REVIEW: Gentleman’s Dignity

REVIEW: Gentleman’s Dignity

Title	A Gentleman’s Dignity
Male Lead	Jang Dong-gun as Kim Do-jin
Female Lead	Kim Ha-neul as Seo Yi-soo
Writer	Kim Eun-sook
Episodes	20 Episodes | 60 Minutes per Episode
Release	May 26 to August 12, 2012
Genre	Drama, Romantic Comedy
Language	Korean
Country of Origin	South Korea

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Plot Summary

A Gentleman’s Dignity is a romantic comedy about the lives of four men in their forties who have been close friends since they were 18 years old. It navigates the more complicated lives of these mature men who have already experienced the world trying to live their best lives. A stellar cast playing multifaceted characters with interesting subplots liven up the drama.

Kim Do-jin played by Jang Dong-gun is an architect who falls in love with Seo Yi-soo played by Kim Ha-neul. She is a high school teacher who has a long-time crush on Tae-san who is a close friend of Do-jin. She is a baseball enthusiast and serves as an umpire in a local club during her free time.

Im Tae-san played by Kim Soo-Ro is Do-jin’s business partner and is Yi-soo’s initial love interest. He has an on and off girlfriend, a professional golfer, Hong Se-ra who is also Yi-Soo’s friend and housemate. Se-ra is driven and wants to be successful but is having a hard time realizing her dreams.

Choi Yoon played by Kim Min-jong is a widowed lawyer who gets involved with Tae-san’s younger sister whom he considers very young for him. He does not want to get involved with her at first because he knows that Tae-san will not allow it.

Lee Jung-rok, the funny guy is played by Lee Jong-hyuk. He is a bar owner who is married to a rich woman who owns buildings in the Gangnam area. He constantly flirts with other women and puts his marriage on the brink of a disaster.

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SPOILER ALERT: Please be warned that this article may contain some spoilers. Kindly consider this before you continue reading. Thank you for dropping by!!!!

My Personal Comments and Observations About the Series

Gentleman’s Dignity is a funny and heartwarming story of love, family, and friendship that is entertaining and enjoyable to watch. It is quite interesting to see how the characters would evolve in their roles with the right balance of drama and comedic timing.

The characters are no longer young. The guys are in their forties and the ladies except for Me Ah-Ri are all in their thirties already. Perspectives in life and love, in general, came in a more mature mindset. Though sometimes some characters can act childish, it is prevalent in the series that they have been around the block at least once.

The Show’s Main Couple, Do-Jin and Yi-soo

The story between Do-Jin and Yi-soo was a slow development. The series started out with Yi-soo having a one-sided crush on Tae-san who incidentally is the boyfriend of her housemate Se-ra. She sometimes acted like an innocent young woman but it is only because she is honest and pure-hearted and would not want to wish anybody harm.

Yi-Soo teaches high school and is popular among her students. She acts as their guardian and made it her mission to care about her students. For her, it is important to keep them safe from harm and motivate them to make something out of themselves in the future.

Major Plot Twist

It was a surprise when a grown teenage boy, Collin, suddenly appeared and was looking for who his father is among the four leads. His mother would not tell him who his biological father was among the guys in an old picture so he had to find out for himself.

Collin’s mother turns out to be a close friend of Do-Jin, Tae-San, Yoon, and Jung-Rok. She also had a relationship with one of them which was depicted very vaguely as the sub-plot fleshed out.

In my opinion, it was quite distasteful to present this part of the story in such a vague way leading you to think that she didn’t know who the father was. When she did in fact know who it was. There was no huge reason explained as to why she chose not to reveal the biological father to her kid. I think it was an unnecessary plotline and could have been presented in a much more realistic depiction.

On and Off Relationship of Im Tae-San and Hong Se-Ra

Im Tae-san is Do-Jin’s business partner and Ah-Ri’s older brother who has an on-again, off-again relationship with the golfer, Hong Se-Ra. Their relationship is somewhat my least favorite among the four pairs in the show. Mainly because of Se-Ra’s selfish character. Early on in the show, she came to know that her housemate, Yi-soo is in love with her on and off boyfriend. She was a bitch about it at first. There was even a scene where she purposefully put Yi-soo in an uncomfortable situation. Her character is very selfish and self-serving for the most part.

Meanwhile, Tae-san was completely enamored with her and was willing to accept her for who she is. Despite her misgivings. Between the two of them, he was the one who was more mature in their relationship. As the story evolves, and Se-Ra realizes that she also loves Tae-san in her own way, she tries her best to win him back.

The Unexpected Love Story of Yoon and Ah-Ri

The unexpected couple pairing is that of Choi Yoon and Me Ah-Ri. What started out as a childish infatuation of a young girl with one of her brother’s best friends turned out to be one of the highlights of the drama.

Me Ah-Ri is very childish and immature. She is like an innocent kid all throughout the series but it was a refreshing contrast to the more serious older characters, especially Yoon. He was still grieving in the beginning so he always had a gloomy expression on his face and he did not really want to get involved with anybody. Let alone Ah-Ri who was in his eyes a kid that he saw growing up.

Love When You Least Expect It

The development of their story was one of the more interesting parts of the series. I can understand how Yoon was trying to hold himself in check. He did not even give Ah-Ri one single glimmer of hope because he knew it was not something that would be easy to accept within their circle. He did not want to ruin his friendship with Tae-san so he thought long and hard before he made a move.

Ah-Ri was unstoppable in her infatuation. She pushed everything including her brother’s patience to the limit. She stopped at nothing to fight for her feelings for Yoon. It was childish and a little bit selfish. Something that will only come from youth and naivety.

In the end, she got what she wanted with her diligence and perseverance. When Yoon finally yielded, it was a decision that was made with a firm step forward, towards a future life together.

The Group’s Ladies’ Man Jung-Rok and his Lovely Rich Wife, Min-Sook

Jung-Rok and Min-Sook’s story is one filled with mistrust and suspicion born out of past wrongdoings. It is inevitable for Min-Sook to doubt her husband’s faithfulness because of his playing around in the past. It’s not an unusual situation. There are many cases when the husband really just liked flirting around. No matter how beautiful and attractive their wives are, sometimes they cannot control themselves.

In the story, it was made to appear that Jung-Rok was really just a womanizer. He married a rich woman who owns several buildings in an upscale district in Seoul while he was managing a coffee shop and a bar within the district.

His wife threatened to divorce him many times but he begged her to forgive him. While he was portrayed to have a wandering eye, there was really no serious relationship that could have been the catalyst to their breakup. In the end, since she really loved him, she forgave him despite his misgivings.

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Final Thoughts About the Drama Series Gentleman’s Dignity

A Gentleman’s Dignity is one of those dramas that I watched because it was written by the award-winning writer, Kim Eun-sook. She also wrote The Inheritors, Lovers in Paris, and The Secret Garden among many others. The most recent one is The King: Eternal Monarch.

I must say this story did not disappoint. It was one of the first few dramas that I watched. I think I watched it after I watched The Inheritors back in 2017 when I discovered Korean dramas. 

The story has a well-developed plot and multi-faceted characters. The situations and scenarios presented are very relatable for me. Being Asian myself, I can understand and somehow relate to the character’s way of life, values, and thought process. I think if you liked one story of a specific writer, it is worth it to check out their other works as well.

More often than not, you most probably will also like it.

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Binge Star Rating – 7.5 Stars

★★★★★★★★

Re-watch Value

To be honest, I really like the chemistry of Choi Yoon and Me Ah-Ri and I have re-watched the series to see their chemistry in action. I find it fun to watch their interaction. Some might not like it, but I did. If there is nothing else on your watch list and you find time in your hands, go ahead and watch it!

Where to Watch

Watch full episodes of Gentleman’s Dignity on iQIYI with full English subtitles. What do you think about the series? Did you like it? Drop your comments in the comments section below. I’d love to know your views, please let me know what you think!

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Looking for more K Dramas to watch? Check out KDB’s What to Watch Next for more binge-worthy series you can choose from.

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Photos used are subject to copyright by SBS, Hwa & Dam Pictures; CJ E&M . Sourced online from marketing release during promotions for the show. [Last Update 04262024]