Well, this drama has a very simple basic premise: it tells love stories of four couples with their own paths. Though it initially seems everything is OK, finally all their stories come into sad endings, just as the title indicates, 'Sad Movie'. I've been admiring Korean dramas for their fresh and original ideas, and this drama is no exception. Though some finds similarity with western movie (especially for its multiple storyline), it has been quite successful to develop its own distinctive feature, strong idea. Most casts are well-known actors (at least in Korea and Asia), and it surely delivers, they add significant points for this drama with their nearly flawless acting. And one more: great music, especially for emphasizing the 'sadness' factor in the last part.So, why don't I give it a 10? The reason is, there should have been more scenes. After finish watching this movie, you may wonder if there are missing scenes. Indeed the storyline is well developed and rather easy to follow, but quite possibly, you need to see this drama more than once (or read the spoilers) to perfectly understand the whole plot, for instance: 'how could she become XXXX' or 'how suddenly he XXXX' (I don't want to give spoilers, so I just write XXXX). This drama would be perfect if produced in a mini series (like Winter Sonata), but since it was produced as a single-episode drama (through noticeably plays longer than average single episode) some scenes were forced to be deleted, or never shot, where it could leave you clueless for a bit... And with all due respects to Korean cinema, and without decreasing my admiration for their brilliant ideas as I stated above, this is one problem I've found in most Korean movies I've seen: great ideas and storyline, but often lack proper (and often important) scenes to qualify for perfection.Simply said, if you like Korean (or in general, Asian) romantic drama and you don't mind the not-so-good ending, give this one a shot. Despite its flaws, it's still worth watching. Not the best Korean movie I've seen so far, but it still deserves two thumbs up. It will not waste your time and money. And even if you have to watch it over and over again, to fully understand the plot, like I've said, you will enjoy doing it. Trust me.

I had long given up on Korean romances, when they degenerated from quality films such as "Palwolui Christmas" to the contrived melodrama that have flooded the market in the last few years. "Sad movie" is more of the same.Having 4 stories presented in a sort of "Love actually" style helps a little, even just in providing diversification. The story of the pretty (word chosen deliberately) young man's quest to paint Snow White is actually not too bad. Snow White here is a mute girl who is also disfigured (but not seriously) as a result of a fire from which she was rescued. As she works in an amusement park as one of those photo-session figures walking around, together with the Seven Dwarfs, with over-sized head gears on, she is able to hide her face during most of her work day. The rest of the story is somewhat predictable, but nicely put together.The other three stories are banal. Cha Tae-hyun (best remembered from "My sassy girl") provides most of the comedy element playing a professional "break-up announcing messenger" until his own girlfriend becomes a client. Another story features the mute girl's elder sister, a sign-language TV announcer and her fire-fighter boyfriend. If it aims at conveying the constant frustration and pressure of having a romance with with a fire-fighter, it's at best a pale shadow of "Ladder 49". As a run-of-the-mill romance, it has some passable moments. The mother-and-son story is contrived and sappy, employing a plot element that you see in just about every single Korean melodrama – terminal illness.The problem is really that the movie constitutes entirely of cliché. The unimaginative editing deprives it of its only chance of having some life. Not even with the most powerful microscope can you detect a tiniest trace of originality.

Well, let's just call it melancholy.The film beautifully depicts the relationships of 4 pairs of people and chronicles their development. All four of the relationships need to overcome obstacles and all of them do except one.That the obstacles are overcome (for the most part) makes for a happy turn of events. However, the circumstances that bring about the positive turning points are less than ideal. :-(The cinematography was pleasant to the eye and the musical score was haunting (in a positive way). This film was clean, simple, and beautiful.

It's been some time since I've watched a movie with a relative huge ensemble cast (think the last was Crash), and little did I expect this Korean romance movie to boost the same too, with fine acting, good comedy and lots of love demonstrated in various ways.There are 4 separate stories in this film, and it's difficult for me to judge which of them is superior than the other. Each looked into its niche area, and have ample screen time to develop its story, though the characters do get intertwined in one another's story with little conscious interaction.The first concerns a firefighter and his girlfriend, who works in a TV station as a news translator for the mute. She's waiting for him to propose, focused on the rationale that given his dangerous job, she likes the idea of him having to think of her, to hesitate for a while before jumping into danger. He, on the other hand, is waiting for that perfect opportunity, setting and all, before popping the question. Initially I thought that this was the most stable of the relationships, until they hit a brick wall in their communications, and as usual, misunderstanding ensues.Breaking down of communications also happen between the firefighter and his soon-to-be sister-in-law, but that provided some of the best comedic situations in the movie. She's mute, and had her life saved by him (but he fell for the sister, so don't ask). She works as a Snow White doll in a theme park, and gets infatuated with a painter who frequents the same park. However, she's slightly disfigured on her face, and hides behind the Snow White caricature all the time. I found this to be something that I could relate to, being shy, yet bold when hiding behind a mask. Given by the audience's reaction, this piece probably is the most popular with its identifiable theme of infatuation, and the cutesy way in which it got played out.The third story is about a mother-son relationship. The mother, being a career woman, hardly gets to interact with her child, and the son misses his mother badly. Until an illness confines her to the hospital bed, and they start to bond as mother-son would, given plenty of communication opportunities. However, as the story unfolds, it's also the most predictable of the lot. It's touching, but not as touching as the mother-son relationship in the Japanese movie Be With You last year.The last story, and perhaps the saddest of all, is between a boy and a girl who've broken up. The girl's stuck in a dead end job and yearns to be rescued by an economically stable guy, but the guy's she's in love with (or used to be) is perpetually stuck in unemployment. When they broke up, the circumstances under which it was told to him, brought him an entrepreneurial opportunity. He tries to woo back his love, and I felt that the ending for this segment was the best in the way it developed, with the fine cinematography of reflection and rain.The soundtrack is kept simple, with the theme song played over and over again in various situations. But somehow it's strange, that the same song, when played, seemed able to evoke the different emotions the situation wants from you. And that I'd tip my hat off to.Halfway through, I thought that it would make a nice Valentine's movie, with its bountiful picturesque and heartwarming moments. But by its ending, even though events played out is typical of a weepy, I'd still recommend it for this season of love, for the plain message of not taking a significant other, a loved one, for granted. Tell them "I Love You", now.