Amor Louco (2022)

An underrated gem, one of the best rom-coms out there

A year and many kdramas later I finally got to write a review about this drama - imho, it's still one of the best rom-com kdramas out there, very underrated. It flew under the radar when it aired due to lack of proper promotion and because there were other overhyped and frankly overrated dramas airing at around that time, like A Business Proposal, for example.

Yes, on the surface it has your typical boss and secretary premise, but the plot itself is far from being generic, it's actually quite unpredictable. The first giveaway is in the premise itself - FL learns that she doesn't have much time left to live and ML is in danger of being murdered by somebody (don't worry about it being scary sounding though, nobody's actually going to die and it has a very happy ending). As the episodes unfold, this drama breaks away from the stereotypes and cliches you'd expect, and turns them on their heads in a creative and hilarious fashion.
This drama doesn't rush character exposition, but doses it expertly throughout the episodes. It has a rather slow start to give time for characters introduction and to show the crux of their problems. So after the first few heavy episodes you can't really say anything definitive as to where this is going. But after everything is established and the plot starts moving in full swing you'll see that this is a rom-com at its finest, with lots of unpredictable situations and funny moments that are very entertaining to watch. And while it's not some brainy mystery thriller that the audience has to solve, there are elements of that here as well. This drama mixes familiar tropes in a rather unpredictable and surprisingly balanced way, and doesn't falter or fall off until the very end. The narrative is strong and well thought out. And it rewards viewers who paid attention by meaningfully referencing and shedding new light on earlier events and dialogues in later episodes.

The two biggest points of this drama are:
- a strong overall message of redemption and forgiveness;
- an absolutely fantastic character development.

ML initially comes off as cold hearted, arrogant jerk with nasty temper and terrifying boss aura, who bullies his secretaries for nothing (for which FL makes him pay for later). But later it turns out that he's just a lonely, miserable guy who was backstabbed and abandoned too many times throughout his whole life. With such bad attitude and due to complicated past with some of the characters, ML becomes a target of ire of many antagonists, who gang up on ML to ruin and even kill him. And there were a lot of them for various reasons - revenge, competitor elimination, jealousy, financial problems, etc. Some were justified, but as the plot unfolds it is revealed that mostly he was made a scapegoat for other people's problems. This drama's doing well at showcasing that people generally are flawed, selfish, egotistic and like to put the blame on someone else, instead of themselves, because it's easier. But it was all done on purpose for ML's and their character development, as most of these characters in the end will come to realize that they were in the wrong and will make amends. So even though ML comes off first as a real cold bastard, the drama does a good job at portraying the why of it and his eventual path to redemption.

FL initially comes off as unassuming, timid, hard working girl, with presence that of a wind in ML's company. But after she learns the dire news of her imminent death due to health issues, she decides to put the blame on ML for being a giant stress generator source for her for over a year, which reasonably could have exacerbated her illness. With nothing to lose, she decides to go out with a bang and to take revenge on ML before she dies. To help FL with this endeavor fate conviniently throws her a great opportunity, enabled by one big mistake made by ML. While being hospitalized after an attempt on his life was made on a fateful day X, ML decides to fake his amnesia to expose the suspects. FL uses this to her advantage and pretends to be his fiancee to gain full access to his body, so to speak. And from here on out hilarity ensues as she starts implementing her revenge in an unfazed, zany fashion and ML has no choice but to suffer through all of it, lest his cover is blown.

The first half of the drama is focused more on FL and her inner turmoil. I really liked FL's somber, self-reflecting scenes in the first seven episodes, as well as ML's gradual shift of attitude towards her starting from around episode 6, as they start spending a lot of time together. And though the later part of the drama is focused more on ML's redemption arc, the writers didn't forget about FL in later episodes either. Though her main problem is effectively resolved in the first half of the show and she turns back to her kind and nice self, she gains a newfound courage and profound realization how she should be living her life from now on, and starts pursuing her dreams in earnest. This all helps immensely to resolve ML's problems in the second part, as she's there to support him and lead him in the right direction. This plot division seems very deliberate, as one plot point leads to the resolution of another. It couldn't have happened in parallel if FL was still dealing with her problem till the very end and continued having crazy bouts with ML, however hilarious they were.

Once the leads clear their misunderstandings, stop hating each other and find themselves falling for each other, they are all in for one another. No dumb break-ups, time skips or LDR. It is very sweet.
That this drama basically has no love triangles is a big plus for me as well. The leads have eyes only for each other here. ML's delulu ex, with zero second chances given, ends up being just another one of the antagonists.

So all in all, I liked how the show gradually showed their character growth and how competently all the plot points led to a satisfying conclusion, with a moral to the story even. Not every drama out there can boast the same.
Maybe the list of people having a grudge against ML could have been shorter, especially considering that most of them were not out there to get him for his nasty demeanor, but for their own selfish reasons. But I think it was done deliberately for that explosive dramatic culmination in the later episodes.

So, a great drama overall, definitely worth the watch. Starts a bit slow in the first few episodes, but gets really good later and doesn't let go until the very end. Nothing is rushed, for once, and the ending is very satisfying. The first half of the show where the leads were at each other's throats was absolutely hilarious, with pinnacle pillow fight being simply iconic. And the second half of the show was full of surprising revelations and sweet moments.
I think ML's actor did a formidable job here at playing a competent, but terrifying boss on the outside and lonely, betrayed guy on the inside. I absolutely loved his performance. In many rom-coms of this type actors can't pull off a proper boss role, they often turn up either too soft or too dumb to be convincing. But here he practically had that aura about him.
One might say that everything that happened to ML in this drama was accumulated bad karma, but he came out of it a better man in the end. And it's funny that it was the timid and introverted FL of all people, who mustered her courage due to her life changing circumstance and stopped putting up with his scumbaggery, that was the catalyst of ML's change for the better. I wasn't a fan of FL's actress before, but she really grew on me here.

Not giving this drama a perfect score only because some side characters in this drama were pretty useless/underutilized and more often than not were wasting screen time. For example, the gossiping ex-secretary club or goofy FL's brother and girl friend couple. And also, be prepared for good old staple of all contemporary kdramas - PPLs in your face.

Leia Mais

Crazy about this one^^ - Recommended!

When I tell you I watched this drama over 5 times I am not lying! This is one of my favorite drama's out here but it's definitely an underrated gem. Wish I could watch it for the first time again!

The drama itself was delicious lol I really enjoyed watching it and as well as the main as the side characters did a good job. I personally LOVE love-hate relationships/enemies to lovers and this one is HIGHLY recommended! I laughed a lot and each time I watched it I enjoyed it even more.

The only couple things I could not stand:
The wig he was wearing as his younger self, it was outrageous and I could not take him serious + his ex. It's the standard "I'm back now, let's get back together now" type of shit.

Overall, great funny rom-com drama with some nice kiss scenes^^

Leia Mais

Just because you're hurting doesn't give you the right to hurt others.

No Go Jin is a rude CEO, who treats everyone around him like trash. He doesn't care about the well-being of his employees as long as he gets his work done. He cannot empathize with the people around him, repeatedly causing emotional pain to his employees. His eccentric personality is a result of his traumatic childhood and his failed relationship. But in no way can it justify his repeated abuse of his employees.

Later he falls in love, and with guidance from his girlfriend, he learns to understand the cause of his actions and later repented with all his heart. But in the end, no amount of repentance could bring back the times lost and the emotional pain his victims went through.

The entire story is built up with misunderstandings. His secretary finds out she is terminally ill and she threw all the blame for her stressful life on her boss, NGJ. Later she finds out that her CT was mixed up with someone else in the hospital and she was perfectly healthy. Afterward, NGJ gets into an accident and he pretends to have amnesia to catch the one who attempts to murder him. Thinking he is amnestic, his secretary pretends to be his fiance. At one point his ex-girlfriend comes back and wants to win him back. But NGJ repeatedly rejects her, blaming her for the breakup. But later he finds out that she left to protect him. In the end, NGJ's bestie tries to destroy his company misunderstanding that NGJ killed his sister. Like this, every misunderstanding snowballed into a huge mess. This pretty much sums up the story.

Although I watched it until the end, because the overall story is weak, I won't recommend it to anyone to watch.

Leia Mais

My crazy love review- don't hate me

Okay so nobody should come at me please but crazy love was a mess in my opinion, the storyline was way too messy and it felt like the writers were just adding things to the script, if you watch the theme song and then watch episode 10, you wouldn't even know it's the same drama, it started with her pretending to be his fiance but that entire storyline gets lost in a few episodes, the characters were unrealistic, the grudges that people held were so unrealistic and silly, the whole drama just had me thinking "this could never happen in real life", I mean I could say that about every kdrama out there but this one takes the cake of the most unrealistic, childish and silly drama

Leia Mais

the idea seems great but the execution falls short.

This Kdrama had a lot to give, crazy love could be one of the best kdramas of the season, only if it had been well executed, which fell short along the way.

The first episodes kind of have the initial feel of the story, but even her revenge is a bit unrealistic (yes i know this is a kdrama and its supposed to be unrealistic but come on) but it was unrealistic in a way which what she did was… a bit stupid at times. the photoshopped pics, i know it was supposed to have a comedic intention, but it should end up with her being caught for it to work, not everyone believing her. Also the ‘revenge’ was not only too long but also half-assed at most.

The actors were good, the cast was okay. But. I dont know what they did to Kim Jae Wook but he just looked old and tired throughout the entire kdrama, and Krystal on the other hand… her character is a mess imo. (but so is noh go jin)
the acting: god forbid i witness another lip bit from Krystal, I seriously don’t think i can handle it… it was so annoying because she did it ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME. If she had done it a couple times, i’d let it pass because sure, a couple times. but she ended up doing it multiple times per episode, some times like twice in a row… krystal please… i know you know how to act and its now just that.

but what im getting at is: kinda feels like everyone in the kdrama just did the bare minimum with the acting, well at least the main leads, but yea.

that’s what I took from it.

Along the series something just started to change when they began to add more content besides the initial ‘crazy love’ between no goh jin and lee si nah. and yes, if you ask me it makes sense ofc it does, but they did it in a way that. made it seem like what they were doing was simply because the first plot was done with, while both plot should’ve been kind of intertwined together no?

Noh Goh Jin’s love for Lee Sin Ah was also a bit artificial, it felt like out of nowhere he loved her and ??? it made no sense, and Lee Sin Ah just went along with it. Aaahhh …. so many things were bad with this but I still hoped, I still wished it would’ve been good. Because it was supposed to beeeeee.

Sorry I’m whining.
I wished this had been better, was a bit disappointed.

One last thing, the opening only reflects like half of the show and it kinda sucks, why would they have that awesome opening when they never even had an actual crazy love to portray? There should’ve been way more assassination attempts on Lee Sin Ah’s part (and why not retaliation from Noh Goh Jin, only for it to be disguised as ‘love’ to everyone outside their?) for the opening and poster to make sense, because they’re giving us something that’s not what they’re showing on the poster and opening. And listen, the poster is great, immaculate, perfect! But it doesn’t represent this kdrama at all. if you’re here because of the poster, beware: it ain’t it :/

Leia Mais

Dying from laughter!

Ok so if you read the other reviews they mostly say ep 1 is pretty bad and I agree. But please do yourself a favor and stick it out to ep 3 because this show gets so much better. The two leads are incredibly committed to their roles and I’ve never seen K-Drama couple as UNHINGED and as FUNNY as these two.

Whatever you normally expect from a K-Drama, be prepared. You will be fooled and you won’t expect the craziness that will unfold.

The show tries to do something completely out of the box and different and “naughty” and that’s why I give jt a high score. In the midst of many formulaic series on air, this one is a breath of fresh air.

I recommend it highly if you’re looking for something niche and different.

Pros:
- the best chemistry between the main leads
- funny, outrageous scenes that are 10/10 in SKINSHIP
- great soundtrack (the one sung by Jay B from Got7 is so good)
- interesting twists

Cons:
- sometimes i think too many side characters
- may be too chaotic to those who expect the usual kdrama serving

Leia Mais

Funny, crazy, a story of guilt and forgiveness

This is on my top 5 dramas.
Started a bit slow but kept me interested immediately…

ML-GohJin is the worst overbearing CEO I have seen so far…. Really awful…
Throughout the story.. he is faced with so many crazy situations… acting is hilarious… kudos to ML is really good…
He took me in the journey of hating him, feeling sorry for him, understanding him and loving him… again, acting at his best.

FL-Sina went from pushover, desperate, crazy, angry to understanding, supportive and totally empowered woman with so much integrity…. She is the character with best development I have seen… ever..

The interactions between these two are great…

Overall the intrigue is fuel by guilt and blame… and like someone wrote in comments somewhere… how powerful words are… they can make you or break you…

Loved it, recommend it 100%

Leia Mais

Witty, Romantic, Crazy Love Story

Romance, thrills, mystery, redemption, and forgiveness. Crazy Live brings it all to the table in a thoroughly witty, oft times scary, and uber exciting way.

The actors are flawless. The pace of the drama is sprightly, I found myself rewatching some of the best scenes.

I've been a fan of Kim JaeWook since I started watching K dramas. He's really the epitome of a cool, uber intelligent, very handsome guy. Here he plays a Math genius. His history is revealed thru the show. He is the lynchpin of this drama. His acting was phenomenal, superb, honest, real and quite sexy.

The rest of the cast were excellent. Each performance enhanced the main story. Krystal Jung and Ha Jun were great & so important to this show.

The story is so much more than an office romance or competition. Through adversity, the characters were able to flourish. Office intrigue, evil plots, villains, villians turned into partners, crazy times, a delightfully refreshing, exhilarating and complex dramady.

Also, to me a prerequisite of a truly romantic drama is resolution of the main protagonists' relationship. Crazy Love did just that.

In summary, please watch this drama. You will laugh, be enchanted, become cheerleaders and you may realize that in the end, it isn't money, fancy cars, clothes, homes, or status that brings fulfillment; it's the way you treat yourself and others. Be true, kind, forgive what you can forgive, throw off old biases and hurts, acknowledge your past deeds, seek forgiveness from others, and love yourself.

Leia Mais

Great actors, off the charts chemistry!

Hands down one of the very best in the past few years!
Since the great era of kdramas from 2010 to nearly 2020 there have not been a lot of good dramas coming out - in my opinion of course. But this one was really, really good from start to finish! I think it aired at the same time as a business proposal, which I did not enjoy nearly as much as this one.
Plot was good, actors were great and really nailed their roles - no acting out of character once and not a lot of overacting (unfortunately it happens a lot with those romcoms, happened just once here). No boring moment, I did not skip at all. A "grown up" romance, without any unnecessary drama, break ups or stupid misunderstandings - how refreshing!

Leia Mais

I'm going to miss this one!

This one is honestly such a weird one to rate because my excitement and level of interest for this drama has been a constant rollercoaster throughout the episodes. The first half or so of the drama I was mostly having to almost force myself to watch because it just wasn’t catching my attention as much as I had hoped. I was always intrigued by the characters and the general plot but for some reason, the execution was somewhat dull and probably slower than I would have liked. However, somewhere along the way I ended up falling in love with the characters and the story and I can definitely say I’m a big fan of Crazy Love now. The ending was an absolute cheese-fest, and I do admit that the episodes following the main leads getting together could’ve been better. Based off of my level of entertainment throughout this drama, I probably rated it a tad too high, however I really love the overall idea of this drama and the characters in it, so I’m giving it a bumped up rating for that. I would recommend this one 100% though!

Leia Mais