Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do

((summary from Wikipedia, edited by me))

도레미파솔라시도

Jung-won is a high school student who works several part time jobs. One day while working at an amusement park, she is continuously harassed by a boy who keeps making fun of her dragon costume... upset, Jung-won pours soda on him and storms off.

Soon after, she sees that same boy, who's name is Eun Gye, moving into the house next door. Eun Gye is the lead singer/guitarist in a band called Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, and threatens to tell Jung-won’s parents that she works several part time jobs unless she agrees to carry his guitar for a week.

Jung-won and Eun-Gye quickly develop feelings for each other, and the two become a couple. But soon after that, Jung-won meets Hee-won, a familiar person from her past, who is Eun-Gye's best friend and a member in his band. Jung-won and Hee-won had a falling out 10 years ago, and Hee-won stopped talking to her completely. Now Hee-won admits that he still likes Jung-won, and Jung-won finds herself torn between her friendship to Hee-won and her love for Eun-Gye.

Cast: Jang Geun-Suk, Cha Ye-Ryun, Jung Eui-Chul
Directed by: Kang Geon-Hyang

My Rating:

DoReMi... is a teen-angst-romance; heavy on the angst. It's based on a book of the same name, and by the same writer who brought us Temptation of Wolves and He was Cool, both of which I've seen and enjoyed (to an extent). I liked this one as well... though I must admit it was mostly for one reason: The music. But I'll get to that later.

First, the actors. I'll admit I was a little dismayed when I realized the main star was Jang Geun Suk. I just saw him in Hong Gil Dong and for some reason (contrary to popular opinion) I found his portrayal of the angst-ridden prince to be unemotional, flat, and boring (which now, looking back, is probably how the character was meant to be portrayed, lol). So when I started this, I rolled my eyes and groaned, annoyed that I was going to have to watch this "pretty boy" attempting to act yet again.

However, he wasn't bad.

In fact, he was actually great, and ended up being the best part of the movie for me. I'm not sure if it was because he was playing a character he could easily relate to, or because he was no longer acting beside a genius like Kang Ji Hwan... whatever it was, it worked. Well, for me, anyway. And of course it didn't hurt that he was playing a character as likable and sweet as Eun Gye. The other main actors did well too, particularly the girl who's character I ended up really liking in the end. But really, JGS is the one that stole the show (which makes sense, since a majority of the viewers probably only watched it for JGS anyway).

But here's fair warning: avoid this movie if you dislike angst. They have it in truckloads! It's not even the good will-have-you-in-tears kind of angst (at least, not until the very end). It's the type that doesn't make any sense, and you want to strangle the guy that's being a big baby and creating unnecessary drama for our main couple; in this case, Hee Won. His character is so amazingly annoying, and in the wrong, that you just want to slap some sense into him--multiple times. And Jung Won can be a little frustrating too, since she's so nice and self-sacrificing, that you just want to shake her and tell her to "man up" already (which is frustrating in itself, since she starts off as such a strong-willed, no-nonsense kind of girl, only to have it all disappear the minute she sees Hee Won).

As for the romance... I'm always amazed at how quickly romances are established in movies. Here, all it takes is for Eun Gye to anger a female dragon-mascot, move in next door, and voila--recipe for love. It seems silly that he fell so hard and so fast, especially when he's semi-famous and has girls throwing themselves at him left and right. Luckily, Jung Won is very cute and I really liked her character/actress... so at least it had that going for it. Most romantic comedies I watch, don't.

However, I couldn't help but wish they had made this into a drama rather than a movie. That way, we could have seen their relationship develop and grow over time, which would have made the overwhelming angst a lot more bearable and forgivable towards the end. As it is, everything happens way too fast and some of the "twists" seemed too contrived. I wish the "drama" in these movies would be more believable, rather than the same old things. A teen's life is dramatic enough as it is... so why don't the writers rely on those events rather than these melodramatic silly "miracle" solutions they come up with?! Nobody in the real world acts like these teenagers do. At least, I really HOPE not!

But anyway, on to the music.

Honestly, I'm not a huge k-pop fan. I usually find myself leaning more towards Japanese music than anything else, and yet, every single song Jang Geun Suk sang, I loved. His voice may not be perfect, but the way he sings is very real. If he's singing a sad song, you can feel it--if it's a happy song, he'll be smiling and enthusiastic, and just make the song come alive. I'm kind of surprised he's not a professional singer. I was so disappointed when I went to download the soundtrack, and found that none of his versions of the songs made it onto the OST. I liked every song he sang in the movie better than the "official" releases.

In conclusion, it's a good movie to watch if you want to waste some time, or stare at a couple cute guys for hours (oh, I feel like a fangirl); or if you just want to watch a movie with a decent soundtrack and teen-ridden angst. Just don't expect to be blown away by the plot, or find something new and original from the genre. Cliches abound. Also, I'm partial to good looking, young, talented singer/musician type plots... so perhaps that's why I enjoyed it a bit more than a lot of the silly teen romances out there.

AND it has a happy ending! So really, what could be better than that? ^_^

My Rating: