No.of Epis: 20Year/TV Station: 2008-2009/SBS
Cast:
Choi Ji Woo ~ Lee Ma Ri
Yoo Ji Tae ~ Kim Chul Soo
Lee Ki Woo ~ Jung Woo Jin
Cha Ye Ryun ~ Choi Eun Young
Synopsis:
Lee Ma Ri is a beautiful and successful actress who is considered as the No. 1 actress of Korea. However, Ma Ri always thinks that dating man is a game. Dating will be over once the marriage proposal is given to her. When a diamond ring appears, she will gets up and leaves without looking back.
Even so, there was once a sincere love for Ma Ri too. Ma Ri’s first love Woo Jin, who has mysteriously disappeared.
Ma Ri later meets Kim Chul Soo, who's an postgraduate of Korean literature giving lectures in the university. Chul Soo is hired by Ma Ri's manager to be the ghostwriter of her travel book. Although Chul Soo is reluctant to do it, he finally agrees to the proposal as he needs money. Chul Soo meets his ex girlfriend & colleague Eun Young in Japan...and the two got together again, despite Chul Soo starts feeling something for Ma Ri.
Ma Ri's ex boyfriend Son Ha Young, who's the heir of a chaebol family wants to get back with her, and makes a bet with his cousin Jung Woo Jin. If Woo Jin can make Ma Ri accepts his ring, he would return to his family business. Woo Jin falls for Ma Ri after reading her book, and they had actually meet before when they were young.
Slacker's review:
"Star's Lover" didn't do well in Korea's TV ratings, and some said it was tailor made for Japanese viewers. Personally, I didn't really know the direction of the plot. It's not those normal superstar falls in love with a commoner story, like Full House. SL is a romance story filled with literature aura. The pace of the drama wasn't that fast, but the front part of the drama was rather calm and serene to me. (Maybe it's becoz' they filmed in Japan? haha!) I didn't really like how the story turned out towards the end. Ma Ri became a "toy" between the men- her crazy manager, Woo Jin the CEO and Chul Soo. In the end, the plot was quite standard, we get to see how the couple worked their way out, despite the bad situation they were in. Also, there were lots of crying scenes from the actresses. Lolz...How i wish they wld be a little stronger? All in all, I think it's nice to watch a pure romance story thesedays from the K drama scene. (There's too many occupational-themed and family dramas.)
Choi Ji Woo didn't impressed me much in "Air City", though I really liked her as a confident career woman. In SL, she's really excellent in portraying her role as the top star. You might think it's easy for her to act as herself, but I think she had to put in the effort to act as another top star. (At least, I am not seeing CJW acting as "CJW" but Lee Ma Ri.) I really liked LMR's elegance, and her cheeky way of dealing her bfs. I like how she made fun of Chul Soo when they were in Japan, and how they fell deeply in love. She did looked pitiful when the two broke up, but the feeling was different compared to her role in "Winter Sonata". CJW's chemistry with YJT was perfect. I liked their scenes together, they're really natural & comfortable with each other, even their kissing scenes were filled with emotions.
First time watching Yoo Ji Tae on the small screen. He's more well-known for being a movie actor. YJT got that studious look, so I think he's very suitable for the role of Chul Soo. Actually CS seemed to be quite a boring man initially, but thanks to MR, I think we got to see the hidden characteristics of CS. CS was very closed to her sis who's sick, and we saw his hatred towards his mum who abandoned them. CS got another r/s line with Eun Young...I didn't really like them being together, but I was glad that EY wasn't made a bad person like the normal support female lead. Their r/s was sad as well, and it's quite obvious that nothing wld turn out in the end.
Cha Ye Ryun...has improved alot since I last saw her in "Bad Love". Eun Young was quite a sad character in the drama...she ended up with nobody, though she helped CS alot. I like how CYR showed her emotions. Her expressions were great too...much gentler compared to her role in "Bad Love".
Nice to see Lee Ki Woo again, but I didn't like his performance this time round. He seemed to be very stiff in the drama...and his expressions were kinda woody too. WJ knew MR when he's a kid, and his name was similar to MR's first love. So, there's some kind of bond b/w them even b4 they really know each other. I thought that part was great, but what WJ did afterwards was not very impressive. Sometimes I wondered if WJ really likes MR, or he just wanna possess her.
I like the other couple - Chang Soo (Lee Joon Hyuk) & Yu Ri (Shim Eun Jin). They were quite funny actually. (Though Chang Soo was quite annoying when he's MR's bodyguard.) MR's manager Seo Tae Suk was the most irritating character, butta I gotta give thumbsup to the actor. The way Seo speaks just gave me goosebumps. Hahaha!
There is one similarity b/w the 4 main cast, and that is.....they are all very tall!!!! Hahaha! I bet CJW must be very happy as she can wear her heels...lolz!
There were also some famous cameos in the drama, and most of them acted as MR's ex boyfriends. They were Shin Hyun Joon, Ji Jin Hee, Kim Ji Suk and Lee Dong Gun (he's related to EY.)
SL's OST has nice instrumentals...songs were alright though as they were quite forgettable.
