two of them realize they function significantly better as a team than as enemies. Se-ryung still holds onto the hope that she might get back together with Tae-yoon but she doesn’t allow it to dictate her existence.  If it happens, great. If not, oh well!

Min-jung is having a fling with Ahn Min-seok, who is also younger than her.  The two of them hook up at hotels and to keep it a secret, when she meets him, she uses the name of her male co-worker, Lee Woo-young. Things go awry when Min-seok moves into the apartment next door to her and she does her best to avoid him. This proves to be impossible, and he not only finds out their neighbors, but her real name as well. To further complicate things, she becomes pregnant, and he is the father.  Min-seok goes through an interesting arc – he offers to provide Min-jung with financial support but wants nothing to do with raising the child. He believes that he is not ready to be a father. However, he is genuinely concerned about Min-jung, most notably her diet. He is appalled by the amount of junk food she consumes and puts her on a healthier diet. He then buys parenting books for Min-jung, but he is the one who ends up reading them. He then buys a life-like baby doll (it cries, pees, and poops) that they can use as practice. By the end of the series, he is excited at the prospect of being a father.  Min-seok decides to go through with the pregnancy, because the doctor told her that this will be her last chance at being a mother. She is given the character arc that Seo-yeon should have had in the first series.   

The most irritating of the couples are Jung Hee-jae and Lee Woo-young, co-workers who work under Joo-yeon. At the beginning of the series, Hee-jae is already in a relationship, but she drives away her boyfriend with her cold treatment and nonstop scolding. She is obsessed with him taking the civil service than she is in being his girlfriend. When she catches him doing charity work, she gives him a dressing down and tells him she is tired of living on a budget. He breaks it off with her and, to further rub salt into the open wound, actually passed the civil service exam but kept it a secret for her.  Lee Woo-young is able to catch her on the rebound and the two of them begin dating, in secret. Though, they are really bad at keeping secrets and all of their co-workers figure it out early on. The resolution to this relationship is truly annoying – Hee-jae decides she wants to find herself and decides to travel around the world for the next year, expecting the poor bastard, Woo-young, to wait for her.  She also informs him in roundabout way – she sends a text about her plans to Joo-wan’s radio show, and he reads it on air, while Woo-young and Hee-jae are listening on the radio.  Woo-young is, understandably, pissed off by this! She couldn’t tell him in private but rather aired her grievances out publicly, albeit anonymously. He eventually gives in and even buys Hee-jae a camera and supplies for her trip. This annoys me because there were plenty of opportunities for Hee-jae to travel around the world – namely right after she broke up with her first boyfriend, but she waits until after she starts dating Woo-young to have this revelation. It also is unfair to Woo-young – while she is traveling around the world, he is expected to hold down the fort and wait for her. If the roles were reversed, there is no way Hee-jae would have allowed Woo-young to make the trip.  Also, why does she need a year to travel around the world? She could easily take a few months off to see the world and come back refreshed – in fact, Joo-yeon even suggests she take a month off instead of quitting her job. It is one of the main gripes I have about I Need Romance 3, especially when comparing Joo-yeon’s relationship with Joo-wan.

The I Need Romance series is a mixed bag – the cast is uniformly excellent, but the writing often leaves a lot to be desired. Though, as heavily flawed as the first two seasons are, they are never boring…..frustrating, but not boring. Each episode is roughly 45 minutes long, which is the perfect length – they are other K-dramas that often struggle to fill their 60+ minute run time, but in series one the show runners figured out the perfect length for each episode. I Need Romance 3 was my favorite out of the three, and that’s largely because of I actually cared about the lead female, Shin Jo-yeon. The leading ladies in the first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae, were a bit too self-centered for my taste, and the fact that both of them are back to square one at the ending of the series was a bit disappointing (though, at least Yeol-mae goes through a period of self-reflection). However, as I stated before, I am not the demographic that the series was targeting. If you are a fan of Sex and the City, then you will probably enjoy I Need Romance.

Credits

I Need Romance
Cast:  Cho Yeo-jeong (Sun Woo In Young), Kim Jeong Hoon (Kim Sung-soo), Choi Yeo-jin (Park Seo-yeon), Choi Song-hyeon (Kang Hyun-joo), Choi Jin-hyuk (Bae Sung-hyun), Ha Yeon-joo (Yoon Kang-hee), Kim Hyeong-min (Kim Deok-soo), Lee Kwan-hoon (Seo Joon-yi), Ricky Kim (Alex), Heo Tae-hee (Ki Tae-woo), Lee Da-hee (cameo).

Director: Lee Chang-han
Writer: Jung Hyung-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes

I Need Romance 2012
Cast: Jung Yu-mi (Joo Yeol-mae), Lee Jin-wook (Yoon Seok-hyun), Kim Ji-seok (Shin Ji-hoon), Kim Ji-woo (Seon Jae-kyung), Kang Ye-sol (Woo Ji-hee), Kim Ye-won (Kang Na-hyun), Heo Tae-hee (Kim Tae-woo), In Gyo-jin (Han Jung-min), Gong Jung-hwan (Lee Jang-woo).

Directors: Lee Jung-hyo, Jang Young-woo.
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes

I Need Romance 3
Cast: Sung Joon (Joo Wan), Kim So-yeon (Shin Joo-yeon), Namkoong Min (Kang Tae-yoon),
Wang Ji-won (Oh Se-ryung), Park Hyo-joo (Lee Min-jung), Yoon Seung-ah (Jung Hee-jae), Park Yu-hwan (Lee Woo-young), Yoo Ha-jun (Ahn Min-seok), Jung Woo-shik (Han Ji-seung), Chae Bin (teen Joo-yeon), Jung Yeon-seok (young Joo Wan), Alex Chu (PD Lee Jung-ho, Joo-yeon’s ex-boyfriend).

Director: Jang Young-woo
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes.