The lineup is set for Big, the Hong sisters latest drama (their eighth series in eight years), and its pretty much everyone wed been told was considering the show:
- Gong Yoo, in his drama comeback post-army and post-Coffee Prince;
- Lee Min-jung, coming back to dramas after a string of movies (Cyrano Dating Agency, Wonderful Radio) and hopefully finding more success than with her disappointing Midas;
- and It Girl of the moment Suzy, whos in the spotlight these days due to her movie Introduction to Architecture, which has proven to be a box-office hit.
The drama initially sounded like another version of Big and Thirteen Going on Thirty (which is basically an updated Big): a teenager suddenly finds himself in the body of a thirtysomething man (Gong Yoo). But it turns out its not the same setup after all, because the adolescent doesnt turn into an adult; he enters his body. Thus its actually not about a hero speed-aging, but about body swapping.
So, instead of one body changing overnight, we have two male characters: the 18-year-old is Kang Kyung-joon, whos in love with Suzy. After he gets into an accident, his soul enters the body of a 30-something businessman, Seo Yoon-jae (Gong Yoo). But adult Yoon-jae has a fiancée (Lee Min-jung) whos left wondering what happened to her man overnight that left him with an adolescent spirit. Jang Hee-jin has also been cast, playing Yoon-jaes ex-girlfriend, but I dont really care about her (she was meh in Myung-wol the Spy and Whats Up), so whatever.
On one hand, I think this storyline is a lot more conventional than the other one, when I thought he was gonna grow up overnight. Weve had a lot of body-swapping and possession dramas already, like Secret Garden and 49 Days, so its less novel. And why title the drama Big, then, which clearly references the Tom Hanks movie, if our heros not doing any embiggening? Swapped seems more apt. On the other hand, I really enjoyed body-swapper Who Are You, and if Gong Yoo is anywhere as good as Yoon Kye-sang was at playing dual roles (and I anticipate he will be), itll be a hoot.
With this added tidbit, I think the storyline effectively clears up potentially squicky moments arising from our leads ages (shes near 30, hes still a minor). Its already less disturbing than that other boy-grows-big-overnight drama I Love Lee Tae-ri , which stars Kim Ki-bum and Park Ye-jin, where Kim goes from 14 to 30. At least 18 is a lot closer to adulthood. Plus, the fact that the fiancé is originally an adult makes the relationship less, uh, illegal.
In any case, Big is definitely on my shortlist of dramas I want to see, NOW. Its too bad there seems to be a growing backlash against the Hong sisters work, which saddens me but I can sort of understand; if one dramas brand of fast-flying banter, wordplay, and comedy isnt your thing, then chances are high that the other seven dramas wont appeal to you, either. Which isnt to say that you must like or hate them all; I definitely have my favorites.
Fingers crossed thisll be a good one. Big begins airing in June.
Via Sports Chosun