Smiling Pasta mini review
Smiling Pasta
(Summary from DramaWiki) Xiao Shi is a girl who has gone through many short relationships, 17 to be exact, not one lasting more than 3 months hence, she was cursed with a three-month curse. After being dumped by her 17th boyfriend, the world looks grimmer than ever. At that time, a famous idol, He Qun runs past, bumps into Xiao Shi, and they end up "kissing" on the street. Paparazzi swarmed by and to avoid a bad reputation, He Qun’s manager declared Xiao Shi as He Qun’s girlfriend of one year and fiancée. Thus, a love contract was made. This story is about how the couple learns to like each other after having disagreements in the beginning, as well as fighting the injustices the media throw at them. Will Xiao Shi finally break her 3 month curse?
This drama is enjoyable but sometimes it drags and is too silly to hold my interest. I fastforwarded through a lot of a parts and felt that I didn't miss out on much. Nicholas Teo and Cyndi Wang play the leads in this drama and while IMO they won't be up for acting awards, they at least have good chemistry together. Their characters, He Qun and Cheng Xiao Shi, have plenty of cute moments together but I found myself become more interested in the secondary couple, He Rui Zhe (played by Gino) and Rita (played by Zhao Hong Qiao). I recognized both actors from Prince Turns Into Frog and for a while I thought of Smiling Pasta as the rock/grunge version of PTIF. Anyway, their characters and relationship were more interesting than He Qun and Cheng Xiao Shi, not to mention that they didn't annoy me at all. I would have enjoyed the series more if it had revolved around them instead.
Aside from those two characters this drama feels like a typical Taiwanese romantic comedy drama. If you like watching a typical love/hate relationship where the two characters have to stay together throughout the series, then you might enjoy this series. Personally, I grew tired of the silliness pretty quick and had to force myself to finish this drama.
2,5 out of 5.