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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Drama Special - Our Erotic Love"

Dong-chan (played by Lee Sun-kyun) is the kind of man who's destined to suffer indignity because he's always so dignified so much of the time. The accident wasn't bad enough, the humiliation wasn't bad enough, no, it also turns out that nobody at work can function unless Dong-chan's around to keep order. It's no wonder the man hates fun so much, even when women come on to him for no apparent reason.

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Then he meets perky reporter Nam-hee (played by Hwang Woo-seul-hye) and...well...nothing changes really. Dong-chan still suffers from the usual indignities. Nam-hee is aggressive and shows little respect, yet at the same time she's very photogenic and fun to be around so it's time for reporting hijinxs. As is mentioned at one point, the crew needs to have some sort of public interest story to air on the news later, so that's what they do.

The character arc is relatively weak. If you've ever seen a story about a stuck-up guy loosening up, then you've pretty much seen "Drama Special - Our Erotic Love". I was expecting some sort of twist to show up at some point to redefine this relationship but we never really get there. There is that time Dong-chan visits Nam-hee only to find something unwanted and unexpected. Aside from that, though, he's really just getting over his own insecurities.

Personally speaking I never really get much emotional feeling out of these kinds of stories. Maybe it's because all the people I meet in my daily life are too independent to ever allow themselves the moments of genuine vulnerability that Lam-hee exposes to Dong-chan. Is that what love is? To seem so trusting that a normally closed off person is willing to admit to some level of physical attraction, and maybe even help out in other deficiencies? I have to admit- the prospect of someone teaching me to ride a bike sounds pretty romantic. That may just be because I never learned though.

So, maybe any sense of deeper message here is in doubt. Well so what. Director Kim Hyoung-seok presents "Drama Special - Our Erotic Love" in an extremely cute way, and the actors do their best to respond in kind. All in all the proceedings are actually reasonably adorable. For a casual viewer, or someone who just wants that little moment of lovely optimism, that might be good enough. For those in a more pessimistic mood, probably not so much.

Review by William Schwartz

"Drama Special - Our Erotic Love" is directed by Kim Hyoung-seok, written by Park Eun-yeong-I and features Lee Sun-kyun, Hwang Woo-seul-hye and Yum Ji-yoon.

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