Flash Review: Secret Love – Have You Ever Had Coffee With An Angel?

March 6, 2015 by kfangurl 17 Comments

Given my Healer-induced new-found appreciation of Ji Chang Wook, it’s not hard to understand why I decided to pick up this little drama short.

At just over an hour, it’s a quick, low-commitment way to get a dose of Ji Chang Wook on my screen, while I continue to work off the Healer feels by gathering myself together to write it a proper review. (It’ll come! I promise! It’s just, too many feeelz!)

Considering how I’ve been underwhelmed by other drama shorts that I’ve checked out in the past (Her Lovely Heels, for instance. Or Love Cells.), color me pleasantly surprised, that this little drama short, in spite of its brief running time, is actually quite a nice dose of feel-good fun. 🙂

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Of course, going in, it always helps to adjust one’s expectations, so here’re some helpful little tips on how to enjoy this little drama short.

1. Expect some stiff acting from most of the cast.

Since Secret Love, as an omnibus, is an unabashed vehicle for Kara members, it’s inevitable that a portion of the acting is raw and rather flat.

Example 1: Park Gyu Ri as Park Sun Woo

Park Gyu Ri isn’t terrible per se, and manages to do a fairly decent job of the role of the insecure, earnest Park Sun Woo. At the same time, her inexperience as an actress definitely shows. Her range of expression and depth of delivery is still limited, and it often feels like she’s reaching for the same few expressions throughout the show.

Still, I honestly feel that Park Gyu Ri did better in this than what group-mate Han Seung Yeon managed in Her Lovely Heels, so that’s not bad?

Example 2: Lee Dong Ha as Kim Woo Bin

Snerk. I had to laugh that the sunbae that Sun Woo’s been gaga over for years, is named Kim Woo Bin. That’s just got to be an intentional joke type thing, right?

Ok, I can identify with having a humongous crush on Kim Woo Bin, but for the record, this Kim Woo Bin is nothing like the Kim Woo Bin I crush on. 😉

As with Park Gyu Ri, Lee Dong Ha’s acting is also of the raw and limited variety. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is not a huge deal, since he’s just there to facilitate our actual OTP’s interactions anyway. Just don’t expect him to bring any kind of nuance to the role, is what I’m sayin’.

2. Expect things to develop and wrap up quite simply

With just over an hour of screentime, this drama short has less time to tell its story than a regular 90-minute movie. Which means that things in this world never get very complex at all. Things develop quickly and simply, and wrap up just as quickly and simply.

There’s literally no time for layers of conflict, complications, or any sort of truly believable character development, really.

3. Expect obligatory shots of Pretty Jejudo.

Since Jejudo is clearly a sponsor for this show, there is the obligatory PPL built in. Of course, since Jejudo is such a gorgeous place, it’s not hard to look at the Pretty. It’s just good to know in advance that they’ll be plugging the Pretty.

Here’s a quick sample.

THE GOOD STUFF!

1. Show is easy-breezy and fun. And also Pretty.

For something that only has 65 minutes of screen-time to set up its context and tell its story, Have You Ever Had Coffee With An Angel? does a very decent job of it, in spite of its constraints.

With high production values, a breezy soundtrack and a light, fluffy atmosphere, it’s no hardship to allow oneself to be carried along by this show’s cheerful momentum.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Big, big bonus points for angel Cheon Sa Nam’s abrupt, butt-nekkid arrival (executed fabulously by Ji Chang Wook).

After Sa Nam literally bounces off the walls of Sun Woo’s apartment in all of his butt-nekkid glory, he makes his Terminator-esque landing, complete with the camera appreciatively panning over his chiseled bod in slow motion. No, I’m not making this up, I swears!

Here. I couldn’t keep the goodies to myself, and just had to share the highlights of that arrival with ya. You might wanna prepare yourself – and a drool bucket of sorts.

Ready? Here we go:

Rawrr~ What a lawt of hawt, I say.

This hilarious and drool-worthy scene already makes this show worth a look, right? XD

[END SPOILER]

2. Ji Chang Wook brings it.

Honestly, I think Ji Chang Wook’s natural and believable delivery is what grounds the show and makes it watchable.

The folks acting opposite him aren’t terribly believable in their performances, but that doesn’t stop him from delivering a tangibly warm, earthy, and endearing performance as our resident angel on earth.

In a sea of acting mediocrity – ok, make that pool of acting mediocrity, since this drama world is so small – Ji Chang Wook’s performance is basically the one that saves this show, for me. Coz, as I’ve learned from watching Her Lovely Heels, lots and lots of pretty just isn’t quite enough.

3. Ji Chang Wook is swoony.

If you’ve got Ji Chang Wook Appreciating Eyes, you will so appreciate the fabulously swoony Pretty that Ji Chang Wook brings to the screen in this show.

From amused, to thoughtful, to playful, to lovingly intent, Ji Chang Wook brings all kinds of wonderful to the screen. There is enough Ji Chang Wook swoony to keep any fangirl happy, and I’ve got the goods to prove it.

These are just my top picks from the screenshots that I did take, so you can imagine how happy your eyes would be while watching the show. 😉

CLOSING THOUGHTS

All in all, Have You Ever Had Coffee With An Angel? is one of the most satisfying drama shorts that I’ve checked out so far.

Of course, I don’t actually watch drama shorts very often, so that really isn’t a very solid barometer at all, to be sure.

Still, for all its simplicity, Show manages to have heart, on top of its generous servings of Pretty. And that’s not bad at all, for a 65-minute drama investment.