My Golden Life

This drama is about two families, one poor, the other rich and how they become entangled in each others lives. At 52, one hour episodes, its a long haul but you get to know each character better which is always a good thing.

The two lead actors Hye-Sun Shin (who plays the sister Seo Ji-an) and Shi-hoo Park (who plays the brother Choi Do-kyeong) really do play their parts to perfection. But for me its the support cast who really knock it out of the park, especially Eun-Su Seo (who plays the other sister Seo Ji-soo) and Ho-jin Chun (who plays the father Seo Tae-soo), they are so good, they will no doubt get more dramas to work on as leads.

At 52 episodes you can expect a few slight appearance changes to the cast but Lee Tae-Hwan (who plays Ji-soo's boyfriend Seon Woo-hyeok) has ginger hair for 43 episodes then suddenly goes black and nobody wonders why.

The story lines are twisty but always interesting and every episode has a juicy cliff-hanger, so you can't wait for the next episode to start.

For me its the two mothers and the final episode that stop this being a 9. The mothers are just not good actors, they occasionally look at the camera, which is a no-no. And the last episode is rushed, to tie all the loose ends together. They should have split it into two seasons and gave all the characters a proper ending.

Even with those two little flaws, its still a must watch, but keep the hankies close, you will definitely get through a box or two.

Deeply profound portrayal of family dynamics, particularly between Parents and children. The story spell bindingly appeals to my heart. My golden life is like SIX FEET UNDER Drama where you get to see amazing character building and in depth insights of family life. You need a mature taste to enjoy this. I am someone who has seen wonderful STILL 17, so I like rom coms. But my beautiful life absorbs you in a whole different feeling. This drama is not as sweet as an ice cream , but as healthy as an apple for your heart, yes it has a nice tangy taste to it as well.

You need to appreciate the unbelievable AMAZING acting by Shin Hye-Sun who plays Jian. In fact she is the main reason I started to watch this, after watching incredibly funny and emotional STILL 17. what an actress.. Wow. She deserves the highest recognition among Korean actresses. The actor who plays Jian's dad is another magical actress who speaks thousands words just by using his eyes.

Watch it. This is a gem.

Finished this drama just last year and it is a very great drama for me. It's about social status, poverty, dreams, social pressure and depression. Overall, it's about life.

"A woman has a chance for success, but falls into a bottomless pit of her life. She looks for ways to find happiness through her circumstance." -- asianwiki

"A mother's misguided love has caused her daughters to get swapped in status, and so the heroine Seo Ji-an enters the chaebol household to have a better life without knowing she is actually not their long-lost daughter, but her "former twin" sister instead. What will happen to her once the secret get revealed, and what will happen to her relationship with the son of chaebol family Choi Do-kyung, whom she has gotten closer to as siblings?" -- wikipedia

What I mostly compliment this drama about is, you just see every character evolving as the drama goes on, you see them move forward in life not conforming to what their society dictates about what success truly is. You also see how from being selfish, characters become selfless. From running responsibility, they became responsible and they accept things and be happy with how those things turned out (although you may hate those people in the drama but if you only tried to still go on, you will be touched by their change of hearts). This is also the show when you can just pinpoint family love from the characters and to be honest, everytime I see those things -- I was very emotional last year and this drama has helped me -- you will just smile and be amazed on how we as humans are able to have the gift to love others and love our families. This drama is not cliche in anyway, one thing I can assure you, so there are things you'll not be expecting that can also be the reason why you might be disappointed in some parts, but don't worry those things does not overshadowed how heartfelt this drama is.

After watching this, I can confirmed to you that it wasn't overrated. It was truly good and every acting especially from the father of the poor family will tug your hearts, I cheered his character all the way until the end. :)

Binge watched 52 episodes. Lots of insights into Korean way of life and charming characters No one in the world does soap better than korea

This is a remarkable series. It kept me glued for the whole of it's amazing 52 hour running time.

As so often, Shin Hye-sun is the most compelling reason to watch this. She invests all of her many emotional scenes with so much sincerity and truth that not once does she ring a false note. The same high praise cannot be extended to every one of her co-actors. However, some of those that appear to start weakly do become more compelling as the series progresses, perhaps because their character's challenges demand more of them as the plot thickens.

I am now faced with filling a "My Golden Life" sized hole in my viewing schedule! Only my faith in the strengths of K drama make me optimistic!