I like the supporting characters, their stories and their witty dialogues. I didn't like the two main leads, their love line looks like it is forced. It felt that there's no attraction between the two and the lead actor had a stoic acting. Overall it is fun to watch and great story.
7 Reviews
Bromance of 40+ guys and the women they love...
fprefect-685-28108418 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A Gentleman's Dignity is a 24 episode Korean drama that is fun and breezy without much angst. This cotton candy show features an amusing foursome that have been friends since high school.
I enjoyed the four friends and their bromance and when the show focused on their insecurities and concerns. Each guy was different and grew on you throughout the series. When the show focused on their friendship, it delivered with upfront and sometimes amusing slices of issues of the modern man. The show had charm, and the actors were willing to look silly when the script called for it. Each episode began with a shared experience from their past as friends. It was amusing watching these 40 something actors pretend to be in high school in some of these flashbacks.
Our four friends:
a. Do-jin was a confidence character that was surprised by love and love that he had to work to earn as his lady of choice initially cared about another of the foursome. There was a great romantic moment when he gave the woman he loved a fabulous pair of shoes and told her to wear them when she was ready to accept him and his love.
b. Tae-san was the chauvinist, dominating guy who bossed around his sister and lady love but had a sweet side too. His willingness to accept his feisty lady love's priority of her career over marriage showed he did want her happiness.
c. Choi Yoon played by Kim Min-jong was the widower that was hotly pursued by Tae-san's sister 20 years his junior. His unwillingness to engage in romance with her is understandable though he eventually decides he is ready for love.
d. Jung-rok was the fluff character of the bunch. Spoiled, womanizing, but with charm and love for his wife. Getting her to believe that he loved her and would stop his womanizing ways was a tough sell.
I was less enamored of the women in their lives:
1. Yi-soo was a high school teacher that loved her students and was honest and forthright. She took her time falling for Do-jin. I felt the actress over acted sometimes but it was consistent throughout the series, perhaps she was directed to deliver that performance. The character's acceptance of his surprise son from a youthful relationship was good, though this was not horrible in my mind but it was portrayed as a negative and shameful.
2. Se-ra was prickly, viewed other women as rivals not friends, and focused on her golfing career. Initially this character was off putting but grew on me throughout the series.
3. Min-sook was the brittle, tough wife of Jung-rok who was mistrustful of her husband due to his past dalliances. This character was tough but caring. I was a fan of this character at the end of the series.
4. Meari was difficult to watch. Over emoting, tons of ugly crying, and no character growth at all. Her goal in life was getting Choi Yoon to love her and her brother to accept the possibility of this relationship. That's all you got out of this character for 24 episodes.
I enjoyed the four friends and their bromance and when the show focused on their insecurities and concerns. Each guy was different and grew on you throughout the series. When the show focused on their friendship, it delivered with upfront and sometimes amusing slices of issues of the modern man. The show had charm, and the actors were willing to look silly when the script called for it. Each episode began with a shared experience from their past as friends. It was amusing watching these 40 something actors pretend to be in high school in some of these flashbacks.
Our four friends:
a. Do-jin was a confidence character that was surprised by love and love that he had to work to earn as his lady of choice initially cared about another of the foursome. There was a great romantic moment when he gave the woman he loved a fabulous pair of shoes and told her to wear them when she was ready to accept him and his love.
b. Tae-san was the chauvinist, dominating guy who bossed around his sister and lady love but had a sweet side too. His willingness to accept his feisty lady love's priority of her career over marriage showed he did want her happiness.
c. Choi Yoon played by Kim Min-jong was the widower that was hotly pursued by Tae-san's sister 20 years his junior. His unwillingness to engage in romance with her is understandable though he eventually decides he is ready for love.
d. Jung-rok was the fluff character of the bunch. Spoiled, womanizing, but with charm and love for his wife. Getting her to believe that he loved her and would stop his womanizing ways was a tough sell.
I was less enamored of the women in their lives:
1. Yi-soo was a high school teacher that loved her students and was honest and forthright. She took her time falling for Do-jin. I felt the actress over acted sometimes but it was consistent throughout the series, perhaps she was directed to deliver that performance. The character's acceptance of his surprise son from a youthful relationship was good, though this was not horrible in my mind but it was portrayed as a negative and shameful.
2. Se-ra was prickly, viewed other women as rivals not friends, and focused on her golfing career. Initially this character was off putting but grew on me throughout the series.
3. Min-sook was the brittle, tough wife of Jung-rok who was mistrustful of her husband due to his past dalliances. This character was tough but caring. I was a fan of this character at the end of the series.
4. Meari was difficult to watch. Over emoting, tons of ugly crying, and no character growth at all. Her goal in life was getting Choi Yoon to love her and her brother to accept the possibility of this relationship. That's all you got out of this character for 24 episodes.
Love story of middle aged men
madbird-612437 April 2019
Compelling glimpse at lifelong friendship
leahcubed12 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The story centers around four men who have been friends since high school.
🎩Kim Do-jin (Jang Dong-gun) is handsome and after several failed business attempts also successful. He has had serious relationships in the past but is not looking for that now and is enjoying his 40's by playing the field. That is until he has a chance meeting with a girl who is radically different than most women in his life, Seo Yi-soo (Kim Ha-Neul)99. Yi-soo teaches High School kids and her devotion and mentoring goes above and beyond resulting in her turning around some troubled youth, such as Kim Dong-Hyun (Kim Woo-bin), a troubled young man that Yi-so frequently extricates from trouble. Dong-hyun has a crush on his kind, beautiful and intelligent teacher and several of his conflicts with others are, unknown to Yi-so, in defense of her. Yi-soo's devotion to her young charges leads many former students to go on to do great things, andgarners fierce loyalty and friendship from both current and past students. Im Maeri was Yi-soo's student and is now more of a trusted friend. She also is the umpire for many of the men's baseball games which is how she has stayed close to Do-jin's friend and business partner Im Tae-San (Kim Su-roj. Do-Jin loses his heart to this beautiful and unique woman. However, Yi-soo has no interest in someone living their romantic life so frivolously and Do-Jin discovers Yi-soo secretly loves one of the four best friends, Im Tae-san. Not able to put his feelings aside so easily, Do-Jin finds himself in the novel position of loving someone who does not love him back and he is determined to replace Im Tae-San in Yi-so's heart. Due to stressful events in the past, Do-Jin developed memory problems when stress so he carries a special pen that is always recording audio (this is the center of many comedic moments). 🎩Betty is Do-jin's car. Do-Jin's love for his car easily surpassses his love for most people. 🎩Im Tae-san meets Yi-soo's roommate through Yi-soo and begins dating her. Hong Se-ra (Yoon Se-ah) Is not only Yi-so's roommate but also a close friend so Yi-soo keeps her feelings a secret. Se-ra is a pro golfer who has never made it on her golf skills and relies on her beauty to have some notice in the world of golf. Tae-san heads up the construction part of the architectural firm and his muscular body mixed with a kind demeanor appeals to many women. 🎩Choi Yoon (Kim Min-Jong) is a lawyer who represents his friends, as they need it, with their architectural firm. Im Meari Yoon Jin-yi) is his Tae-san's younger sister who has had a very blatant love for Choi Yoon from a very young age. Im Meari has known her brother's three friends her whole life and is treated like a little sister by all. She recently returned from studying abroad in America. Im Meari's relentless pursuit and undying love has slowly chipped away at the ice that developed in Choi yoon's heart after hus wife's death four years before. He buries his feelings and repeatedly turns Im Maeri away to not damage his relationship with Tae-san who has made it clear he considers his sister off limits. 🎩Lee Jung-rok (Lee Jong-Hyun) is a flirt who drives his successful, rich wife, Park Min-sook (Kim Jung-nan) to the brink of divorce. She is their landlord and a huge investor in both the architectural and law firms so the friends are constantly trying to hide Jung-roc's misdeeds to keep Min-sook happy. Jong-roc owns a restaurant and bar and it is a place where Jung-roc encounters many women, 🎩Colin (Lee Jong-hyun) is the son of the four men's mutual love interest in their twenties, Kim Eun-hee (Park Joo-mi). Colin was born in America but comes to Korea in pursuit of his biological father. He believes one of the four friends is his father and has come to learn which one. He has chance encounter with Yi-soo who immediately recognizes him as a student and treats him as such and Im Meari who he develops an interest in.
I found it refreshing that this drama was around characters that were a little older than your typical drama. The central story, in a romantic sense, is really good and I could see the two falling for each other even if it was real life. It was surprising to me that the other romances the drama had a lot of focus on, that it was much harder to see how those couples fit together. The pro golfer, maybe it's just a personal bias, but she just didn't seem to have much depth and she seemed pretty selfish most of the time. The story includes a vague allusion that there could be reasons for selfishness and lack of depth but they never really get into it so I did not have any understanding for her character. The relationship between the young sister and one of the friends is also really hard to understand because you only really get to see him pushing her away and not what made her develop feelings for him in the first place. Ironically for me anyway I could more see her with Colin because you got to see them have a bit of a relationship. Same with the friend who has a rich businesswoman as his wife. I got to say I really loved her character. She seem brusque on the surface but did so many kind things for the friend group and for other people that she was one of the people in the drama that I wanted to see happy. So the side romances for me were not all that compelling and I found each time it switched focus to that I was just waiting for it to get back to the main couple or the friendship storyline. There were also times when things would be happening that the friends were talking about that I did not get what was going on or how it had any significance in building the characters or to any of the storylines. That seem to happen more early in the story and I was happy later on that I felt less lost on the points of something. I also had a bit of hard time with who they defined as really attractive among the friends and their romantic interests because I am not sure that everyone would find those people universally physically attractive. Usually when somebody is really attractive most people would agree.
It ended well - happily and with loose ends tied up. The couples made a little more sense toward the end.
🎩Kim Do-jin (Jang Dong-gun) is handsome and after several failed business attempts also successful. He has had serious relationships in the past but is not looking for that now and is enjoying his 40's by playing the field. That is until he has a chance meeting with a girl who is radically different than most women in his life, Seo Yi-soo (Kim Ha-Neul)99. Yi-soo teaches High School kids and her devotion and mentoring goes above and beyond resulting in her turning around some troubled youth, such as Kim Dong-Hyun (Kim Woo-bin), a troubled young man that Yi-so frequently extricates from trouble. Dong-hyun has a crush on his kind, beautiful and intelligent teacher and several of his conflicts with others are, unknown to Yi-so, in defense of her. Yi-soo's devotion to her young charges leads many former students to go on to do great things, andgarners fierce loyalty and friendship from both current and past students. Im Maeri was Yi-soo's student and is now more of a trusted friend. She also is the umpire for many of the men's baseball games which is how she has stayed close to Do-jin's friend and business partner Im Tae-San (Kim Su-roj. Do-Jin loses his heart to this beautiful and unique woman. However, Yi-soo has no interest in someone living their romantic life so frivolously and Do-Jin discovers Yi-soo secretly loves one of the four best friends, Im Tae-san. Not able to put his feelings aside so easily, Do-Jin finds himself in the novel position of loving someone who does not love him back and he is determined to replace Im Tae-San in Yi-so's heart. Due to stressful events in the past, Do-Jin developed memory problems when stress so he carries a special pen that is always recording audio (this is the center of many comedic moments). 🎩Betty is Do-jin's car. Do-Jin's love for his car easily surpassses his love for most people. 🎩Im Tae-san meets Yi-soo's roommate through Yi-soo and begins dating her. Hong Se-ra (Yoon Se-ah) Is not only Yi-so's roommate but also a close friend so Yi-soo keeps her feelings a secret. Se-ra is a pro golfer who has never made it on her golf skills and relies on her beauty to have some notice in the world of golf. Tae-san heads up the construction part of the architectural firm and his muscular body mixed with a kind demeanor appeals to many women. 🎩Choi Yoon (Kim Min-Jong) is a lawyer who represents his friends, as they need it, with their architectural firm. Im Meari Yoon Jin-yi) is his Tae-san's younger sister who has had a very blatant love for Choi Yoon from a very young age. Im Meari has known her brother's three friends her whole life and is treated like a little sister by all. She recently returned from studying abroad in America. Im Meari's relentless pursuit and undying love has slowly chipped away at the ice that developed in Choi yoon's heart after hus wife's death four years before. He buries his feelings and repeatedly turns Im Maeri away to not damage his relationship with Tae-san who has made it clear he considers his sister off limits. 🎩Lee Jung-rok (Lee Jong-Hyun) is a flirt who drives his successful, rich wife, Park Min-sook (Kim Jung-nan) to the brink of divorce. She is their landlord and a huge investor in both the architectural and law firms so the friends are constantly trying to hide Jung-roc's misdeeds to keep Min-sook happy. Jong-roc owns a restaurant and bar and it is a place where Jung-roc encounters many women, 🎩Colin (Lee Jong-hyun) is the son of the four men's mutual love interest in their twenties, Kim Eun-hee (Park Joo-mi). Colin was born in America but comes to Korea in pursuit of his biological father. He believes one of the four friends is his father and has come to learn which one. He has chance encounter with Yi-soo who immediately recognizes him as a student and treats him as such and Im Meari who he develops an interest in.
I found it refreshing that this drama was around characters that were a little older than your typical drama. The central story, in a romantic sense, is really good and I could see the two falling for each other even if it was real life. It was surprising to me that the other romances the drama had a lot of focus on, that it was much harder to see how those couples fit together. The pro golfer, maybe it's just a personal bias, but she just didn't seem to have much depth and she seemed pretty selfish most of the time. The story includes a vague allusion that there could be reasons for selfishness and lack of depth but they never really get into it so I did not have any understanding for her character. The relationship between the young sister and one of the friends is also really hard to understand because you only really get to see him pushing her away and not what made her develop feelings for him in the first place. Ironically for me anyway I could more see her with Colin because you got to see them have a bit of a relationship. Same with the friend who has a rich businesswoman as his wife. I got to say I really loved her character. She seem brusque on the surface but did so many kind things for the friend group and for other people that she was one of the people in the drama that I wanted to see happy. So the side romances for me were not all that compelling and I found each time it switched focus to that I was just waiting for it to get back to the main couple or the friendship storyline. There were also times when things would be happening that the friends were talking about that I did not get what was going on or how it had any significance in building the characters or to any of the storylines. That seem to happen more early in the story and I was happy later on that I felt less lost on the points of something. I also had a bit of hard time with who they defined as really attractive among the friends and their romantic interests because I am not sure that everyone would find those people universally physically attractive. Usually when somebody is really attractive most people would agree.
It ended well - happily and with loose ends tied up. The couples made a little more sense toward the end.
Perfect Korean Rom-Com
joycedixon-148-9140524 March 2024
I don't speak Korean, so I subscribed to the Korean Channel and read English subtitles for 20 episodes. The channel dropped the series before I could play episode 21.
The series is about four guys who have been friends since high school. They are now turning 40, and in various stages of romantic relationships. There is a relationship going through every anxiety a couple could have. The guys support each other emotionally and come to aid each other. Their ladies have also bonded to support each other love it!
You will laugh and cry with this group. They even have the next generation of friends forming.
The series is about four guys who have been friends since high school. They are now turning 40, and in various stages of romantic relationships. There is a relationship going through every anxiety a couple could have. The guys support each other emotionally and come to aid each other. Their ladies have also bonded to support each other love it!
You will laugh and cry with this group. They even have the next generation of friends forming.
Lighthearted & warm!
AnnaPagrati20 August 2021
Male lead stuck in the last century
rolfswoboda5 November 2022
The idea of the series is interesting, and the actors are good. But the male lead behaves like the last jerk, treating women like a piece of s.... And the female lead behaves like a fourteen-year-old girl. She has no pride at all. If you still think like a pubescent teenager, you may like the move and think it is great. In my case both leads got on my nerves quickly and I would have liked to "slap" them. The main characters are an insult to any thinking woman or man. I really do not understand how anybody can rate this series highly with such low standards of sensible behavior. The men are in their forties, and they grew up.
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