dianeliz 7/24/22 dianeliz 7/24/22

The Liar and his Lover (2017)

Quick Take: The Liar and his Lover (2017), starring Lee Hyun-woo and Park Soo-young, aka Joy. 8.8/10. 16 80-minute episodes.

Synopsis: Pretty high schooler Yoon So-rim sings in a band with her two best friends. She meets Kang Han-gyul, who claims to be an aspiring songwriter is search of recognition. This is only the first lie he tells her. Actually he is well-known composer and producer for a music company, the same music company that signs So-rim’s band as new talent. Oops!

Review: Interesting cast in this one. I’ll talk about the lead actor last.

Joy is a member of the Kpop girl band Red Velvet. The Liar and his Lover was her acting debut. Expectations are not high for idols-also-actors, but she did well in this one and even better in her next one, Tempted, in which she did not sing a note.

Lee Jung-gin played Choi Jin-hyuk. CEO of the music company but under the thumb of his corporate boss. Lee Jung-gin has been acting since 1998, and has a long list of films and tv shows to his credit, including The K2 (2016) and King, Eternal Monarch (2020).

Lee Seo-won played Seo Chan-young, the bass player in successful band Crude Play, who is resentful of Kang Han-gyul. Wikipedia calls Lee Seo-won “a former South Korean actor.” After early success, in 2018 he was criminally indicted for trying to force himself on a female colleague. She called her boyfriend for help and Lee Seo-won then threatened her with a knife. Although he afterward claimed to remember nothing of the incident, he was found guilty. The projects he was involved in at the time all dropped him.

Choi Min-su, who played Kang Han-gyul’s aging hippie father, is “one of the most acclaimed actors in South Korea,” according to Wikipedia. He comes from a theatrical family — his grandparents were the first married couple in Korean entertainment history and his parents were both actors. He has been active in film and tv since 1985. However, anger-management issues have periodically landed him in serious trouble.

Then-rookie actor Song Kang has a supporting role as Yoon So-rim’s bandmate. He quickly rose to lead status with Love Alarm, Navillera, and Nevertheless. He has been dubbed “Son of Netflix” because these were all Netflix productions.

Last and least, Lee Hyun-woo played the lead, Kang Han-gyul. He started out as a child actor, and has also done musical theater and released some hit singles. He was active in film and television 2005-2017 but did no tv between Liar and Lover and a supporting role in Money Heist (2022). In fairness, he was in the military 2018-19.

I have a problem with the casting. The Liar and his Lover would have been so much better with a different male lead. For one thing, Lee Hyun-woo looks too young. He’s too young to be Yuna’s boyfriend and too young to look too old for So-rim. Supposedly he’s a “grown man” while she’s a high school senior, but they look the same age. Plus, his face is just bland, with a default expression of injured petulance. Not a great look for a narcissistic musical genius.

Members of the band Crude Play:

Kim Sung-joo (leader/vocalist). He had a short career as an idol and has been acting since 2016. In You Drive Me Crazy starring Kim Seon-ho, Kim Sung-joo plays a minor idol who flirts with the love interest. He was in the military 2020-21.

Shin Je-min (guitar/keyboard). Formerly a member of the Kpop group LUNAFLY, this was his first drama — and apparently his last.

Lee Seo-won (base guitar) — see above.

Jang Ki-yong (drummer/rapper). Mostly a tree in this drama (theater slang for a part with no lines) but soon after he became an A-list romantic lead. He starred in Search WWW (2019), My Roommate is a Gumiho (2021), and Now We Are Breaking Up (2021), among others.

The band Crude Play has three songs on the OST and its own Facebook fan page. Do they exist or not? It’s an existential puzzle.

Overall, The Liar and his Lover is well done. Great casting except for the male lead, but of course that’s a major fail.

Themes: The music industry is evil. Honesty and compromise are messy but sometimes necessary to get to the happy ending. Persevere, and all will be well. The end.

Recommended.

The Liar and his Lover (2017)

Rewatchable - 4, Compelling - 3, Plot/ Story/Writing - 8, Acting/Casting - 8, Production - 10, Bonus - 5. Bonus points for the sound track.

Notes: