[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Make a Woman Cry" Episode 3

The formulaic nature of "Make a Woman Cry" puzzles me. It's mostly because this isn't really a genre combination that makes a whole lot of sense. The ex-cop who solves crimes by beating the living snot out every single low-life in punching range is the kind of trope I expect to see in a hard-boiled action movie. Somehow I was expecting Deok-in's investigation to involve more actual investigating and less excessive violence.

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It's a bit of a shame, really, because the version of Deok-in I like the most is just the friendly neighborhood snack shop woman. The main point of commonality she has with Jin-woo is that they both like kids, and are willing to throw themselves into a situation emotionally just to give a young person a decent shot. I find myself very curious as to how Deok-in got to be the way she is in the present day. Why did she want to become a cop? That lifestyle and the skills involved in it seem somewhat at odds with her more maternal attitudes.

Note that while Deok-in and Jin-woo do get more screen time here than they did before, the rich family plotline unfortunately still lingers, and I still find myself rather at a loss as to what this story is even doing here. I like the parts of this drama that focus in the real world, where kids have to live in the afterimage of bullying and poor choices, and this is at least partially a result of parental failures. What do marriage arguments have to do with that?

...Well, hm, let's try to puzzle that one out. Maybe "Make a Woman Cry" is trying to demonstrate a comparison point between the two lifestyles. There are the adults who act like children arguing about marriage and lifestyle choices, and then there are the actual children who have to grow up too fast because irresponsible parenting has left them with certain emotional deficiencies. From that perspective, it's easy to see why Jin-woo tries to avoid talking with his family too much

To be honest I'm having trouble guessing how much credit "Make a Woman Cry" deserves for dramatic heft. I'm not really feeling too much emotionally here for the characters because the situations feel contrived. Not because of the screenwriter so much as because the characters themselves are trying to force events to go down a certain path and inevitably encountering resistance. So...right now I just don't know.

Review by William Schwartz

"Make a Woman Cry" is directed by Kim Geun-hong and Park Sang-hoon-III, written by Ha Cheong-ok and features Kim Jung-eun, Song Chang-eui, Lee Soon-jae, Ha Hee-ra, Oh Dae-gyu and Lee Tae-ran.