If there’s one thing you pick up after watching enough kdrama it’s that every drama has a formula. Whether it is a medical drama, a romance drama or even an action drama no matter which it is, there are always a few ingredients that go into making it. It could even be argued that these ingredients used over and over and twisted this way and that, are the key reasons fans love it so much. Different but always the same, that’s what one could argue Korean drama, is and as a fan I see nothing wrong with it. Still who knew I’d fall into watching a drama that took one recipe and mixed it to the extreme?
The drama I’m referring to is Marriage Contract and my word this was just a tear-fest waiting to happen. Why you ask, well if you think about it, obviously when one adds not one but two terminally ill patients in a drama there’s bound to be a heavy requirement for some tissues and comfort hugs. Still, despite the salty experience you can’t help but appreciate the ride it takes you one as it conveys the important message of cherishing every moment while you have it because you never know what lies around the corner.
The story follows a single mother struggling to live as she has to raise her seven year old daughter and still pay off the debts her husband left before dying. Because of this sad and troublesome existence we see Kang Hye-Soo doing everything she can as she works hard to just get by. However, life isn’t done messing with our poor Hye-Soo as she soon discovers that she has an inoperable brain tumor as well. Down on her luck and at a point where she couldn’t be any more desperate we see Han Ji-Hoon enter our heroine’s life by pure accident. But things aren’t going so well for our hero either as he is faced with a dire situation. We see the indifferent player Han Ji-Hoon running around to find a way to save his mother who is in desperate need of a liver transplant.
There we have two desperate individuals searching for any solution, one looking to find a way to support her child, Cha Eun-Sung and the other looking to marry someone who would be willing to undergo a liver transplant for his mother. Drawn together by their own situations we have Han Ji-Hoon drawing up a marriage contract with Hang Hye-Soo who has thrown caution to the wind and decided to risk her life in order to ensure her daughter’s future. So the fake marriage begins as the two pretend to be as close as possible in order to fool the hospital and hopefully not land up in jail. Of course this draws them into each other’s lives and as time goes by our two leads slowly begin to actually fall in love.
The story is interesting, despite the many clichés that can be found within it and the actors do a wonderful job of portraying their characters, so much so you can’t help but be overly moved by their performance as it brings tears, and on occasion smiles, to your face. Admittedly the plot drags a few times there in the middle but eventually it grabs your attention and keeps you hooked into the lives of star-crossed lovers. It also should be mentioned that the kid, Eun-Sung’s performance was well played as she went from being the little brat that couldn’t stand the troublesome Han Ji-hoon to the sweet little angel that would eventually call him dad as she softened his heart and made the viewers hearts melt as they portrayed the cutest father-daughter combo.
All in all the drama was very good in my opinion, though I have to say it worked hard to bring those emotions out of its audience and that ending…well that ending almost makes it hard to let this show go as you might find yourself sitting and waiting for some closure, or maybe that’s just me? In any case it was time well spent and anyone looking for a good cry and life lesson should look into it if they have the stamina to do so.
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