12 July 2006

TView

STARRING: Rui En, Julian Hee, Michelle Saram
SHOWING ON: Channel 8, weekdays at 9pm
RATING: ****

Love @ 0 deg C
teowyw@sph.com.sg

I AM not sure why Channel 8 chose to brand Love @ 0 deg C as an idol drama.

It’s quite a gross injustice to their own product, I must say.

Especially since idol dramas now have such a bad rep for having mindless fluff and terrible acting – in particular those from a certain Asian country that churns them out by the dozen.

Love @ 0 deg C stars Rui En as Yixin, a fashion design student so poor, she cannot even afford her own creations.

She and sidekick Xiaoling (Felicia Chin) harbour dreams of marrying a rich man and enjoying a life of happily-ever-after.

While at a posh party to snag a rich husband, Yixin keeps crossing swords with arrogant playboy Guobin (Julian Hee), who ends up being her boss when he hires her as a cleaner for his new dessert shop.

When Guobin breaks up with his wilful girlfriend Qiao Anna (Michelle Saram), Yixin cheers him up and they fall in love.

But when Anna is blinded in an accident, Guobin decides it’s his duty to take care of her.

Love @ 0 deg C may be based on a formula targeted at the teen market.

But what makes the show bearable is that it doesn’t play cute.

After all, you can hardly expect to get away with it when your cast has a median age of 25.

Instead, the likeability of Love @ 0 deg C lies in the charm of its lead, Rui En.

The feistiness she injects into her character, and her unaffected performances will make you warm up to her instantly.

WHAT THOSE TICKS MEAN
***** Excellent
**** Good
*** Average
** Mediocre
* Don’t bother

Source: The New Paper

Categorised in Love at Zero Degrees 爱情零度C, The New Paper.