The epidemic brings us a lot of anxiety. A gentle, close movie like Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha will partly ease those worries.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a film that marks the return of Shin Min Ah, paired with the national supporting male actor who has now become the ‘male lead of the dream’ – Kim Seon Ho. Remake from the movie ‘Mr. Hong‘ (2004), starring the late artist Kim Joo Hyuk and actress Uhm Jung Hwa, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha escape the trend of making movies about the super-rich that has been prevalent about a year ago, to bring the audience to a coastal countryside, where people are not burdened with struggles and enmity.
The content is light, human, and extremely close
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha opens with the tragic comedy of the talented, beautiful dentist Yoon Hye Jin (Shin Min Ah). With an upright and honest temperament and unable to bear the sight of the director fake the medical records to steal patients’ money, Hye Jin therefore bluntly quit her job even though she was not very well off.
Take a break and find a new job, everything was not a big deal until Hye Jin because of drunkenness exposed the director on the doctor’s forum, she was immediately ostracized. No one in the city hospital wants to accept a doctor who has a history of badmouthing her superiors. Everything is even more tragic when she was only going to go to Gongjin beach to celebrate her deceased mother’s birthday, she got into an accident and had to stay overnight. She decided to open a clinic here because she was annoyed by the director. Her life turned to a new page when she became a resident of Gongjin, met the leader Hong – Hong Doo Sik (Kim Seon Ho) – who has a list of degrees more than his height, walking around the village all day to work 1001 different jobs.
In general, the story in the film is quite gentle, the first two episodes only revolve around the chance meeting of the two main characters and how Hye Jin “enters the customary”, welcoming a new life. Unlike most popular Korean dramas in the past 2 years, ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘ brings a light, idyllic, joyful atmosphere like the lives of coastal people who don’t care about annoying things in life. In the immediate future, although Hye Jin has to go through life events, the story in the film is not heavy or gives the audience a feeling of straining, tired of the steering wheel or vaguely guessing the next developments. The tempo of the movie is the same, although it is quite slow, it brings the audiences lightness and comfort.
A big plus point of the film is that it feels extremely close. Although set in the coastal area, revolving around people living with the fishy smell of seafood, doing things that not everyone has the opportunity to experience, but their stories, their ways of thinking, how they care and live together like a family feels very close, familiar. Similar to ‘Hospital Playlist‘, ‘Reply 1988‘, or other popular healing movies, ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘, although not really in the healing genre, brings empathy to viewers with simple storytelling, ordinary characters like aunts, mothers, or neighbors around.
Not an excellent movie but enough to make viewers happy
No dramatic drama, not too romantic, ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘ must not be an excellent movie title for many people, especially those with heavy taste. However, what ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘ eats up quite a few works on air recently is the film that gives viewers comfort, even a feeling of happiness.
‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘ comes from Yoo Je Won – a director who specializes in romantic movies with bright colors. And indeed, right from the movie poster, the main color in the first teaser images, the audience can feel the brightness, youth, and even “tenderness” that ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha‘ will bring. Even right from the name of the film, the phrase “Cha-Cha-Cha” seems meaningless, but it has the power to evoke images and sounds, making the audience feel like they can imagine a dance in their head, “listen” to a melody, of course, a tune of playfulness.
If the movie version simply takes the name Mr. Hong (referring to the male lead), the drama version uses a rather long and unique name, because few people use music to name their work. This difference in naming is probably an intention of director Yoo, as this film will be fresher, more bustling, more emotional.
Above all, our characters and actors are so cute
It’s unclear why director Yoo selected Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho, but their four dimples appear to be one of the most crucial factors. Vibrant movie colors, bright backdrops, and, most importantly, two main actors with sweet smiles, all work together to create pleasant, fresh footage.
Objectively, the acting skills of both Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho are not really exciting and even caused controversies, but above all, the public has become easier because of their freshness, radiance, and sweet chemistry. As when receiving positive energy, why don’t we become more gentle.?
And their characters are generally adorable. One is a multi-talented coastal man who can do anything in the world and always smile at everyone, while the other is an honest and truthful dentist. Though not flawless, they are an intriguing color, a perfect piece for the fishing village. However, it would be a significant omission if not to mention the characters in the neighborhood. Although they are a bit talkative, nosy, and backward, they are generally good-natured people. And most importantly, they are the ones that contributed to fill the main couple’s flaws and create a truly lovely drama.
All in all, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is not an excellent drama but it generates for the viewers a pleasing mood. The color, the OST, the actors, and the personages of the characters all offer the viewer a sense of great comfort and healing.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is broadcast every Saturday and Sunday night on tvN and Netflix.
