Falling for Innocence (also known as Falling in Love with Soon Jung) is about a ruthless man who will do anything to get ahead. But everything changes when he receives a heart transplant from one of his employee’s fiancé. His personality softens, and he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her which results in much confusion for everyone involved.
Falling for Innocence was a decent watch, but I didn’t love it. I would say it was equal parts boring and entertaining. But for me, the salvation of this drama was the one and only Jung Kyung Ho.
Jung Kyung Ho plays Kang Min Ho whose world is turned upside after he receives a heart transplant. And he is absolutely priceless! I’ve always found Jung Kyung Ho to be a unique guy and have always enjoyed his performances. He can play dark and serious like in the crime thriller Heartless City or do wacky comedy like in One More Happy Ending.
You get a little bit of the serious side in the first couple episodes of Falling for Innocence. It’s amazing what an intimidating guy he can be. He was very scummy, cruel, and violent. Not someone you want to root for.
But after the transplant, he has to cope with these unusual feelings that have suddenly overtaken him. He’s more sensitive and caring as well as finding himself drawn to Sung Joon and wanting to protect her.
He also becomes absolutely hilarious! Since his personality is so different, it’s great watching him try to adapt. He makes the smallest things funny just because of how over-the-top he can be when he reacts to them. He really is such a joy to watch.
Kim So Yeon plays our leading lady Kim Soon Jung. After the love of her life dies, she is left to deal with her overbearing boss who received his heart. But she is in for a shock when he develops feelings for her and she finds herself suddenly drawn to him too.
I found Kim So Yeon to be on the bland side, but she was fine enough. And anytime Jung Kyung Ho was on screen with her, I was more focused on him. So because of that, I was able to enjoy them as a couple.
Lee Jun Hee (Yoon Hyun Min) is Soon Jung’s long time friend who longs to be more. After Soon Jung’s fiance dies, he hopes to be the one that she turns to, but that is not the case. He has also worked hard to get where he is in his company, but it’s been a long, hard road. And some bad decisions on his part end up creating a whole lot of trouble for everyone.
Na Ok Hyun (Jo Eun Ji) is a police officer who worked with Soon Jung’s fiance. After his death, she’s the one investigating the circumstances that led up to it. She’s a tough, no-nonsense woman who is a very important friend to Sung Joon.
Our main couple definitely had some cute and fun moments. Min Ho is very gung-ho in his pursuit of Sung Joon which naturally results in lots of comedy. And then he also comes off so sweet in the tender moments between the couple. It was a nice mix.
While in many ways Falling for Innocence is a very standard romantic comedy, which I usually really enjoy, many of the elements just didn’t come together for me. There was lots of company politics right from the beginning that I found terribly boring.
The story also seemed to move quite slow which could be because I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of it. And other than Min Ho, I just never connected with the characters on a deep level. So there were quite a few negatives for me.
But I give tons of points to Jung Kyung Ho for simply lighting up the screen any time he was on. If I wasn’t so enamored with his performance, I probably would have dropped this one. But he made the ride worthwhile enough and left me with some very funny memories.
My Rating: 6/10
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Hmmm…..I am going to give this one a chance. Not right away, but have noted it down. Since Heartless City, I have become an instant fan, and reading this, and that his role pretty much saves this series, that alone makes it worth the watch for me 😀 Great review by the way 😀
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Thank you 🙂 Yes, Jung Kyung Ho alone is enough reason to watch this series. You get a nice dose of his fierceness in the first couple episodes. But this drama is a perfect example of just how hilarious Jung Kyung Ho can be. It really highlights his full range of acting abilities.
And the drama does have a very interesting premise and solid acting. I just wish the business politics would have been toned way down and that would have been a huge improvement for me. But Jung Kyung Ho’s performance was definitely worth it. And plenty of people really loved the drama as a whole so you could easily be one of them 🙂
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Well, I only have one more episode to watch of Heartless City (if all goes well, a review will follow sometime today, but currently a bit under the weather, so hopefully I will feel fit enough to make a post for it). As for this show, I am sure I will be checking it out. As I have seen Jung Kyung Ho only in serious roles so far it would be nice to see him in something completely different 😀
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It’s definitely good to change it up and to see different sides of actors, especially ones you like that are so talented. I hope you get to feeling better soon!
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Great review! I didn’t finish this one. I did like Jung Kyung Ho… thought he had some funny and fun moments. But I got bored early on. Also I’m used to the jerk hero… but I wish they had toned it down a bit. It was a little too much, lol.
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Yeah, I had a hard time finishing it, but Jung Kyung Ho did make it worthwhile. He was definitely not likable as a character those first few episodes! But he lightened up so much and Jung Kyung Ho was so funny that I almost forgot about that, lol
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