I was slightly hesitant to start watching Marriage Contract back when it first started airing. While I've watched some very good dramas that center around a main character with a terminal illness, if they aren't done well the show ends up being flat out depressing. Marriage Contract, I am pleased to say, ended up being one of the best illness-centered dramas I've watched. It reminds me a lot of Scent of a Woman, but I actually think I prefer it over SoaW.
The story of Marriage Contract certainly isn't anything new. I'm sure we've all seen plenty of contract marriage and illness dramas. But I think that this was a strength for Marriage Contract. The whole drama had a very nostalgic and classic feel to it. It was very cliche, but still somehow felt fresh. It feels like it could be an older drama. The writers brilliantly used a simple plot and made mundane things into something special. The drama as a whole is very simple and doesn't have any crazy plot twists. We got many scenes of our characters enjoying the simple things in life (like singing, or kitties, or riding a bike). I think show did a very good job of making things that are normally taken for granted feel special. With a simple plot and no overly dramatic twists, the show was very relaxing, yet still engaging. We got to focus a lot on the characters instead of the typical tropes that show up in most dramas.
I was very impressed with the acting in Marriage Contract. I've seen bits and pieces of Uee's acting before, but was never extremely impressed. And while I haven't seen her as a main character in a drama before this (besides Birdie Buddy, which I never finished), I must say that she put everything into this role. I've noticed that many people have complained about her acting in the past, but looking purely at this role, I have nothing to complain about.
This is the first time I've seen Lee Seo Jin in a drama as well, but I thought he did a wonderful job. While he was a very rough and typical male lead at the beginning, I never truly hated his character. I loved seeing his growth throughout the drama. And while Uee undoubtedly played the main character, the show focused on Lee Seo Jin's character just as much. Together, Uee and Lee Seo Jin had surprisingly good chemistry. I questioned the pairing at first since we don't usually see such a large age gap between actors, but I think that somehow they really worked well together. The chemistry was very good and I really loved the progression of their relationship.
Shin Rin Ah was a very nice surprise as well. I think this is the first drama I've watched that has focused so much on a child character, but she played a crucial role. I was very impressed with Shin Rin Ah and was even more impressed to find out that she is only 6 years old (about the same age as her character in the drama). I could see her having a promising future in the industry if she chooses to pursue acting.
I really enjoyed the music and think it added to the classic feeling of the drama. The OST really set the mood and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Overall Marriage Contract was a very nice surprise. I went in expecting to watch a typical drama, but ended up with something that was somehow new and refreshing despite all of the cliches. I really enjoyed the ending as well. While it could have ended very differently, I don't really have any complaints about how it did end. They did a nice job of making a somewhat ambiguous ending feel final. While normally I would have maybe would have liked to see some ending for other characters in the show, I truly don't think it was needed. The focus was the main couple and I think trying to catch up with other characters would have thrown things off. Overall this was a very enjoyable show. It was solid and consistent and left me feeling more calm and happy than depressed.
Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B12PR5zlUk8
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