In the Chinese drama market, urban themes have always been popular.
For example, " settle down " in 2020, "Ideal City" in 2021, and "Wind Blowing Pinellia" in 2022. Almost every year, urban themes will bring several works to the audience.
However, in recent years, urban themes have lacked fresh settings, and the same boring routines have begun to make the audience feel aesthetic fatigue.
This year's "City in the City", " Cheng Huan Ji ", " Spring Love ", although they are supported by CCTV, the results are not ideal. If they want to be comparable to the classics, they still lack a lot of meaning. .
Which work can break the game? In fact, what I am most looking forward to is " old guy ".
" Iron Teeth Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan " The Iron Triangle is back again, with many national first-class actors and actresses, all of whom are old acquaintances of the audience, and directed by gold medal screenwriter Zhao Dongling.
This masterpiece has been backlogged for 2 years. Now it has ranked first in satellite TV ratings since its launch. You can imagine how popular it is.
But I thought it was another urban drama with a ceiling, but I didn’t expect that the negative reviews continued after it started airing. The reasons for the negative reviews from the audience were surprisingly consistent. What happened to this drama?
The cliché plot is another piece of chicken
"Old Guy" tells the story of Xiao Changqing ( Zhang Guoli ), Sun Qiancheng ( Wang Gang ) and Chen Xincheng ( Zhang Tielin ) who founded a company after retirement. Retirement communities want to allow retired elderly people like them to live their own wonderful lives.
It is not difficult to see that this drama is innovative in the storyline, focusing on retired elderly people, and the three "old guys" starring in it are the trio from "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan" that was popular all over the country. It is obviously intended to sell A wave of feelings.
I believe that many viewers, like me, went there for this wave of "memory killing", but as a result, their faces were covered in blood.
Among them, there are two things that are most unacceptable.
The first point is suffocating family relationships.
It's really unexpected. I originally thought that "Old Guy" could bring some new tricks to urban dramas, but I didn't expect that it would still use the same old routine of creating anxiety and family conflicts.
The scene at the beginning, where the old lady "forced her son to have a wife" to buy a house for her daughter, almost made me vomit out my overnight meal. The daughter had no money to buy a wedding house for her son and cried in front of the old lady. The old lady just waved her hand and asked her son to pay for it.
Not to mention that both brothers and sisters are now at retirement age. Their children can grow up and start their own business. Why do they still need money for the family?
And according to Xiao Changqing's description, since Xiao's father passed away, this sister's schooling, work, love, and marriage were all handled by Xiao Changqing.
No, others are "the demon who supports younger brothers" and you are the "devil who supports younger sisters".
And let’s listen to what this old lady said. She feels bad that her daughter has to live with her daughter-in-law and is afraid that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will quarrel every day. Then why doesn’t she feel bad that her eldest grandson and four generations of her grandson live in the same house?
It’s even more annoying especially at the end. Xiao Changli (played by Hu Xiaoting) took the 200,000 yuan given by her brother instead of buying a house. Instead, she trusted in financial management and investment. As a result, she was deceived without any suspense. She lost the money and didn’t buy the house.
then ran to the old mother and cried, guess what, as soon as the old lady said it was not easy for Xiao Changqing, she asked him to pay another 200,000.
is so suffocating. The audience’s breasts are also breasts. Can the screenwriter do less of this kind of plot?
In addition to Xiao Changqing's family environment that suffocates the audience, Chen Xincheng's repressive education and Sun Qiancheng's fatherly love also make people feel extremely uncomfortable.
When will domestic dramas give up this depressing and suffocating portrayal of the native family, and let urban dramas get rid of this boring parent-child plot?
The second point is fake poverty.
The fake poor setting of domestic urban dramas really makes people watch enough.
Let’s talk about Xiao Changlin’s family. As mentioned earlier, Xiao Changlin’s family has four generations living under one roof. I also thought it was a bit crowded.
As a result, the camera turned, my dear, co-author Xiao Changlin and his family live in a three-story villa, and they are still called poor? Others have four generations living under one roof, but you are living in a third-floor apartment with four generations living under one roof. It’s so unconvincing to say that you are poor.
To be honest, the drama "Old Guy" really disappointed the audience. They thought the reunion of the Iron Triangle would be funny, but instead it played the role of the children of a retired old man, which no family can worry about.
Moreover, when the three of them come together, they still act in the same old way. It feels like it’s too dramatic to go back to a Qing palace drama. Talking and singing is no longer the natural and funny feeling it once was. An old-fashioned flavor overflows the screen, which is really hard to watch.
The Iron Triangle’s unchanging acting skills are so dramatic
The most attractive thing about the drama "Old Guy" is of course that the actors in the drama are all old acquaintances of the audience. I thought that I would be able to put it down after watching the old actors acting. Heart, I didn’t expect to be slapped in the face.
ranked first, Zhang Guoli.
There is no problem with the acting of Xiao Changlin played by Zhang Guoli in the play, but the problem is the character. The eternal good guy setting, sandwiched between two generations of relatives, this feeling of suffocation made Zhang Guoli come back to perform.
However, despite his superb acting skills, when standing next to the other two leading actors, he still gave the audience a "neither fish nor fowl" feeling.
ranked second, Wang Gang.
It can be seen that Wang Gang is very excited about the return of the Iron Triangle, but the Sun Qiancheng he plays has a "heshen" flavor, and is even far more shrewd and calculating than before.
The performance of jumping up and down, winking, and obviously exerting too much force, coupled with a pair of porcelain teeth that blinded the audience's eyes, is really a bit greasy.
third place, Zhang Tielin.
If you want to say that the actor in "Old Guy" made the audience feel the most dramatic, it must be Zhang Tielin.
After all these years, Zhang Tielin still has a sense of superiority in his acting. He will blow his beard and stare with an expression of "I am the best" at every turn. If the background music is changed, he can be transported directly to a Qing palace drama.
's acting skills are superficial, exaggerated and greasy. Compared with others, Zhang Tielin has the most old-fashioned character.
ranked fourth, Zhou Tao.
A senior host turned actor, which is a hot topic. As the heroine of "Old Guy", Zhou Tao's performance is also highly anticipated by the audience, but her performance obviously disappointed the audience.
Xia Mingzhou, played by Zhou Tao in the play, is an independent woman with a successful career. However, Zhou Tao's interpretation of the character seems a bit deliberate and cannot truly show the inner changes of the character.
Especially when she was opposite Wang Gang, her emotions were obviously not explosive. When she expressed her anger, she narrowed her eyes and curled her mouth in an evil way, which made her character seem weak and powerless, making it difficult for the audience to watch.
I can only say that every other line is like a mountain. When a host crosses over to eat the rice of an actor, he still has to weigh his own strength and think about whether he must eat this bowl of rice. Don't let yourself lose the passerby's plate just to make money. .
Conclusion
I have followed 6 episodes of "Old Guy", and I just want to say that the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
I thought that Audio-Technica's return was a result of suppressing it, but to my surprise, it turned out to be a big deal.
The story is full of calculations from beginning to end, calculations between family members at home and calculations between friends outside. Moreover, the plot is quite boring. I relied on the feelings of the past to tie up the plot, but in exchange for it, I was so angry that I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night.
Please all screenwriters and directors, please open your eyes and look at the lives of ordinary people.
At the very least, it is not difficult to give the characters in film and television dramas a normal thinking.
Some viewers may say that art comes from life, and what movies and TV dramas show is less than half of what is in real life.
But this kind of plot, if written well, will naturally make the audience feel involved. For example, "人世", although it is a period drama, the plot is engaging, connotative and deep, and the plot is not suspended.
Looking back at "Old Guy", the plot is boring and boring, the characters are not likeable, and the Qing palace drama acting makes the audience laugh frequently. It really cannot be called an urban masterpiece.
However, "Old Guy" has only been updated for 6 episodes. Maybe the plot will get better in the future. I wonder if you still want to continue watching the show?
