Love According to Law (2022)

Dumb

The legal show deals with some very serious issues like sexual harassment, bullying, and child abuse, but the drama can't figure out whether it is a romantic comedy or a legal drama with romance.

As a lawyer, Yuri acted like a hysterical and unbalanced teenager who threw temper tantrums and started physical fights. She was supposed to be a strong woman, but she acted like a screeching hyena yelling every time she was faced with adversity. Every episode was filled with her yelling at something or at someone. And, OMG, her overacted crying was like watching a 5 y/o throwing a tantrum in a toy store.

The constant yelling was so annoying that it was hard to take her or the show seriously. Did the writers honestly think it was an appropriate way to portray a strong female character? And it wasn't just Yuri who behaved like that, Jeong Ho did the same. Both of them spent the majority of their time bickering about some stupid crap, yelling, and cursing. Everyone's behavior was rude and tacky, making the characters annoying and unlikable.

It wasn't only the constant screaming, the writers purposely put the characters into situations where they acted ridiculously. In episode 8, Yuri unintentionally ate a bunch of marijuana rice cakes and behaved like a clown. So now, we had characters who perpetually acted stupid in a story about lawyers. Oh boy.

Finally, the show would've been more believable if Yuri opened her own practice and got Jeong Ho to work with her, them being childhood friends at all. Running a coffee shop while doing legal work, and presumably not getting paid, was a pretty silly plot idea. A hard pass.

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si peu d'atout pour autant d'épisodes.

Décidément, si cela continue, cela sera une mauvaise année en ce qui concerne les Kdramas.....

Si le drama commence bien, très bien même..... Le concept de ce law café était vraiment intéressant et j'en attendais beaucoup. Tout comme l'équipe qui se forme au fur et à mesure autour de Kim Yu Ri. J'adore ce type d'histoire, botter le c*** des méchants avec intelligence et style. Et jusqu'à présent, je n'ai trouvé mon bonheur que chez les coréens avec notamment "Chief Kim", "Vincenzo" ou "Taxi driver". Alors quand je vois ce genre de synopsis, je saute à pieds joints sans hésitation.

Si l'héroïne détonne dès les premiers épisodes grâce à un caractère pétillant et atypique.... Drôle et flirtant outrageusement avec Jeong Ho, on rit aves bonheur. Ses mimiques et grain de folie sont un régal et on applaudit en croisant frénétiquement les doigts "pourvu que cela soit comme cela jusqu'au bout".

Et....c'est tout. Car il faut l'avouer, le seul atout de ce drama est elle. Rien d'autre. Et le pire? c'est que son caractère atypique, loufoque, pro-active et flirtant sans aucune honte disparait brutalement quelques épisodes plus tard pour nous délivrer, le genre de personnage plus classique et donc plus ennuyant. Son côté déjanté fait donc place à un personnage doutant de tout, se renfermant dans ses principes morales sans vraiment prendre en compte ceux des autres, se disputant comme une gamine de 16 ans avec son aimé, et n'en faisant qu'au final qu'à sa tête pour le bien de l'humanité. Alors, je n'ai rien contre cela, je vous rappelle que j'adore ce type d'histoire, mais ici, c'est tellement mal écrit, mal mise en scène que cela en est risible. Les cas n'ont de rapport que de mettre les mettre le plus souvent en lien avec le vilain de l'histoire. Alors je veux bien croire qu'il est méchant et blabla, mais je doute très fort que toute la Corée tourne autour de lui...Dans "Doctor Prisoner" le vilain est un médecin et le héros aussi, donc il fut logique que tout tourne autour. Dans "Falsify" c'est un journaliste contre un vilain à la tête des reporters. Logique donc que cela tourne autour de cela.... Bref, vous l'aurez compris, le scénario est pauvre et les scénaristes ont utilisés les subterfuges vu et revus un milliers de fois (Ah le fameux "hit and run" ou la violence scolaire). Une écriture facile et paresseuse donc. Par exemple, lorsque le psychiatre se retrouve confronté à une folle. Le passage où Jeong Ho a le temps d'aller, au même moment où le psy se retrouve devant la folle, au poste de police en taxi, d'engueuler Yu Ri, de se battre avec son oncle, pour se rendre compte après que le psy doit être en danger, de repartir en voiture vers la clinique, pour arriver juste à temps, celui de sauver le psy qui commençait tout juste à se battre lui aussi, après bien sûr 5 petites minutes de discussion....Ou bien cet épisode risible où Yu Ri se fait voler une preuve. On ne sait par quel miracle, on ne prend pas la peine de nous l'expliquer d'ailleurs, ils savent où se trouve la preuve, bidouille afin de la récupérer et "botter le c*" des méchants....mouais, j'en pleurerais presque. Car c'est comme cela jusqu'au bout.

Bref, une histoire bancale, mal écrite et surtout mal réalisée...

Et les méchants??? Ridicule, vénal, vicieux, obsédé sexuel, violents, bref, rien de nouveau. Mais sans aucun charme, d'intelligence ou de prestance.

Le deuxième défaut majeur de ce drama : les personnages. TOUT tourne autour de Yu Ri. C'est son histoire que l'on voit. Tous les autres, Jeong Ho y compris, ne servent que de faire-valoir. Jeong Ho qui ne sert à rien d'ailleurs.... Ses préoccupations ne tournent qu'autour d'elle : la sauver, la protéger, l'aider patati et patata. Il n'a aucune ambition, aucune envie particulière. Ses compétences ne sont pas exploiter et il n'est que le rabat joie du groupe. Lee Seung Gi, pourquoi?????

La romance??? Si, elle avait bien commencé, elle tourne très vite autour de chamailleries puérils, de dialogue fade, de romance mielleuse et maladroite. Leurs scènes de baiser et sensuel n'ont rien de transcendant et aucune alchimie n'en ressort. C'est juste des bisous pour nous montrer que ce sont deux adultes consentants dans un monde moderne et patati patata.... bref, zéro battement de coeur....

Le tout petit point positif? les petites animations rigolotes.

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Best drama of 2022

I absolutely loved this drama, i love the leads, the best friends and the neighbourhood friends! It was a great mix of romance, comedy and seriousness, it would have to laughing so hard one minute, crying the next and then so angry at the antagonist to then end up laughing again. The romance was incredible, them kisses were fire!!!! And there was plenty of them too! The antagonists played their roles really well too, you will genuinely hate them especially the main bad guy! I will happily rewatch this drama many times, not once was i bored watching it!

If i had to say something bad about the drama my only issue would be ( SPOILERS ) that the coffee maker and the mother didnt end up together ( unless i missed that bit ), that was my only disappointment from the drama!

10/10 highly HIGHLY recommend, if you love romance, comedy, lawyer dramas then you will absolutely love this!

10/10 rewatch value!

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Great romantic legal drama

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 South Korean romantic legal drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.

First I will provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Some events in life shape us dramatically. Kim Yu-ri (Lee Se-young) lost her father in a tragic accident as a high school student. The fact that the accident was preventable had the company followed better safety standards made her determined to become a lawyer and focus on improving the safety and work quality for workers in Korea. It becomes her life's mission. She went to high school and college with Kim Jeong-ho (Lee Seung-gi) and they were romantically involved until he discovered that his family was involved in the corruption behind Yu-ri's father's accident. With strong sense of ancestry and responsibility for family actions, Jeong-ho decides that he and Yu-ri cannot be a couple and, with little indication, disappears from her life. Both were star students who became legal geniuses but Yu-ri has since pursued her passion to fight the underdog while Jeong-ho become so disillusioned he retreated to investigating the case in private while managing some buildings he owns. When Yu-ri is encouraged to retire from her current legal position because she is taking on two many money losing cases, she decides to open a cafe where she not only serves coffee but also legal advice. The location she picks just happens to be in a building Jeong-ho owns and the two are reunited. Yu-ri does not understand why Jeong-ho ended their relationship all those years ago and still harbors feeling for him not realizing he also maintains feelings for her. Can the two bring the corrupt perpetrators to justice? Will the cafe be successful in helping those who desperately need it and sustain Yu-ri enough she can afford to maintain it? Can Yu-ri convince Jeong-ho that the tragedy is not his fault?

Review

The cases were interesting and the friendships and romances were heart warming. It is a very good legal drama and I recommend it for anyone that likes romantic legal dramas.

Spoilers* Jeong-ho's reluctance to start a romance with Yu-ri was hard to understand as the series wore on. I understood, at first, the whole sins of my father angle and while that is not so much a thing in American culture I could understand it from what I know of Korean culture. But, with that, you either let it go or pursue it. As is so often the case I felt like he should just tell her what his father had done and let her decide if it was too much for her. I loved her unshakable sense of justice. How she would fight for the underdog even knowing it might cause her hardship. I did not feel the loop on Jeong-ho's father was completely closed. An honest discussion between him and his son explaining why he did some of the things he did might have mended their relationship sooner. I liked that they had reunited in the end. To me it was not in character for Yu-ri to be so reluctant to marry. Those that are reluctant usually experience bad relationships all around them. But her mother had a good relationship with her father up until his accidental death and then re-married and had a good relationship with her step-father so her fear of commitment did not make sense. It was also a little frustrating to have Jeong-ho come around and she is now the one, in the latter half of the series, who isn't sure if they can be together long term. I loved that it ended with a wedding. I am a fan of the "happily ever after" and I love all the wardrobe and seeing them all dressed up like that. There was just enough after story after the wedding to know what direction their lives were headed without going overboard and restarting the story.

#lawcafe
#Leeseyoung
#Leeseunggi

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A bit of a Drag

The only reason I wanted to watch The Law Cafe was because of Lee Seung Gi. I loved his work in Mouse and Vagabond. But The Law Cafe is a total let down.

Although I can feel what message the story writers wanted to send and that the intention was good, the execution was pretty poor. To the point that I took 3 months just to finish the drama. It was hard to get through even when it got interesting. The final take down was not the least bit exciting. If anything, it was quite non-sensical.

As for the romance, I didn't get into the chemistry of the leads to begin with or rather, I felt that they had no chemistry. If you enjoy bickering couples then this might be a show you could enjoy. What I did appreciate is the talk of consent and that the female lead was strong and motivated. Male lead was kind and supportive. I also liked the secondary couple - the policewoman and her husband but not much of their story is explored.

The cases were okay but mostly the plot was forgettable.

I feel bad for rating this low because the actors all worked hard but I had to speed up the last 3 episodes just to finish the drama. The show was decent around episode 8 but I just could not connect deeply with any of the characters. It will be a bit more appealing if you love slice of life or melodramas but not as a romance or law drama.

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Great Casting / Okay Storyline

It was okay. It wasn’t an 9 star drama, but it wasn’t an 8 star drama, so I rounded it up to 9 stars. I 100% watched this drama for Lee Seung Gi. I loved him in Busted (the reality variety show) and Korean Odyssey. I was disappointed when Mouse released because it was such an intense graphic drama, I couldn’t stomach to watch it, so to my surprise, I was really happy when he decided to do a rom-com.

I thought Lee Se Young was amazing in Crowned Clown, The Red Sleeve and adorable in Korean Odyssey, so I was really happy with the casting.

The drama started out really funny and I’m all about the premise. I liked the idea of a Law Café, where you offer lawyer services at a coffee shop, how unique right? To me, I guess I enjoyed the first half more. I liked the lighter tone and I liked the rag-tag cast.

You got the part-time guy workers (great eye candy), the newly parents best friends and the odd ball client here and there. I was interested in the mini-problems the main leads would help solve.

The tension between the main leads was hit or miss for me. Sometimes the comedy was awkward and forced and sometimes it was cute. I wasn’t really sold on the chemistry but there were plenty of screen time between the main leads, so if you are a fan of the actors, there you go.

For me it went downhill towards the second half of the series, where they focused on the inner-core of the story. Maybe I just didn’t really connect with the whole sexual harassment and taking down the dirty old men storyline? It was just so dragged out and I felt like everyone was just yelling over each other.

I don’t speak Korean, but even the cursing was getting too much for me. Everyone was cursing, everyone was resulting into physical violence and just well.. had a temper. I guess it was for TV / comedy sake, but it started to be really repetitive.

I also found some parts very boring and dragged out. I think at some parts I would just play on my phone because there really wasn’t any movement.

Overall, it was an okay show. I would watch it for the casting or if you like the lawyer troupe, other than that, it wasn’t one of my favorites (it was no Korean Odyssey !)

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UH!

I mean it was a beautiful kdrama, I liked it but through the serie there were things that I absolutely hated,the main characters not saying things that were SO EASY to say,many fights and I personally, I don't like when old people are trying to be cute and shit, there were this two old ladies who THE WHOLE DRAMA were trying to be cute,no, they just looked annoying and cringe!! Everytime they showed on the screen and were trying to be shit I almost dropped it. I'm glad that I didn't drop it, but man ,THEY WERE ANNOYING! If you are like me and hate that type of characters I advise you to not start this drama bcs it's not worth it...

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An Enjoyable Watch

I watched this drama as it was airing and always looked forward to the next episode, a sure sign that a drama is pretty good. If watching feels like a chore, why bother? Yes, yes, of course I have slogged through a couple of shows I really didn’t enjoy – but this one I did. Here’s why:

1. Interesting premise. Our heroine opens a café with a legal aid office and deals with different issues such as bullying, child neglect and sexual harassment in a very refreshing and no-nonsense way. The cases were interesting and showed the human aspect, not court proceedings.
2. Strong female lead. I really liked the main character a lot. She is outspoken without being obnoxious, dedicated, with a strong sense for what is right and what is wrong. Excellently portrayed by Lee Se Young.
3. Surprisingly good romance. While the “fake dating turns into the real thing” is nothing new, it was still very well executed und even unexpectedly passionate.

There were a few things I didn’t like. Some of the supporting characters were annoying, like the ahjummas and the over-the-top crazy uncle. The café staff, on the other hand, was pretty good. One had an interesting backstory and the other was portrayed by Kim Do Hoon, who played a poor tortured soul in Today’s Webtoon. It was delightful to see him as a happy camper here.

The writing was rather uneven. The show wavered between interesting scenes and dull dialogues, total clichés like the murdered father (are there any fathers actually surviving in Korea?) and fresh scenarios like openly discussing birth control. A scene would be pretty boring and then suddenly a character would elevate it by uttering some profound wisdom. I was struck by this several times.

Would I watch it again? Hm, maybe some scenes. It is well worth a one-time watch though, if for nothing else than the memorable female lead.

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The Scam Cafe

Right off the bat the technical problems were too glaring to ignore. The washed out black levels were a true eye sore that I had to make a custom color profile for it through the media player. A big portion of the drama was shot in direct bright sun light which amplified the problem even further. Enough technicality, the drama was supposed to offer a mix of romance, comedy and law, although hints of these genres do exist but the drama did an outstanding job in failing miserably with incorporating and mixing each one of them. They may throw some cheap lines within the legal field but that wasn't enough to qualify it to slap the law genre tag, let alone its name. I find it hard to believe that someone would find this funny. I think even our primitive ancestors would have a hard time with it. Finally, anything involving the romance as a concept was unquestionably broken. They couldn't even have a chemistry running despite being the first step for any kind of romance. Lee Seung Gi shouldn't have accepted this project. For dramas that waste 90% of its runtime on absolute nothingness, this drama would have a strong placement in my Top 10. With all that being said, unfortunately, this drama isn't the worst of its kind; I've seen worse.

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Started strong, identity crisis midway

This was very promising at the beginning, with interesting characters, a good story line, and entertaining writing. But midway, when the ML decides he actually loves the FL, it becomes mawkishly saccharine and the writing loses its crispness in favor of predictable sentiment. The story them morphs into a "Me,Too" polemic, with a lot of added drama and conflict that seems tacked on as an afterthought in an attempt to spice it up. By the last episodes I found I no longer cared about the characters, with the FL's indecision and the ML's family issues. Seems popular to make the MLs weak and simpering characters these days, led around by the FLs and basically becoming so sympathetic and understanding that they are doormats. It's still not awful, but overall it seemed a bit of a mess to me. YMMV.

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If you don't like silly dramas with exaggerated scenes, stay away.

7/10 Amazing with some not-so-great moments. It's silly and cute with some social justice points and mildly inappropriate romance. wouldn't be comfy watching it with my mom, but can recommend it to peers. Though this one is full of flaws in my personal opinion, I still enjoyed it and can easily recommend it.

PROS:
I love how much he loved her and how he fought for her and vice versa for her at the start. There wasn't any unnecessary, "let's break up and be apart for something we can get over in two seconds if we just talk it out," kind of stuff. I also loved how even if sometimes it felt preachy, in the end, they always tried to kind of balance it out. It left a smile on my face.
The supporting characters and even the villain are just phenomenal. they made the story sometimes. You will be laughing your face off and then crying at some points as they touch on a lot of issues.
It's a happy ending and I am a sucker for those.

I'm not someone who likes to complain about plots or acting or OST because I go with the flow of the story and accept it as it is. I don't criticize the writer or blame it on the attitudes of FL or ML.

CONs:
So now that you know this, it's shocking to me that this story had so many unwarranted highs and lows with the love story, that it made me consider badmouthing the plotline in my mind, which I never do. I just hated how she always treated him like crap and he had to apologize for everything, even though he had her best interest in mind.
It also felt a little too preachy with the girl power. I'm sick of this girl power, independent woman crap that keeps getting shoved down everyone's throats in American media and now seems to be infiltrating my safe space with K-dramas. they even had to ruin her style to do it(the ugly dress, in the end, distracted the audience from the story because it was so questionable and cheap).
This honestly was the most immodestly dressed FL I've ever seen and I've watched a TON of dramas. I like K-dramas for their purity and innocence. this one broke that. if you're into that then I guess you'll love the 16+ rated scenes. I didn't. Also dislike how they turned FL into an insufferable person at times for her wild takes that made no sense.

But if you wanna have a laugh and you don't care about innocence and purity or rollercoaster love journeys, then watch it. You'll have a blast.

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