"MARRY ME, MARY": WHAT A WASTE OF TALENTS

There was a lot of excitement when it was first announced that Jang Geun Suk and Moon Geun Young were the leads for the romantic Kdrama, "Marry me, Mary" as these two were accomplished actors in their own right.
When the first promotional pictures and the preview came out, there were quite a few people who commented that the male lead looked like a girl.  In fact, some were of the opinion that he was prettier than his leading lady.  Well, that was not a big deal as nowadays many of the male idol actors are way much prettier than their female counterparts.
Anyway, people were in high anticipation as they said the Geun-Guen pairing would ignite sparks as both are very professional and capable actors who are big names in the entertainment industry and have huge fan followings.  Even my mom and aunt were looking forward to watching Jang Geun Suk again as they had enjoyed watching him as Hwang Tae Keung in "He's Beautiful" and Kang Gun Woo in "Beethovan Virus". 
The drama aired right after the hugely entertaining and successful Sungkyunkwan Scandal and was competing for viewers with another popular drama, "Giant".  The initial ratings were in single digits which were not encouraging.  My Aunt Linda who watched it told me that Jang Geun Suk was so pretty in the drama that he made the leading actress look plain.  She said that the actress was just not right for the role.  My mom was kinder.  She said the actress was not too pretty but she was cute and  talented.  After I heard their comments, I checked out the series on the Internet and after the first few episodes, I couldn't help but agree with them.
Actually, I felt that something was not right with the script.  As a matter of fact, I read that the writer left the show towards the 10th episode and was replaced by another.  Mind you, this was the lady who wrote the script for the phenomenal successful "Goong".  How could she have messed up this time?

What went wrong?
I think that the audience did not take to the Bohemian, Hippie type of characters.  The parents of the lead characters were portrayed as immoral and dysfunctional. 

Furthermore, I personally feel that Moon Geun Young was not physically suitable for the role.  Yes, she is indeed a good actress judging from her past performances but that does not necessarily mean that she is good for all roles, in particular this one.  I feel that she looked more like the youngest sister of Jang Geun Suk and the young niece of her other suitor, who looked like he is in his late twenties.  Yeah! Yeah!  You may say that both the Geuns are the same age but then to me she still looks 13; like she had not aged since she starred in "My 13 year old bride" with Kim Rae Won.  She looks like a cute little girl.  The kissing scene was not too convincing as it looked as if this twenty-something girlish looking guy was trying to make out with a girl barely into her teens. 
Look at the pictures below which were taken from the drama, "Marry me, Mary" and see if you agree with me about her looking like someone barely out of puberty.

FINAL SAY:

This goes to show that hit dramas may not result from the combination of two popular and talented actors.  I think the producers and directors should be more careful when choosing actors for the roles. Instead of choosing Big Name stars who might not be right for the roles, they better look for more suitable candidates, like what it did for Sungkyunkwan Scandal.  The lesser known but more suitable actors did a brilliant job in their portrayals and in the process gems were unearthed. Furthermore, I think the second male lead was too stiff and robotic. I liked him in "Coffee Prince" where he was more natural but not this one.  Somehow, I could not feel much chemistry among the leads. There was too much hype about this drama and its stars.  For me it just didn't work.  I think my opinion is backed by the ratings for the show which averaged at around 6% which is very poor.

Source: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Mary_Stayed_Out_All_Night/Episode_Ratings

One more thing, I think this particular drama would have a bad influence on the young viewers.  Why?  At the end of the drama, Mary chooses the Indie Rocker, Kang Mugyeol, over the straitlaced director.  However, they do not end up marrying each other even after a year.  It is implied that they are living together but have broken up and made up for about 13 times.  In the real world, the Uncles and Aunties who have eaten more salt or crossed more bridges than the young ones would say that such a relationship would not last. 

Aiyoh!  If I have a daughter I would ban her from watching the drama in case she has such fancy ideas of running off with a ridiculously skinny girlish looking male rocker who has no intentions of making an honest woman out of her.