That Love Comes Review

That Love Comes Review

So before I begin, I want you to know how long it took me to stop calling this drama “That Comes Love”. I still do, its THAT confusing. OK so, here is my review/rating for Joe Cheng’s latest drama “That Love Comes.” Here’s the synopsis from wikipedia:

“Ye Zi’s father died young and she left home early to repay her mother’s debts, and at the same time she also supports her younger brother with his studies. At the other end of the city, fashion photographer Xia Tian and top supermodel Flora are being called the golden pair, successful and famous. However, Xia Tian’s innermost desire is a simple and straightforward life, he longs to become a wildlife photographer.is girlfriend Flora cannot forget the life of fame and fortune, and Xia Tian gets tired of dealing with her until he finally chooses to break up.In Ye Zi, the convenience store girl, Xia Tian saw his own desire for pure happiness. ”

credit to the author/wikipedia

Simple story falls flat by poor use of plot devices

Let’s first talk about the overall production. It took me literally 6 weeks to follow this show that has 12, thirty minute episodes. I mean I followed this drama diligently every week. You’d think with that amount of time, the story wouldn’t drag. Oh, but somehow the editing team finds its way to making the last 5 episodes jammed packed with flashbacks of moments that I just SAW! I mean there is something to say about a story that needs to remind the audience every 5 minutes of what JUST HAPPENED. I didn’t understand why they needed to do that, unless they needed fillers. Other than that, I’d say that the cinematography was very beautiful. I think most people would agree. I loved how the panning of the camera moved so fluidly through each episode. Very beautiful.

Now as for the story itself, I thought the beginning was very refreshing. The first episode pretty much set up the simplicity of life for our main character, Ye Zi, a woman who is determined to help her family by taking up multiple jobs. She longs to be free from the financial burden put on her to pay for her brother’s tuition to go to school. The only thing stopping her from paying off the tuition is one more paycheck from the store that she works for. There, she meets Joe Cheng’s character, Xia Tian, and her life from then on is changed forever.

The story sounds simple enough, which it is. You can’t get too complicated with a story if its only going to be 12 episodes long, and thirty minutes each. So I understood that. Plot wise, the story progressed well. I didn’t think it was awkward how Xia Tian and Ye Zi fell in love. Some times in dramas, the main character don’t have enough chemistry to pull that feeling of “lovers” so early into a story, but I feel that this story flowed well enough to do so. The best part of the drama is probably [spoiler] the kiss. In the whole drama, there is only one kiss and it is during the best cinematic device, rain. Let’s just say, it was perfect.

I felt the drama fell a little flat, once Pei Bei’s character, Flora, showed up later in the show in hopes to drive Xia Tian and Ye Zi apart. She was great(for a first timer) in her earlier scenes, but ugh, having the “other woman” come between lovers is so cliche! But every series is like that so I guess I can’t say too much. However, I felt, given that this was such a short drama, that Flora trying to separate them was the climax. And that’s lame.

The ending was rushed. For sure. The last episode had so much in it that…well I won’t spoil the story for you, but it was rushed. With that being said, I am still satisfied by the end. Its good for a sweet ending.

Good actors to portray, otherwise mundane, characters

I thought Li Fei Er was a refreshing actress to watch, especially after watching so many female actors overact their way throughout a drama. However, [spoiler] when her mother slapped her in ep 3(?), I thought her recovery was very awkward. Her face just came back, with a single tear of course, more proud then ever. But it went with the dialog. So I guess it was supposed to be like that. Overall, I felt every tear she had (even though I didn’t cry).

Pei Bei had her moments but I wasn’t that impressed. I would love to see her open up more. She had only one scene where she cried, but I swear she could have cried in so many other incidences. Her eyes are kinda dead. But I give her credit for not being an actress. She’s very skinny though, and she hunched all the time, which was unpleasant.

Contrary to most people’s belief, I don’t think Joe Cheng carried this drama himself. He was a pleasure to watch though. He is by far, one of the only actors that can change expression by positioning his eyebrow a millimeter from where it was and convey something different. Maybe that’s exaggerated, (and probably doesn’t make much sense) but he has the subtle ability to convey so many different emotions with just his eyes. I felt everything he was feeling. He made a angsty character his own and I thought the complexities worked.

Music to save the day

Overall, I give the drama a 7/10. Partly, because it was so short, and partly because it so simple and cliche-ridden. I’ll tell you what really saved this drama for me (amidst all the cliches, including an airport scene); it was the music. The OST is amazing, especially when Rene Liu’s song “Bench”, plays. It’s such an emotional song. Awesome, loved it.

Now with this drama done, I’m off to watching “Channel X” this coming weekend. Wow, its a lovely time to be a fan of Joe’s hahah. Dear Joe Cheng, thank you for being such a persistent actor and entertainer. haha. Now that I think of it, isn’t it ironic that Joe chose to do such a simple story as “That Love Comes” and right after, do such a complex story as “Channel X”? It’s all part of his plan to be a great actor I guess, showing off his range.

–[Basically this show is shot so brilliantly and so beautifully, it can almost get away with such a sucky (simple) script hahah!]