So this drama has been announced and filmed already but has recently gotten more concrete airing information. The K-drama Nice Guy starring Lee Dong Wook and Lee Sung Kyung will be airing on cable network jTBC in early 2025, for sure in the first half of next year. It’s about a three generational family of gangster dudes and their attempt to protect the family in love and work. The drama will also star Oh Nara and Ryu Hye Young in supporting roles and is from screenwriter of Yoona’s Street and The Duo.
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I like Lee Dong Wook and Oh Nara, but don’t like romanticize gangsters, and I’m sure it will be a case.
In most of korean movies/dramas if gangster a main lead, then he/she is shown as cool tough dude. Then in reality they’re not cool, just a dangerous scumbags.
And funny that producers don’t show their real work. Only how they fights against other bad guys or protecting themselves/their family.
It’s not like I demanding a redemption arc for dramas about gangsters, just not romanticize them and to put a little realism will be enough. But don’t have a faith in it, think it will be “a cool gangster fighting against less cool dudes”, so at that moment this drama a miss for me.
Love both LDW and LSK and I love a good mafia themed drama. Please be good and please come soon!
I had no idea they filmed a drama together until this post. It sounds interesting.
Ryu Hye-young is in a supporting role too. I wonder why she acts so rarely? Maybe she is comfortably off and doesn’t need the work?
@Olesya1 – I see your point, but this isn’t exclusive to kdramas or even Korean entertainment. I mean, ‘mafia romance’ is a category that’s popular in the more trashy type of romance novel, and all I can think of it is that the authors are the kind of people who watched The Godfather and came away thinking the Corleone family are heroes. Or ignoring the fact that irl ‘mafia’ are human traffickers and the like. I would feel the same way about media romanticising arms dealers or loan sharks. I don’t mind if it’s a more grey portrayal though, even Vincenzo made it clear its hero is more like an antihero with all the murdering and torturing and greed.
as for this drama, I’ll look out for what people say once it’s aired. I like Lee Sung Kyung onscreen, she can be excellent in roles that give her more to do (her performance in Call It Love was a career best, too bad that drama suffered the Disney+ curse of hardly any promotion + hardly available so it made no real noise) but between Lee Dong Wook and the gangster theme I guess this is not going to be one of those roles.
Yes, I agree. In Godfather we saw main Corleone pet the cat, smoked cigars, gave orders, babysitting grandson etc. Not like a mafia boss, just a boss and a grandpa. Although I like this movie for the ending and Michael’s story, his, can say downfall, shown in the movie. He avenged for his loved ones and I can understand his motives, but he lost his soul. And in the ending we can see how Michael changed through his wife’s eyes.
I’m not sure they wanted to show gangsters as cool people, but this movie probably was beginning of stories about “cool gangsters”.
I like Lee Dong Wook’s character in Strangers from hell. He was somehow handsome there, but you see him as dark dangerous person, psychopath who knows how manipulate and control people.
I would love to see LDW’s character in that drama look more like in Strangers from hell, but the same thought with you, I will wait reviews, but guess this is not going to be that kind of role.
LDW has 2 upcoming dramas in the first half of 2025. This one and Divorce Insurance on TVN. Booked and busy!
Count me as another “hard pass” for the “gangsters as good guys” genre. I was actually involved in the darksmurf team that fansubbed Yoona’s Street, and loved that Drama, but the criminal leads in that Drama left crime behind. Celebrating a family history of criminality is not for me. A Shame, as I’d been hoping for an LSK Drama that m clicked with, after the turgid dullness of Call It Love.