Bel Ami/Pretty Man/Pretty Boy (2013)
Grade:
C
16 Episodes, 1 hour each
Viewing
Platform: Dramafever
Plucky
Kim Bo Tong has only one ambition in life: to marry her longtime
crush Dok Go Ma Te. Unfortunately, the pretty playboy has an ambition
that is at odds with Bo Tong's goal: to flirt his way to the top, on
the backs of the rich, powerful and lonely women he finds. It's all
in an effort to provide for his mother, a kind, caring woman who has
struggled to make a living their whole lives. His father was never in
the picture, but his mother assures him it was for their own
protection, and when the time was right, Ma Te would be able to meet
his father. Unfortunately, Ma Te's mother is harboring a secret: she
is dying. Then a mysterious woman shows up, claiming to know Ma Te's
true origins and says he will have to conquer many women in order to
learn from them and meet his father. Ma Te must learn to understand
things like the true essence of money; how to control people's
hearts; networking; perfect timing; the importance of clout; using
power; gathering intel; being steadfast; the woman who loves only him; and
what makes a Mother, the most powerful and frightening of them all.
Will Bo Tong remain at Ma Te's side, as she promised his mother? How
will she handle Ma Te's manipulative methods, doing whatever it takes
to be in a position worthy enough to meet his father? And how will Ma
Te untangle himself from each intimate encounter?
*I enjoyed Jang Keun-suk in “You're
Beautiful,” and he is handsome, but this drama felt more like a
boring, SLOOOOOWWW soap opera with the love story as the background filler. It
was also distracting to have new characters introduced every other
episode, only to disappear and never be seen again (with one or two
exceptions). It doesn't give the viewer enough time to develop a
rapport with the characters; the whole story felt weak. The antagonist's redemption wasn't believable, either. If someone
spends most of their life committing unlawful and evil acts in order
to ruin people's lives, there isn't enough time for that person to
“make things right.” I suppose it was to make Ma Te look good by
comparison, and he did go through some character development, but the
formula didn't quite work. I won't watch this again.*
