What a view | In Netflix K-drama romcom Business Proposal, Kim Se-jeong and Ahn Hyo-seop take mistaken identity to another level
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You can spin out the joke of mistaken identity only so far. But regardless of the eventual distance, you can have a lot of fun along the way.
Romantic comedy-drama Business Proposal (Netflix) proves the point in its 12 first-series episodes of crossed wires, misunderstandings, blind dates with the wrong people, workplace embarrassment, annoying siblings and senior relatives who claim only to want what’s best for their young charges.
Anchoring the show is the energetic performance of Kim Se-jeong as Ha-ri, who inadvertently kicks off the confusion by bravely standing in for best friend Young-seo (Seol In-ah) on a date with an eligible executive.
He is Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), so smooth of feature he could have been airbrushed at birth. He is also heir to the food company owned by his grandfather, known as Chairman Kang (Lee Deok-hwa) – a stylish dresser topped by an immovable mop of hair suggestive of a meringue affixed with shotcrete.
So concerned is he about his grandson’s workaholism that he has arranged a series of blind dates with suitable young Korean women – much to Tae-moo’s irritation and to the despair of Young-seo, who really isn’t interested.
Persuaded to impersonate her friend, Ha-ri (already pining for an out-of-reach crush) puts on her most obnoxious persona – which backfires spectacularly when Tae-moo decides he is going to marry her in a sham arrangement, to stop all the grandfatherly hassle. Ha-ri, who could use the money her wealthy betrothed promises, has little say in the matter.
