There are no words to adequately express my anger on Jae Hee‘s behalf for the fate that befell him in Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love. Forget that he was already a drama and movie leading man for many years before he enlisted for military service, to be cast as the second male lead is already baffling to me but then to be relegated to a character that has shown up for all of 15 minutes tops in 15 episodes is an ignominy that might never ever be topped. Ever. It sucks for him but really it sucks for the viewers of the show. If he leaves K-dramas after this and heads to China to churn out C-dramas I wouldn’t blame him. It’s actually not that far-fetched since back in 2010 before he enlisted he actually filmed a C-movie with Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy (Yang Ying) that is only now getting ready for a wide release. A remake of a 1997 C-drama called A Sentimental Story, the C-movie Crimes of Passion (一场风花雪月的事) centers around a leading lady police detective who gets embroiled in an investigation over a missing priceless historical artifact and in the process finds herself falling in love with the son of the prime suspect who is a Korean gang leader. This movie is getting a lot of buzz not over the cast but over its director Gao Qun Shu who won the Best Picture at the 49th Annual Golden Horse Awards (Taiwan’s Oscars) in 2012 for Beijing Blues. I’m not the biggest fan of either Huang Xiaoming or Angelababy as actors, and here some folks are clearly going to be intrigued by this movie for the reel meets real illicit romance between their characters since everyone and their mothers knows these two are dating despite no official confirmation from their camps all these years. I am a big fan of Jae Hee’s movie roles, with his performance in Director Kim Ki Duk‘s 3 Iron being especially unforgettable. Since he finished his military service his acting career has been on the skids and I hope he bids dramas farewell for the near future and does some movies to gain back some acting cred as opposed to wasting his time on a succession of dreadful fare. Since Jae Hee clearly has nothing to do in JOJ, he was in Beijing this week to join Angelababy in the press conference and unveiling of the movie teaser, with the movie scheduled for an August release. Continue reading
23