A rather light drama in this genre. The last drama that shared the same genre with Leverage that I watched was The Player (OCN, 2018) which I didn’t enjoy 100%. That’s why when I went into Leverage I had very low expectation. I had a feeling Leverage would let me down somehow but oh boy I was wrong. Leverage turned out to be a great drama. I finished watching it and found myself wanting for more.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
“Lee Tae-Joon (Lee Dong Gun) is an excellent insurance fraud investigator. An unexpected case changes his life. He quits his job and recruits talented criminals, that he once caught, to form an elite fraud team. The team includes Hwang Soo-Kyung (Jeon Hye Bin), Ko Na-Beyol (Kim Sae Ron), Roy Ryu (Kim Kwon) and Jung Ui-Sung (Yeo Hoe Hyeon). They scam wealthy criminals and return the money that they stole to the victims.” – copied and edited from Asianwiki
If after reading the synopsis you think it’s boring, yes it’s boring. The very typical, overly used swindle type of drama. But guys, hold your horses!
ACTING + IMPRESSION
Lee Dong Gun’s role in Leverage was almost like his role in Seven Days Queen (KBS2, 2017) which I think a pity. Because I think his role in Where Stars Land (SBS, 2018) was also like this (I’m not quite sure since I dropped it). He did an excellent job though but kind of hoping to see him taking a role that’s not this type of role. He showcasted a range of expression in Leverage and it’s just a pity if he’s not exploring them more.
Jeon Hye Bin, one of my sweethearts! It’s refreshing to see her in such light and funny role like in Leverage. She truly nailed it. Her role in Leverage was actually a theater actress whose acting was very awful which had me laughing so hard with her exaggerated acting.
Kim Sae Ron, Yeo Hoe Hyeon and Kim Kwon, not very familiar with their acting before. Despite the hugely popular Kim Sae Ron’s is, the only work of hers I’ve watched is actually Ahjussi which was released 10 years ago lol. They did great in their respective role and really looking forward to their next project.
And the cameos, guys you all did extremely great. I actually don’t remember if there was any bad acting from anyone. As a whole, every cast did extremely great. What a feast to the eye.
PLOT
Leverage was the typical drama about swindlers. They solved one case after another which actually the cases were related to each other. And of course, they swindled people!
There’s not much going on but it was one nice watch because it had serious side and funny side, with very minimum exaggeration. It’s light and will not give you a headache. Every case was fun but still had you on your toes. It did require you to analize the case together with them though LOL. But I think it’s one great aspect of this drama, I felt involved and part of the team.
Unlike The Players, Leverage had some common sense in their script! The logic was there, thank goodness. For this type of drama it’s easy for writers to bypass the logic but I truly appreciate Leverage’s writer for writing a logical swindl drama.
I also liked it that Lee Tae Joon and the gang bonded so naturally. Again, this thing could be easily bypassed by some writers just to make the plot moved fast. I also liked how everyone was so different to one another but somehow they could make it work and they ended up having the same value and view in life. How they came to cherish one another and took a great care of each other.
OST
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OVERALL
Leverage turned out to be one of the best dramas I picked up this year (yes, I was only able to picked this up in March 2020). It’s fun, it’s light, but it’s tight and detail-packed and Jeon Hye Bin was a total cutie in this drama. Do give it a try!
Overall rating : 9.5 out of 10
Will I Watch it Again? YASSSS
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