Good Ol’ Review: Beautiful and Poignant Love of a Buzz Cut

TYPE OF REVIEW : GOOD OL’ REVIEW
Very minor spoilers.

This season’s episodes of KBS Drama Special have all been great so far. But Love of a Buzz Cut (Buzzcut Love/까까머리의 연애) is something special, probably one of the most heartbreaking, poignant, romantic and beautiful Drama Specials I’ve seen.

Newcomer Kang Yun Jung is Ji Yool who has a brain tumor and only has six months to live if she doesn’t get treatment. Her mother (with a powerful performance by veteran Lee Jung Eun) wants her to get the treatment, which would give Ji Yool a year and half to live, an extra year her mother would love to cherish. But Ji Yool wants to spend the rest of days on her terms, including getting all her hair cut off and dyed a bright orange.

However, a chance encounter with her ex boyfriend at the hospital causes her to meet Chi Hwan (played by Kim Jung Hyun), a playboy who is at the hospital to meet his married sugar mama.

But this unlikely relationship takes an emotional and profound turn.

Depicting cancer on television and film is never easy. (And not always successful.) It’s been told in comedies and dramas with different tones and approaches. But Love of a Buzz Cut takes a very familiar setup (handsome bad boy and pretty girl next door) and turns in a truly beautiful and poignant story. A love story that may be very predictable on the surface, but has an emotional depth that really resonates.

It is a simple story, yet is so meaningful and presented in a beautifully stunning way, powered by excellent performances by Kang Yun Jung and Kim Jung Hyun.

Kim Jung Hyun has already proven he is a great actor with still lots of potential, most recently in School 2017. Love of a Buzz Cut is a showcase for his wide range. There’s no question that he has a great career ahead of him. Kang Yun Jung, meanwhile, is a newcomer, yet you wouldn’t know it from watching this episode. A very affecting performance. One where you immediately are able to connect with her. She is instantly charming and likeable. And that is very important for any actor in a role especially like this one.

Their chemistry, however, just seals the deal. You know the direction their relationship is headed. But that doesn’t make any of the episode feel any less impactful, especially two pitch perfect scenes that come at around the 53rd minute.

And those two specific scenes are the first time in watching this season of KBS Drama Special, truly MaGMCMs that are at the same time emotional, romantic, cheesy, poignant, sincere, touching and simply beautiful. Just excellent work by the actors, the Director and the writer who really deliver an effective climax.

No words can really do this hour justice. But without question it is an hour that you will not regret watching. Just a beautiful story powered by excellent performances.

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