Movie Review: You’re My Pet
by HeadsNo2
2011 was a good year for the noona romance, with You’re My Pet standing as a highly-anticipated film based on the Japanese manga Kimi wa petto, later adapted into a Japanese drama series of the same name. Most of the anticipation rested on the shoulders of its two A-list stars, Jang Geun-seok and Kim Haneul. Expectations were high, halfway due to the fact that it’s an adaptation of a well-beloved series, and halfway due to that inevitable bit of expectation we get when anything comes out whole from a production limbo.
Since I was a movie buff before I stumbled upon dramas, I was happy to sink my teeth into a movie review – and I’d been cautiously optimistic since hearing about You’re My Pet. Here’s the thing: there isn’t really a whole lot to explore if you look too deep, and if there is a moral question to be raised about whether one person keeping another person as a “pet” is correct, well – it’s a valid question. It’s not one that this movie takes it upon itself to answer, though, because we’d be getting way too dark of a film.
That being said, this is the sort of premise that you have to buy out right in order to enjoy. Getting hung up on the schematics (like I did) is likely to cause unnecessary headaches.
SONG OF THE DAY
You’re My Pet OST – Hey Girl (Andrew Nelson) [ Download ]
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You’re My Pet doesn’t aspire to be anything more than fluff and has a basic premise – a stoic career woman who’s great at her job but terrible at love decides to adopt and train a human boy to be a pet and companion.
It’s a cohabitation drama, with the twist that the female is the one in charge and is the “master”, while a younger man is considered as a “pet” and treated as such. This doesn’t present as much conflict as you’d think, leaving the plot and its characters floating at surface-level most of the time. There are some cute moments, but overall it ends up feeling like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive whole, since the story tries to be all-encompassing by including a host of side characters that don’t ever manage to steal the focus, but who manage to take up time I’d rather have spent exploring our leads.
At first, I found the sharp-and-quick editing to be a breath of fresh air. Scenes lasted no longer than a minute or two, and we were soon off to the next technicolor, sunny-day scene. And while quick editing in comedies is a virtual necessity, it’s rare that I come across a film where the editing is too quick, so much so that scenes aren’t allowed to breathe and we aren’t given a chance to get to know who these characters really are. And if we don’t know that, it’s hard to care. In this instance, the directing hand seemed to be working against the story – and then I remembered that this was the first feature film project for director Kim Byung-gon, which might explain it.
Meet our heroine, JI EUN-YI (Kim Haneul), a successful fashion magazine editor who looks like the classic city woman on the outside – snazzy outfits, cool demeanor – but suffers from normal insecurities. She’s the kind of woman who goes into the bathroom to eat ice cream during a bad day, while unfortunately also being the kind of woman who has her coworkers talking about her in that same bathroom. Girl can’t catch a break.
Her mother calls that she wants a divorce, her dad calls that her mom wants a divorce. To Eun-yi, this is rinse, lather, repeat. To boot, she’s always had bad luck with men, so much so that she makes a declaration at the beginning of the film, “I can only approve of someone that is taller than me, smarter than me, and one that earns more.” Her friends know that the chances are slim, so they suggest she just try a pet instead.
Eun-yi lives in a swank apartment befitting her job, and uses her younger brother, JI EUN-SOO (Choi Jong-hoon) as a maid. His unwillingness to continue folding his sister’s underwear becomes the catalyst for our two leads to meet.
Her brother’s friend, KANG IN-HO (Jang Geun-seok), is a ballet dancer who finds himself homeless after a fight with his previous female caretaker. He seems decently carefree, but he’s got a dark past – a ballerina became unable to dance due to him accidentally dropping her once, and it’s enough for him to avoid dancing with women. He’s got enough talent for his boss to keep him around, though he still tries to persuade In-ho to sing a duet with a girl during an upcoming musical.
In-ho is either secretly wealthy or slightly delusional, as he wonders how much it would cost to live in a five-star hotel every month now that he has no home. He likes the idea of being taken care of, and it’s here where Eun-soo comes up with the perfect solution to solve In-ho’s homeless problem along with his own servitude to his sister. He’ll just have In-ho live with her and do all the chores.
In-ho’s happy to take Eun-soo’s proposition even though he claims that he’s incapable of doing housework, and even pays him six months worth of rent to stay in Eun-yi’s house. Naturally, bringing a new roommate into his sister’s home isn’t something Eun-soo thought to tell her, so she suffers a shock when she mistakes In-ho for her brother and pats his bottom, only to come face to face with her new live-in guest.
Eun-soo gets on his knees to beg his noona so that In-ho can stay, and finally wins her over with the declaration that he’ll fix their parents’ marital problems if she takes her friend in. This is one of the many side stories introduced only to have no conclusion or payoff later in the film.
There are a lot of instances where the audience is required to fill in the blanks – when this device is used well, it normally flies under the radar. This is the only movie I’ve seen recently where it seems as though whole chunks of scenes were edited out – not in a way that seems made to move the plot along, but in a way that makes it seem as though they filmed a ten-hour movie and suddenly found that they needed to edit it down to ninety minutes. The side effect is that many possibly-good scenes stay in ‘possibly’ territory because they end up feeling rushed.
For some scenes it works, like one early-on where In-ho defends a woman’s honor and gets chased down by the men who were with her, resulting in him hiding in a box near Eun-yi’s front door like a little puppy waiting to be rescued. This scene would have been better served had it been their first meeting (not to draw too many comparisons, but in the original drama series this was their initial meeting) but coming on the heels of his already open-invitation to her home, it’s a bit out of place.
Eun-yi ends up patching up bruises from In-ho’s invisible fight, and In-ho’s the first one to pick up on the fact that Eun-yi wants a pet but doesn’t have one – and thus suggests himself as a pet replacement. After all, he won’t do annoying things pets do like make noise or poop in auspicious places. Seemingly going along with the idea, she starts naming off all the things he’ll have to do, so that he’ll be a pet with “no human rights”. She’s attempting to make the situation sound so unfavorable that In-ho will leave, but she gets the opposite reaction.
When she finds that In-ho is more than willing to give up basic human rights to become her living human pet, Eun-yi realizes what she’s doing and hastily tries to kick him out. She doesn’t succeed, and though she seems as though she tries to be in control of her life, it seems pretty easy for In-ho to wiggle his way back into her house and into her good graces.
So she decides to roll with it, and declares that In-ho’s name will now be Momo. She’ll feed him and take care of him, and in return he has to always be there for her. She sets her parameters clearly: a pet is just a pet. It is neither a husband or a lover. He isn’t to bother her when she’s working and above all else, he cannot even give her ice cream a passing glance. Eating it would be asking for death.
In-ho takes the premise and runs with it, happily settling into his new life as a pet that absolutely owns his owner. No matter her tough-ish exterior, In-ho is usually able to whine his way into getting whatever he wants – whether it’s food, or for Eun-yi to wash his hair.
Eun-yi’s the kind of girl who does puzzles in her free time, and though the basis of the relationship seems pretty unhealthy, having a roommate in In-ho seems to be doing her well. If he truly was the submissive pet she ideally wanted him to be (although finding out what she wants is difficult as we’re given only a cursory peek at her thoughts), the relationship would be decently doomed. But because he’s constantly seeking her attention, the awkwardness of being strangers soon melts into a workable cohabitation. Sort of.
For instance, he doesn’t bother speaking in honorifics (because pets don’t use honorifics) and has no shame. Since she’s becomes embarrassed even in her own home, In-ho’s carefree personality is a useful dichotomy to Eun-yi’s inner insecurities.
We follow Eun-yi to and from work throughout the movie, and it’s here that we’re introduced to female rival and character-paint-by-numbers specialist LEE YOUNG-EUN (Jung Yoo-mi), but more on her later. The long and short of it is that Eun-yi is having her own having problems at work with the chief editor, and Young-eun only helps to exacerbate the problem.
There are a small wealth of comedic moments and certainly no dearth of skinship – and one of my favorite bits comes when In-ho starts dancing alone in Eun-yi’s apartment. She comes home late, he more or less ropes her into dancing with him, and he dips her romantically at the big finale…
Only we hear a crack! and realize that her back just went out. Ha. I still think that the tiny, two-second scene afterwards where she nurses her back while he undergoes school-grade punishment is my favorite. This is the only moment in the movie where the age difference between them is really laid out, and though I feel like this is a valid conflict that was never really explored past this point, we’re left to assume that the age gap makes no difference to anyone, which is valid enough. Not every noona romance needs to explore the issue of the age gap.
So, to introduce some outside conflict, we get CHA WOO-SUNG (Ryu Tae-joon), Eun-yi’s former first love. All those things she listed as her ideal type earlier? That’s him, in a dreamy nutshell. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, successful at his job – and apparently has eyes for Eun-yi. Knowing that her initial love for him was unrequited adds fuel to the fire, and it’s not long before Eun-yi is trying to convince herself this might be it for her. He might be the one.
We get some weird interludes with her friends – and I say weird not because the subject matter is weird, but because we’re never really introduced to her friends and the scenes are so short that I couldn’t get a firm grasp of the who or why of it all. Either way, they eat cake together and support each other.
Woo-sung and Eun-yi go on a successful first date, and when Woo-sung makes his way into her house with the hope of getting into her pants, In-ho is there to spoil the fun and scare him away by barking like a big, scary dog.
The idea of competition gets In-ho to step up the romantic angle, because he’s apparently come to like her during their time together. Either way, we can enjoy the cute moments they share while they go on cute dates, made even cuter by the lack of the master-pet dynamic while they’re in public.
There are some ripe comedic moments when In-ho starts to act out the moment Eun-yi’s attention wavers at home. He starts leaving various booby traps for her in the house, like filling her shoes with soil and eating all her ice cream, and leaves a polaroid of him performing the prank at every crime scene. Once again, though, I feel like I’m not given enough time to really enjoy the jokes when they’re a blink-and-you-miss-them sort of deal. The pranks and the polaroids are comedy gold – I only wish I could have seen more than a few seconds of them.
In-ho even starts going above and beyond, doing things like bringing her cold medicine at work. His good looks garner the attention of her female coworkers, which causes Eun-yi to spin a lie that he’s her younger cousin.
The differences between the way she acts with Woo-sung and In-ho become clear, both to us and to her, as she notes that she’s become very unnatural in her effort to look beautiful in front of Woo-sung. She doesn’t have to pretend in front of In-ho, who accepts her as she is.
The lack of explanation on how we get from one point to another is the exact opposite issue I experienced with the first episode of Wild Romance, where I felt we were told more than we were being shown. Here, we’re being shown too much without being told much of anything. A balance is harder to find than you’d think.
Eun-yi ends up going on a business trip when she’s supposed to have time off, and Woo-sung is quick to produce… a wedding ring. He wants to marry her. She doesn’t take the proposal seriously because she’s worried about leaving In-ho at home (the way an owner would worry about leaving a dog alone, never mind that In-ho is a grown boy), so she ends up ditching Woo-sung in order to rush home to In-ho.
Woo-sung is not to be deterred, and pays a visit to Eun-yi at her home. She even goes so far as to borrow a dog to pass off as “Momo”, but the dog pees on Woo-sung and that’s the last we see of it. Though she tries to get In-ho to stay out of the house, he’s made up his mind to compete and the two men engage in some friendly, video-game based competition to prove their manliness.
Her friends show up to crash the party, and then we cut to… the washed dishes, because her friends have already left. This is another one of those moments where I directed a “wait, what?” at the screen, unable to process why certain moments exist in this film if they’re not even onscreen long enough to impact the story, or to give insight into the characters.
In-ho takes a few unannounced days off from being a pet to focus on his dance career, and Eun-yi busies herself with work and worrying. She keeps trying to convince herself that she really likes Woo-sung, although it seems more like she doesn’t want to pass on the opportunity. It’s usually when her friend is giving her advice about how dogs act in reaction to their owners that sets Eun-yi in motion – and this time, she decides to find In-ho since she’s been worrying for days whether he’s eaten, or died.
Their relationship dynamic is one that only works with the female being aggressive (and even then, it’s debatable). But the agression-is-okay-when-it’s-female-on-male trope starts to wear thin by the halfway mark, even though Eun-yi’s beatings seem harmless. The first time she runs around beating In-ho? Funny enough. Fourth and fifth time she beats him? Not as funny.
Workplace (and love) rival Young-eun returns to the scene by ousting to Woo-sung that Eun-yi is living with a man. This causes him to stand Eun-yi up on their date, and in her worry she accidentally dials In-ho. He flies to her rescue on a bicycle, and we see a curious side of Eun-yi we haven’t seen in the previous parts of the movie – since she’s suddenly scared and unsure, too busy worrying what Woo-sung will think if he comes to find her gone to think about anything else.
This is where we see that her deep-seated fear comes from the experience of men rejecting her on the basis that she has no patience and tolerance. Instead of taking her home, In-ho takes her out on the town, where they dance in a square to live music being played and have a good time. It’s one of the poignant moments in the film that I connected with, because both characters make the moment seem completely organic.
Eun-yi’s had a good amount of champagne on their fun night out, and is properly sauced by the time she gets back to her apartment. The sexual tension that’s been building between them culminates in a scene where it’s almost assured that they’re going to get busy.
Kim Haneul and Jang Geun-seok work well together in moments like these – and the previously-lukewarm chemistry hits a natural peak here. The situation only gets awkward when Woo-sung arrives, having somehow bypassed her door so he could creep into her house unannounced. Naturally, he’s witnessed the whole foreplay/flirting situation, and that effectively puts the kibosh on their sexy times.
Eun-yi makes the mistake of attempting to explain the whole dog-master thing to Woo-sung, who doesn’t want to hear any of it. I can’t blame the guy, since that scenario sounds messed up any way you slice it. Either way, the two men end up confronting each other and have an all-out sissy fight, trading dirty punches and skittering around each other like scaredy-cats. It’s pretty funny.
Eun-yi manages to drag In-ho away, and he finally confronts her about how she really views him as a person. Eun-yi’s stress level, naturally, is high due to all the recent romancing she’s been receiving, and she becomes angry that the person she depends on to always accept her is asking her soul-searching questions. In the heat of the moment, she sends him away. She can’t take one more person trying to force a sense of guilt on her.
In-ho’s grand romantic gesture (which tries to be tongue-in-cheek, but doesn’t quite manage to get there) includes asking Eun-yi to come see his performance. Apparently he’s surmounted his fear of dancing with women, which leads to an interesting if not slightly-perplexing scene – the big musical number.
Musical numbers in romantic comedies can be fun and delightfully self-aware, so when we leave the literal stage of the number to go to an evergreen park, it’s clear that we’re being eased into a big, climactic moment. But by the time we hit the halfway mark in the musical interlude, I realized that Kim Haneul was curiously absent.
Essentially the musical number became a dream sequence when it was taken off the stage, and so seeing the same performance we would have seen on the stage – with Jang Geun-seok romancing a random musical actress instead of the heroine – left me wondering if Kim Haneul was simply too busy to film that day. And if not, what’s the purpose of seeing Jang Geun-seok do all this singing and dancing by himself? It’s certainly not that he doesn’t have the right to a musical interlude (because everyone has the right to a musical interlude), it’s just apropos of nothing without Kim Haneul present, since it happened at a time in the film that would suggest that it was the finale, or the finale lead-in. (She shows up for a few seconds at the end with single-shots only. Curiouser and curiouser.)
In this case, the musical interlude tricked my mind into believing we were at the end only to find that we weren’t – and when the actual end came, it couldn’t really compare to how outlandishly bombastic the interlude was. If the intended effect was for a quiet, poignant ending this would have worked perfectly – but there was clearly effort put into making the story resolution a grand affair. It just didn’t hit home for me.
The bottom line: A series of moments strung together by a will-they-or-won’t-they plot, without any turns along the way. Despite its lengthy production time, the entirety of the film – and especially the ending – came off feeling rushed. Couldn’t get past the premise enough to just enjoy, but my suspension of disbelief wasn’t the only thing holding this film back from greatness. Or even goodness.
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Tags: featured, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Haneul
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51 peachisgrey
February 12, 2012 at 4:04 PM
dis......
sigh....
bad movie.
that's that.
bad acting, bad drama, baad plot, and superbad casting
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52 Jo
February 12, 2012 at 4:48 PM
I actually really enjoyed this movie. Granted, there were some pretty major flaws, but it was cute, the chemistry was great...it's the perfect backdrop for taking chemistry notes. ><
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Ennayra
February 12, 2012 at 5:37 PM
I have to say, I'm with Jo on this one. I was probably influenced by my extreme love for the J-dorama. I mean, Kimi wa Petto is one of my top favorites on that list. And I also confess to being fascinated by how girly JGS is - his deep voice seems out of place, which makes me more fascinated, lol.
It wasn't "the horror" for me. That's what I mean to say.
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53 mantou
February 12, 2012 at 7:14 PM
Cute leads but the movie was insanely boring.
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54 A-M
February 12, 2012 at 7:25 PM
Your review makes me sad the movie wasn't better. That is actually an improvement over wha I thought of it when I watched it. I pretty much just stuck with it because of JGS... but even his charming cuteness just couldn't rescue this film for me. It was so weird. None of the characters had any real depth to them, consequently their relationships were really shallow to me.
I know part of my dislike for it is just the storyline in general, they never sold me on the idea of her keeping him as a pet--it never made sense to me.
I hope is next project is better, he has such talent. Between this and 'Marry me Mary'... (which I honestly love the begining of...)
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55 AnnaSoWhat
February 12, 2012 at 8:16 PM
This is so bad....after so many months of anticipation, it was a waste.
The manga was way better.
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56 bd
February 12, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Frankly, I don't get the appeal of Jang Geun-seok and why he's an A-lister, but then again, I'm not a pre-teen Asian girl (but there are more compelling young actors like Song Joong Ki, Yoo Seung Ho, etc.).
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bd
February 12, 2012 at 8:58 PM
And oh, JGS is absolutely nuts if he thinks he has a shot at becoming a star outside of Asia.
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57 sisa
February 12, 2012 at 10:30 PM
I've been waiting for this for like, 2 years. I so love the manga and the j-drama. This was a disappointment. It was rushed and I don't think Kim Haneul did justice to Sumire's character. It could be so much better.
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58 sam
February 13, 2012 at 12:02 AM
I might watch this movie of only for JGS, but reading all the comments here, boy...
I have just watched You're Beautiful and in turn watched the plot fail that was Marry Me Mary. While these shows made me into a JGS fan (despite the disastrous MM), I am becoming very frustrated.
First, why does he accept projects like these? Given the right materials to showcase his talents, I think he could be great.
Second, for heaven's sake why does he dress up like that? I get the metrosexual thing going, but most of the time i think he's a little over the top. The makeup, the clothes. And I could not help falling off my chair laughing when dramabeans blogged about the different looks he sported during awards show. I specially went rolling on the floor with the Severus Snape look, I nearly died from lack of oxygen. Funny, entertaining and will never be boring I guess but boy, he's got this incredible looks. It's like he wants people to forget how he really looks naturally and just do it for entertainment purposes and give the media something to be nasty about. Plus, the boy can sure use a little muscle, a little fat. He looks frail most of the time. Or is it the required look for K celebrity guys in their 20's? Lee Seunggi looks damn fine to me.
Third, shouldn't the premise of this movie have been a clue that it is doomed? Ah, such a waste. I hope JGS would really do great with his next drama. When he's in character he could be so intense enough to burn the screen plus, he totally owns it and runs away with it.
JGS, you deserve better.
Quick question. What's really the reason why JGS is more popular in Japan than Korea? I have a theory but well, I'm new to this whole K entertainment thing so I don't really know.
Anyone?
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alua
February 13, 2012 at 4:53 AM
I think he is a bit high up in the clouds, which is why he does projects like these. I read a review somewhere that said the film was like an advert for the JGS corporation... which I thought was true! But poor JGS probably thinks that's a good thing...
The premise of the movie wasn't an indicator that it would be doomed - both the manga and the dorama had the same premise, and they are both awesome and much loved. Granted, they handled whacky premise with much more skill.
Not sure why JGS is more popular in Japan?
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Cynthia
February 13, 2012 at 8:28 AM
Maybe JGS is beloved in Japan for the same reason that they love all things 'Hello Kitty' - they idolize sweet, colorful and non-threatening males, and JGS fits that to a 'T'. Look at how they adore Bae Yong Joon - he's not colorful, but he is sweet-natured and ambiguously sexual. From what I've seen, the Japanese view of sexual mores is skewed towards more diversity and acceptance of gender roles (hence YMP). JGS seems to fit right into that niche.
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Mystisith
February 13, 2012 at 8:48 AM
" They idolize sweet, colorful and non-threatening males ".
Exactly.
Just look at the predominance of " Hosts " looking actors in the japanese doramas ( and mangas ) targeting teenagers. Even older women seem to like them. If a guy appears more muscular/masculine in a dorama, you can be sure he's a villain of any kind, or a stupid brainless bodybuilder.
I for myself prefer a bit of testosterone in my coffee, even if i find their faces fascinating ( Final Fantasy syndrome = they seem totally out of this world, as synthetic creatures ).
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Cynthia
February 13, 2012 at 2:28 PM
Yeah, it's really odd - the adore the Flower Boy aspect but also seem to appreciate the Korean 'beast' groups (2PM, MBLAQ, B2st, etc.) and love all the girl groups non-discriminately. But the adoration level of JGS is so uber-crazy, it's weird - particularly since he's not 1/4 as popular in Korea, and he admits it.
Then again, it's the same with BYJ. When he appears in Japan, it's pandemonium. One 'Winter Sonata' was all it took.
Which leads me to this: Now I'm really curious how 'Love Rain' is going to affect JGS's level of popularity in Korea. I know that regardless of his performance in LR, the Japanese fans will be ready to petition the Pope for his canonization (so then, not only will they have Yonsamma & Yonsamma Jr. (KHJ), they'll have JGS as 'The Living Saint'! [snerk]) It's pretty much guaranteed considering that Yoon is the PD.
As JB said in a post of LR, "Yoon Suk-ho has a reputation for being a star-maker, but to be more accurate, his actors went from pretty famous to crazy famous, not like zero to sixty. But hey, credit where credit is due — the likes of Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo, Song Seung-heon, Song Hye-kyo and Won Bin are just a few among his Hallyu A-listers. Jang Geun-seok holds his own, at home and abroad, so it’s kind of the Hallyu Super Combo, the pairing between these two. This is also potentially the thing that’ll give Jang the kind of ratings-hit, every-mom-and-grandma kind of fame to propel him to the next stage of his career."
Scary, no?
:)
kaekaed
February 13, 2012 at 7:44 PM
So does that mean Jung Il Woo is big in Japan and the Vet (can't remember his name right now) from My GF is a Gumiho?
Do you think it is artificiality or the androgyny that is the bigger draw?
BTW: how are these plastic flower boys (or as I call them pretty boys) going to look in a couple decades - I hope not like Joan Rivers) I do really like JGS, but I see some picts/vids of him and I think "Wow. Doesn't he have a stylist?" Jung IlWoo is one of my fav. actors; but I wonder what the before was.
Of course, I'm not the target audience for Flower Boys - I grew up (and still do - to some extent) thinking that MacGyver was the almost Perfect Man.
Min
February 14, 2012 at 7:26 AM
JKS has always been into Japanese culture. As he is expose to Japanese stuff, he wanted to act in You're my Pet a couple of years ago as he likes the idea of the original drama/manga.
he likes plot that are a little different ( A guy being a pet ) and another ( Falling in love with a friend's mother ) etc. He finds the idea fresh and he thinks that this is the type of movie that you can only act when you are younger. I heard he was the one who help to get the Japanese investment because he really wanted to act in this movie. I know he waited many years for this project to start filming because not many people ( korea ) wanted to invest in this project.
Sad that this movie is not very nice, a more experience director could have done a better job. I am sure he still likes the idea of this movie, but i am not sure if he likes the final product especially after the editing.
Sometimes he just choose a project based on him liking the character or envy the character way of life.JKS does not always choose the best project but at least he tries to select projects that are different from his previous characters.
As for him being popular in Japan, my views:
1) You're Beautiful. His acting.
2) Not masculine but metrosexual.
3) "Do S" and frank character
4) His way of treating his fans
5) His smile, voice
I think the fact that he can speak Japanese is also an added bonus.
Korea is not into JKS because
1) He is not masculine
2) He is too frank for an actor ( modesty )
3) He does not have hit drama so not many people seen his works
4) He is a child actor and they had a hard time seeing his change to an adult actor.
I really hope Love Rain will be a success so that we can see more fans in Korea. I am sure no matter how successful he is in Japan, he still would like the recognition from Koreans.
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59 Lisa Purba
February 13, 2012 at 12:58 AM
This movie was a big flop in Korea. Tsk...what a waste of talent (Kim Haneul)
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60 ed
February 13, 2012 at 1:33 AM
I watched half of this movie on Korean air flight from Sydney to Seoul. I had to switch to something else half way thru the movie. It was lack of substance and very disappointing.
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61 MsB
February 13, 2012 at 9:16 AM
I REALLY, REALLY TRIED to watch this. I was SO disappointed, especially after I really liked Baby and I! I still have it in my watch list but I have to be really, really bored with dramas to watch this again. Agree, its a movie based on a manga but I've enough good movies based on manga to believe this was a totally disappointment! And that's coming from a fan of JGS!
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62 n_xyooj
February 13, 2012 at 10:40 AM
after watching this movie it make me want to have a human pet...lol...will i want jang geun-seok as my pet...
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63 Carinne
February 13, 2012 at 10:46 AM
^ , ^ It's a relief to read some bad film reviews other than great films all the time. Flop films are... seldom welcome.
Did the production break even money at least? I read somewhere JGS requested a salary reduction, was it for this movie?
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64 solangelvp
February 13, 2012 at 11:01 AM
I don't know if I was the only one but I actually liked the movie. I will not say that is the best movie ever but it was really cute.
I have come to find that when you present a remake of a manga in Korea, Japan, Taiwan or anywhere fans usually get mad for 2 things:
1. Because it is just like the original version (anime, drama or movie)
or
2. Because it is not exactly the same.
Changing the way they met was certainly a risky move but first it wasn't as awkward as finding a random strange in front of your door, since he was now someone close to her brother. Seriously who will take an unknown person inside her home, it is impossible.
I also liked that they changed the fact that he was not tall enough to say that he hurt someone and that is why he wasn't dancing.
It is true that a lot of scenes were missing or that the plot seemed rushed but it was more realistic. At the beginning we see him being kicked from the place he used to live at, and he was discussing with his friends what to do. As I saw it wasn't like he didn't have money to pay for a place since he gave 6 months of rent to his friend, but more like he needed someone to take care of him. When he saw that his new "owner" was nice enough to take care of his wounds even after kicking him out he saw he was at a place where someone will care about him even just like a dog so he agreed on being there as a pet as long as someone will be with him, taking care of him.
I liked that the plot moved fast in just a couple of scenes we could see that even though he was the pet, Momo was able to get everything he wanted just like that. Also Kim Haneul's character showed that she had a lof of conflicts on her life like her boyfriends leaving her, her parents divorcing, which indicates that she might be scared of that as well, friends that she only met to have some coffee and a material brother who was sick of her, showing that at the end she was all alone. Also naming Jang Geun Seok as the pet she loved showed that she needed someone to care about her as well.
When she finally meets her old crush again she thought that she could get what she thought was the happy ending without realizing that her affections for "Momo" were increasing by the day. That is mostly shown when she doesn't care about the proposal and just thinks if Momo is well.
Also when she calls Momo instead of her fiance that shows that she knows the number of her pet by heart instead of the number of the man that will spend the rest of her life with her. The drunk scene also display the 2 sides of her character the one of wanting to be always perfect in front of the other guy and the one of not caring about anything when she is with Momo and how much she trusts him to even get so drunk. Also that scene shows that while she has to pretend and have a mask the whole time with Mr. Perfect she needs to get drunk to let her mind stay away and let her heart be the one in control.
The fight between the guys also showed that no matter how mature Mr. Perfect was he was also a kid when it came to feelings.
Jang Geun Seuk's character also seemed carefree but when it came to his owner he was able to get closer and run to find her.
Before I forget being close to her that way, as pet and owner relationship, also allowed him to be more irresponsible and do not over think about his actions and be afraid of hurting her.
If you see on the dance scene where he invites her to dance with him he actually makes her get hurt and it is punished for it like a kid. But if you see clearly and remember about his problem he was comfortable enough to dance with a girl and keep going even after she was hurt. The shows that more than just taking care of him and feeding him she also fixed that problem in his heart and little by little the noona love changed into real love because at the beginning he was into her thinking about adding a noona to his list of conquers.
The musical at the end was nice because it wasn't about the main couple but it was based on his capability of being on a stage with a girl after all his problems. Also the change from the actual stage to a real scene was about being so great that it actually made you think you were watching a real thing happening instead of a musical.
Then when the couple finally met by the end showed that actually she was really worried about losing him but he was sure that she was the one since he wasn't anxious to meet her because he knew what they had was deeper than just a thing from the moment. The last scenes also showed the couple being together after so many things that were not based on the outside world but on their own fears of losing something or hurting someone.
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65 WM
February 13, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Thank you HeadsNo2 and all the posters! I'll be looking for the manga and/or series rather than the movie. Such a shame, too, as it seems there was such potential. :/
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66 ais
February 13, 2012 at 11:48 AM
I completely enjoyed this movie. I think JGS and KHN have great chemistry, but I gotta agree with u that some plots and scenes seem rushed.
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67 Eva
February 13, 2012 at 12:03 PM
I actually thought that I just missed a part, it felt so strange and awkward. I couldn't understand some parts of the story at all! It was so choppily edited, really weird. My excitement for Love Rain is definitely less now, even though JGS wasn't so bad in this, but I mean after Mary and now this? :(
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68 vbs
February 14, 2012 at 5:07 AM
i want to forget it, no chemistry and she wasnt even present in the movie...she looked bored and like she wanted to be some were else
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69 Mindy
February 14, 2012 at 6:54 AM
The movie was not good. It has a weak plot and i think Kim Haneul is not doing her best in this movie.
JKS was great as a comedy actor in You're beautiful but i feel You're my Pet is not his best too. The fact that he cannot really dance also diminish the charm of this character.
I am not a fan of the Jap drama or manga but i have to say they are still better than the korea version.
The plot lacks depth and the worst is the editing skills. Everything happen so fast and i cannot feel any chemistry at all.
I heard the director is a newcomer and i really wish this could be shot by an experience director. I am sure with a better director, plot and direction, the leads would be able to do a much better job.
Anyway, i still love JKS's acting. Just not in this movie. I hope that Love Rain will be better.
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70 Pinki
February 14, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Disappointing. Didn't even finish it. I can't believe I was so excited to watch this, maybe the high expectation contributed to it being IMO worse than it actually is.
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71 Keke
February 14, 2012 at 3:24 PM
It amazes me that they made this a film, and not a drama. A drama would have been so much better! I loved the manga and the j-drama and it's always nice to see other adaptations- but I totally agree, this was far far too crammed to make any sense, especially if you had no knowledge of this fandom!
Shame, but there were some cracking scenes :)
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72 DB5K
February 14, 2012 at 6:42 PM
The movie was alright~~
It could have been worse, in my opinion.
And @Headsno2, since you're an Asian movie buff, you should have known/expected the quickly edited pace of You're My Pet. It's like the trend in "trendy" Korean movies. I believe it was originally derived from Japanese films. Taiwanese films have also started imitating that style.
*Random, random, random scenes interjected into the plot. Especially those that never get explained, but are just added for that touch of whimsy.
*The quick cuts into the next scenes.
*That "vignette" style you mentioned
*Side stories that get hinted at but never resolved.
*ambiguous endings
*surreal, dreamlike sequences
These are all typical characteristics of trendy Korean movies. You'll only get a headache trying to comprehend trendy Korean movies.
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73 vietnamfan
February 15, 2012 at 1:53 AM
I love all of Jang Geun Suk's dramas including You are beautiful and those before that. But WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AFTER THAT. FAILURE WITH MOON GEUN YOUNG AND KIM HA NEUL. What a waste of talent.
What happened to his manly appearance before. He worked too much for himself with full of fan meetings and earned money. But he didn't donate his precious time for dramas. I stopped being a fan of his from now on until I saw new improvement in Love Rain.
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74 vietnamfan
February 15, 2012 at 2:01 AM
I know Jang is the only actor that can really put his heart to this role but sth is not right here. Is it because Korean don't like his feminine side?
I just can't understand. Geun Suk is a talent! But why?
Even in Mary Me Mary, he's a star! But what happened?
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75 arielifeoma
February 24, 2012 at 5:22 AM
I hate to agree with the review but it is so warranted. I actually think you were being rather gentle when you could have shredded it. I am a total JGS fangirl but I got a little knot in my tummy when thinking of this film. After watching "Blind" I finally got how Kim Haneul might be able to pull off Sumire but Sukkie as Momo? No go. His hair was way better and he is slightly better looking than MatsuJun but I highly doubted that he would be able to pull off the role as he almost always gives off this aura, no matter what, of knowing just how awesome/hot he is...I mean, I totally supported him not being Rui/Ji Hoo in kdrama Boys Before Flower in favor of leading man Tae Kyung in You're Beautiful because Sukkie is too awesome to play second fiddle of any kind. Similarly, Sukkie as a pet, as someone dominated? Yea...right...
Plus, he was too darn tall and height was a big deal in the Jdrama and manga (with Sumire being too tall and intimidating). This shew forth even in one of the scenes where she is supposed to be saying "how tall are you?" and outlining the lack of his qualities to fulfill the three "highs" THUS his relegation to pet status but, due to the fact the JGS is visibly taller than Kim Haneul, they had to reword that to "what are you?" and him ANSWERING "pet."
Also, Momo is a little complex and this film failed to show that IMHO. Momo isn't just a pet because Sumire is stoic and a bit socially inept. Momo is a pet b/c he is struggling with having to grow up, become a man and take on responsibility and decide his path in life. The 10 epi long Jdrama BARELY managed to depict this so, of course, the movie couldn't. I love Sukkie but MatsuJun did this so better. Of course, one could argue that MatsuJun simply had more time (and better directing/editing) to showcase this but I still think that Sukkie didn't have the right feeling.
I would have been so delighted if this movie surpassed my expectations but it didn't. However, Sukkie DID keep his lustrous locks for the longest time because of it and for THAT, I am thankful.
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76 M
February 25, 2012 at 2:32 PM
I really like Kimi wa petto from the Jap drama.
So I came into this movie thinking I would enjoy it too.
The first 20 minutes lead me to one word: stop.
+_+" The acting is awkward. The story is slow paced and boring.
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77 dfl123
March 11, 2012 at 9:57 AM
Random question: In the scene where JGS danced in the living room, there was painting of girl on a field(he pointed to it). Does anyone know the artist or name of this painting??
Really like it! Would appreciate if someone could shed some light. Thanks!!
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78 mattan
June 1, 2012 at 9:47 PM
im procrastinating studying. I was surfing youtube and found 'speed scandal' which was freakin brilliant. moving on, i started watching you're my pet.
SO MUCH REGRET
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79 iWASthinking
July 2, 2012 at 11:43 AM
i have seen kimi wa petto and i truly, truly believe that the korean adaptation failed because they managed to miss-- or chosen to ignore-- the underlying presence of the fetish factor in the japanese series. they chose the rom-com route and played it til the very end, and inevitably made the movie bland. because the truth is, the premise IS simple. it was that little dash of spice and naughtiness in the whole me-master-you-dog senario that made the japanese series work.
plus the song and dance number just made me think they ran out of ideas on how to end the movie.
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80 maruja
July 28, 2012 at 1:16 PM
la peli es entretenida. sobre todo cualquier pelicula con la cara tan bonita que tienes una buena razon para no dejarla de ver . claro con el cabello asi de largo ,porque cuando se le ve con el pelo corto no pasa nada no se quien le permitio cortrse el cabello tan chiquito no le queda nada bien es mas no se le reconoce porfavor decirle no corte de cabelllo gracias
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81 Stephanie
July 31, 2012 at 1:59 AM
While I'm a die-hard JGS fan (which means I loved this movie regardless), this movie wasn't that great. I think this was originally a manga and drama because it needs that time for everything to unfold properly and make sense. This movie to me felt like they had filmed a 16 episode drama and then cut it down to make just a movie, instead. I loved some of it, while other parts confused me and ruined the mood of it. I'm glad I watched it though(: (and OMFG HIS HAIR I JUST KJNDNGWIBI2B)
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82 Z
November 21, 2012 at 7:18 PM
So I know I am late on this review train but I finally decided to watch this (after avoiding it like the plague because there was so much hype surrounding it). I didn't want to go in with my hopes up because of all the promotion.
I agree the scenes were very choppy so you never really got to delve deeper into any of the characters. No one was fleshed out enough for your to really care. They also just dropped characters in places out of the blue without any back story. I mean they could have at least dropped a freeze frame with a caption when she first started talking to her friends in order to introduce them. Something like "freeze frame on friend #1" with the caption' Eun Chan best friend from High School' ya know... It was a total hodgepodge...
And I love JGS,, however, I kept thinking that Onew (from SHINee) would have been a good choice for In-Ho/Momo.
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83 Tulipsaki
February 28, 2013 at 1:38 PM
She thought a pet would be easy? Obviously never had a dog or cat. They've got personalities, people.
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84 Tulipsaki
June 18, 2013 at 7:58 PM
This woman's lucky to get a ballet dancer: any guy who tried to mooch off me would probably be a failed drummer in a garage band.
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85 Kiki
July 13, 2013 at 9:22 AM
After seeing this lukewarm review and all the negative comments, I feel compelled to write how much and why I like this movie. I understand if someone doesn't like romantic comedies, but if they do, I am really surprised how can they not see how good it is? Watching it I was surprised it was not a big international hit in US and Europe. Romantic comedies have a rather strict formula, because they are all really a variation on "Pride and Prejudice", yet for some reason most romantic comedies are horrible, often by not sticking to the few simple rules. 1. It's supposed to be about people, who on the surface are not a good match turn out to be a perfect match. It's a fantasy, because we all dream about founding perfect love and have such a hard time with it. 2. The main characters have to be likable. The rival has to be likable too, or we are offending the protagonists taste and intelligence. 3. there has to be an emotionally acceptable situation (it might be unrealistic, but can not be unpleasant) where they meet each other often or are somehow stuck with each other until they have a chance to get to know each other and find out they are a perfect match.4. The romantic tension has to stem from the characters failings, (like pride and prejudice) misunderstanding of each other, misunderstanding of their own feelings, lack of ability to communicate. 5. We want some secondary characters, but only to learn about our protagonists, we don't want to waste time on subplots, we want the two main characters on the screen as much as possible. 6. We want a clear happy ending - they found bliss with each other and they will be together forever.
Most romantic comedies are dreadful because they do too much in some areas not enough in others. "My pet " is either perfect, or perhaps the director and I are soul mates. I love how likable the characters are, how vulnerable and lonely, and how all this is done so quickly by using the right actors, who convey tons in one look and dialogue (sequences with parents, siblings and friends) and not by endless exposition speeches. This allows the action to proceed right to the set up of the master-pet game, which is at the heart of this comedy. In-ho, is a classical dancer who had to give up due to some psychological issues after injuring his primaballerina , he is still very young. He was living at home until recently, but disagreed with his parents about some career issues and they tlod him to move out. He is not homeless or desperate, but every choice he makes is compromised. He can move back with his parents loosing his freedom to decide about his life. He can sleep in the studio, but that means his body is going to be tired (no proper bed, shower). He makes some money from his dancing projects but not enough to rent an apartment. The option to rent a room from his friend, especially after he meets the beautiful sister/owner Eun-yi is obviously attractive. Why does the she agree? It's done cleverly. She is lonely. She gave up on men and decided to get a pet, but didn't get a chance to buy one yet, when her brother shows up with his dancer friend. She agrees to one night sleepover but next night the In-ho is waiting for her in a blue box in front of her door. Meanwhile the brother disappeared with 6 months rent in advance from In-ho, rent to which he obviously had no right. He probably moved back to mooch off of his parents under the pretext of "fixing their relationship". I find that funny. I find all these people just a little bit flawed and very likable. There is a lot of room for subtle comedy of manners and the movie immediately goes to that territory. Once In-ho decided to stay, he tries to convince her to take him in. He sees a picture of a dog sporting a golden mane and spontaneously offers to play the part of the pet. Wanting to get rid of him she says fine, but you will really have to live like a pet, no human rights, at my back and call. He accepts, startling her. You don't find that funny? I think it's hilarious. She is mad at him for accepting a ridiculous deal, so she tries to push him out..albeit he is making too much noise and she suddenly thinks about the neighbors. Before she knows it- they made a deal. The game is set up. He is of course happy with the room and board arrangement. He gets days "off" as she works late almost all the time. He demands being taken out for walks (wait, isn't this just a clever way to go on dates with her without calling them dates? I find this delightful). At night he tries to push intimacy on her under the cover of being her pet and it's very funny to see her wash his hair. The master-pet game allows this very reserved girl to be physically close with someone first time in her life. I'm not sure what he gets out of this, but it seems that he enjoys the attention and affection and that he is taking every opportunity to make love to her. Eun-yi on the other hand is allowed by the contract to finally treat someone the way she wants and becomes a bit sadistic (naming him after her dead dog Momo, waking him up when she comes home late from work, so he enjoys the treats she brought him). Normally, this would be repulsive, but we are speaking about a girl, who always did what others wanted her to, the type who always stays late at work, when other wiggle out of the responsibility. So its hilarious to see her acting out with him (because of their deal she feels she can) the way she was never able to act to her parents, boyfriends , coworkers. It's very funny and at the same time it's sweet that he takes it. Partly because he has a comfortable deal. Partly because he likes her. Again, how can anyone who likes romantic comedies not like it?
Funny how different people like different things. I heard raves about many romantic comedies which I found just awful, in contrast this delightful movie is so disliked. Same about actors. I got into the Korean stuff by coincident and stayed because of two stars only: JGS and Lee Min Ho. I have tried watching dramas without them, and honestly, without their star appeal I couldn't care less. No matter how many times someone recommends some actor as "so much better" I end up turning it off. I am wondering what is gong on that JGS has such an anti-fan base. Living in the US and knowing him only from movies and dramas, I can't understand how can someone inspire such strong emotions. Is he in interviews a lot and obnoxious in them? I saw the infamous Indian Summer video, yeah, he looks like a blond...not even a girl, more like a middle aged woman, (drugs and alcohol?)but why the hatred? For what I can see the man had a 20 year career in the profession, is a really good musician and a charismatic actor with wide range. I think he can do whatever he wants, his bad music videos should not influence how he is perceived as an actor.
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86 Amy
September 11, 2018 at 7:37 PM
As others have said, I think the real mistake was in trying to turn a 14-volume manga into a 2-hour movie. If they had done a drama instead, they could have taken more time to explore why the pet-master relationship works for these two people and how it grows into something more. At its heart, Kimi wa Petto is a deeply psychological story. Keeping a human as a pet is a difficult premise to swallow, and you can't really sell it to the audience in 2 hours.
Of course, there are other problems, but I think the review covers most of them.
The 2003 Japanese drama was so much better. And if you haven’t seen the 2017 remake yet, I highly recommend it. The ending was rushed, and some of the story arcs felt unnecessary, but I like it at least as much as the 2003 version.
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