Family by Choice: Spoiler-Free Mini Review
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Title: | Family by Choice (2024) |
Platform: | Viki, TVING |
MDL & IMBD Rating: | |
Genre: | Romantic Comedy/ Family |
Episode Count: | 16 |
Parental Guidance Rating: | PG-13: Language, some swearing, fade to black scene. Once upon a time it had a TV-16 rating, which I think fits. For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30365813/parentalguide/ |
Starring: | Hwang in Youp (True Beauty) Jung Chae Yeon (Beyong the Bar) Bae Hyun Sung (Gaus Electronics) Suh Jie Hye (Love All Play) Choi Won Young (Unchained Love) Choi Mu Sung (We Are All Trying Here) |
RBTS Rating: | 3.5/5 Stars (Half romance/half family drama, Family By Choice is a better choice than the original, with strong chemistry between leads, but nothing groundbreaking).  |
Cast From Right to Left: #HwangInYoup, #JungChaeYeon, #BaeHyunSung, #SuhJieHyue, #ChoiWongYoung
Synopsis:
A youth romance about two men and woman who aren't blood related but treated each other as family during their teens and how they meet again after 10 years. @IMBD
Spoiler-Free Mini Review:
Family By Choice, as the name implies, is a story that revolves around a found family, exploring themes of parental love, being chosen, and moving forward from past trauma. The drama is a remake of the 46 episode Chinese drama, Go Ahead.
The original drama was well received, but I didn't find it watchable. The ML actor Song Wei Long felt wooden and the female lead a raging case of toddler syndrome. Go Ahead drama was directed by the man who gifted us with Flourished Peony and Meet Yourself, so there is skill behind the camera. The remake and original are not identical in plot, and Go Ahead does have Family By Choice beat on MDL by 0.1 points. So there is that.
Family By Choice was a fun time. Hwang In Youp (ML) and Jung Chae Yeon (FL) had great chemistry, although Yun Ju Wun (FL) was given a bit of the C-Drama-esque infantilization of her character. It wasn't as extreme as the original, but it drove me nuts. Kim San Ha (ML) was a reliable, swoony male lead, with a lot of baggage. Bae Hyun Sung (2ML) as Kang Hae Jun was niether here nor there for me, and I didn't care about his romance. The "parents" of the bunch, Choi Wong Young and Choi Mu Sung, did a great job; they felt warm and wise.
The drama balances family and romance well, with a dual high school and adulthood timeline. And the men are all quite the fashionistas.
Again, I didn't love that the FL acted like and was treated like a baby, the screaming wench (Kwon Jeong Hui), and the uninteresting side characters. I also didn't find the themes or the story overly moving; to me it just felt like a contemporary romance with a side plot of family. But I did enjoy the drama overall.
Story= 3.75, Acting=3.5, Production Quality=3.5, Ending= 3, Enjoyability= 3.5, Would I rewatch= Yeah
Trailer:
Director: #KimSeungHo (Twenty Five Twenty One)
Screenwriter: #HongSiYeong
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