Happy New Year 2022!
For my very first post in a long time, I've decided to share a review of a new
romantic comedy movie - "A New-Year Medley", that is perfect for the festive season.
"A New-Year Medley" is a special new year's eve movie directed by Kwak Jae Young (the same director who worked on many famous classic movies- My Sassy Girl, The Classic, Windstruck, etc.) This movie is set at "Hotel Emross" and it tells the different stories of people who work and stay at the hotel during the year-end holiday season.
This movie stars a list of A-list Korean stars from Han Ji Min, Lee Dong Wook, Kang Ha Neul, ImYoona, and many more! With so many characters in the movie, be prepared for one of those movies where every character has a story and they all seem to interconnect at the end of the movie. While their stories were shown throughout the movie, I've separated the stories for a more comprehensive review.
(*spoilers ahead*)
The first story is about So Jin (portrayed by Han Ji Min) and her long-time best friend, Seung Hyo (portrayed by Kim Young Kwang). So Jin is the Manager at the hotel while Seung Hyo is a Radio DJ. They were both in the same band during university and So Jin had a crush on Seung Hyo for 15 years but never confessed until one day, Seung Hyo told her that he was getting married to his fiancé, Young Ju (portrayed by Ko Sung-Hee), a jazz pianist whom he fell in love with at first sight, on New Year's Eve at the hotel So Jin was working at. With regrets of not confessing to Seung Hyo, So Jin tried to ruin their wedding proposal when he asked her for advice on how to propose. However, her plan failed and she ended up giving them her blessing at the end of the movie. Although So Jin may have missed her timing with Seung Hyo, she might have met her Mr. Right when one of her hotel guests, Jin Ho (portrayed by Lee Jin Wook), a wealthy doctor who has been going on blind dates at the hotel restaurant for a whole year but failed every single time, asked her out on a date.
The next story is about the hotel's CEO, Yong Jin (portrayed by Lee Dong Wook), and Yi Young (portrayed by Won Jin Ah), who is a new contract employee at the hotel. Yong Jin is obsessed with even numbers, while Yi Young dreams of becoming a musical actress. After losing her necklace in his room while cleaning one day, she became acquainted with Yong Jin. They started appearing in each other lives when Young Jin took Yi Young to her musical audition and Yong Jin was starting to get over his obsession with even numbers. However, it was not long before things became awkward when rumors begin spreading and they started to drift apart. At the end of the movie, they decided to go against the odds to see each other despite what other people had to say.
The next story is quite an interesting one as they only met at the end of the movie. Jae Young (portrayed by Kang Ha Neul) is a hotel guest and Soo Yeon (portrayed by Im Yoon) is a hotel employee who is in charge of his routine wake-up calls. Ha Neul has been trying to pass his civil exams for years but failed, and he was dumped by his girlfriend just before Christmas. Feeling hopeless and depressed, he decides to check-in at the Hotel Emross to get away from his problems and to end his life at the hotel. Without realizing that the hotel staff have been watching him 24-7 after finding out that he wanted to end his life, he became acquainted with Soo Yeon and they unexpectedly became each other's source of comfort and motivation to continue living each day with hope.
In the next story, Yi Kang (portrayed by Seo Kang Joon) is a popular singer and Sang-Hoon (portrayed by Lee Kwang Soo) is his long-time manager. As they are coming to the end of their contract, Yi Kang has been receiving offers from large entertainment companies while Sang-Hoon is worried that he might lose him but at the same time wants what's best for him. Things worked out in the end for this duo as Yi Kang decided to renew their contract and even got a new car for his manager Hyung! They are definitely your ideal bromance duo!
The final two stories are about an elderly couple, Sang Kyu (portrayed by Jung Jin Young), who is a hotel porter at Hotel Emross, and his first love, Catherine (portrayed by Lee Hye Young), who is now a rich lady who came back from Australia to attend her daughter, Young Ju's wedding. They both met again after almost 4 decades. The final story is about a high-school couple, Se Jik (portrayed by Jo Joong Young), who is also So Jin's younger brother, and a popular ice-skater at school, Ah Young (portrayed by Won Ji An). Everyone had a crush on Ah Young, including all of Se Jik's friends but they were all rejected after confessing. Realizing that Se Jik was their one and only hope, his friends decide to make Se Jik confess his feelings to Ah Young.
Reviews
What I really like about this movie is that all of the stories were interesting and meaningful. The chemistry between the cast was good and the respective actors/actresses acted their part really well. This movie is one of those feel-good, heartwarming movie that is perfect to watch over the festive seasons! One of the best parts about this movie is that you get an all-in-one Korean movie with all of the cliche plot lines- first love, elderly romance, long-time best friends, and even unexpected relationships in one movie! My favorite character in the movie is Kang Ha Neul's character- Jae Yong. He did a really great job at realistically portraying his character and was funny at the same time.
I was really happy with how things turned out for the best of him. My favorite story would be Yong Jun and Yi Young's stories. Although their storyline was somewhat cliche, Lee Dong Wook and Won Jin Ah did an amazing job at portraying their characters. Their chemistry was good as well and their story gave a somewhat nostalgic feeling you get when you watch classic Korean romantic movies! My second favorite story is the one between Han Ji Min and Kim Young Kwang as they give off an "On Your Wedding Day" vibe. I would recommend this movie if you're looking for something heartwarming and don't mind having the cliche Korean movie plotline with a new year's eve twist.
Yours truly,
kdramayeowang 👑
xoxo
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