BLISS RATING: ★★★+
“Noodles are like love. Love is doing small things with great feeling. Just like this noodle.” – Quote from My Sweetheart Jom
I absolutely enjoyed this series and if you asked me seriously why, I am completely at a loss to comprehensively answer that. The plot is ridiculously contrived. The story itself is all over the map. Even if one could attempt to summarize, it might sound illogical and laughable. Yet, I valued its warmth, its positive relationship to the rural lifestyle, its spotlight on idealism, and most of all its unwavering path to taking the high road to bends in the road when it came to the moral compass. It is simply a fun story to watch that is ginormously entertaining with a steady sense of humor that never is completely off the wall but occasionally is tongue-in-cheek yet remains relatable enough that we see the humor presented in down-to-earth fashion.
Yo (Poom Nuttapart) is a young man for which trouble finds him – naturally. Not of his own doing and most of the time centered around him trying to help others but invariably it gets misunderstood or misinterpreted and he ends up becoming the ‘fall guy’. With Yo’s last straw being involved with a mafia’s son, he is kicked out of school. But coupled with the prominence his own family has, Yo’s father decides to send him to a ‘safe’ place to hide for a while. He sends him to Bang Pho where his father grew up. Under the care of the Chief of this remote area where he will stay with Granny (Noi Phongam), Yo’s father is hoping he will learn to control his impulsive behaviors. The Chief is named Jom (Saint Suppapong) and while young, is well-respected and scrupulously fair with his dealings/decisions with the individuals in the village and area.
Initially, Jom and Yo do not get along as Yo is imprudent and difficult to reign in while Jom is thoughtful and calculating. The relationship between Jom and Yo becomes more than a slow-burn and then a crawl. While they have their ‘moments’, it is honestly hard to see them as a ‘couple’ because they never fully developed into one. Almost the entire series is set-up for a big finish that never comes. It is a tease and frankly their entire relationship is astonishingly superficial with no depth to it. While they profess to ‘like’ each other and finally towards the end, the ‘L’ word is used, it is really hard to see it in any meaningful way since they hardly spend time together as a couple. The one thing that this series did exceptionally well with was the pronouncement to Yo’s parents and Granny about their pending relationship using brutal honesty and straightforwardness. That was sincere and plainspoken, unambiguous, and exceptionally adult both in content and nature. I just wish there was a greater development of a relationship for the audience to have seen.
Perhaps at times the incidents that evolved in their relationship were a bit far-fetched. Yet, this series always went down a path of uncompromising righteousness and correctness. In general, resolutions to issues or conflicts were taken with firmness in what is right and correct, yet with still a sense of attempting to resolve even the most egregious issue peacefully. This series was not meant to be deep but gave you a sense of feeling good and believing in optimism. Sure, life had its conflicts – sometimes even scary ones. But they could be resolved always with the least amount of violence and pain.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? How can there be any question as to who this is? It is Noi Phongam as Granny. She is this dynamic, crusty character who really runs the community. She is the glue that keeps everyone together and on their toes. Not only is she raising Jom and now Yo, but she also has three other young men under her care. And without doubt, she knows exactly and precisely how Jom and Yo feel about each other. Yet she does not interfere but provides support to each of them in helping both make decisions for themselves. Her joy and love of life is infectious and carries over to the community. Noi brought such warmth, joy and a deep sense of grandmotherly love and discipline to everything she represented that it was not hard to see her as the grandmother of the entire community. We would want her to be everyone’s grandmother. Noi was pure joy and a beacon of acceptance.
Honestly, there is little believability about this series. This is just a series to watch purely for enjoyment and entertainment. It is pure escapism. It is in a rural setting where the problems of modern living seem far removed and distant, and life seemed idyllic (not for our characters however). Yet, who would not want to fall in love and be in love with a place where life seems peaceful, content, happy, and most of all simple. Where we could take pleasures just in the everyday joys of living.
The ending of this series is laughable and completely unreal. It would have you believe that after they just formed their relationship, Yo will go off to the States for 5 years to study and promises and pledges to be loyal and committed to Jom. While astonishingly honorable and noble, that is not a commitment that is real, sensible, honest, or should have been made but makes for a great ending. After a 5-year absences, Yo comes back completely unphased by his experience in the States. No matter how much I might wish that would be the case, he showed no change nor did Jom nor did Granny nor did the 3 other boys who were staying with Granny. That is not humanly possible. Some acknowledgement to their current reality should have been made that was at least a bit more insightful after 5 years away.
The acting for any never gets very deep. If we are being honest here, do not expect major fireworks to go off between Poom Nuttapart as Yo and Saint Suppapong as Jom. They ‘worked’ fairly well together but there are no sparks between them, and their screen chemistry is sometimes pretty awkward and uncomfortable. Just once, maybe it would be nice to have a smidgeon of reality in one of these series and at the end. Hypothetically, maybe Jom should have received a tear-jerking letter from Yo saying that he found his true passion/love in the States and he knows that Jom will find his, perhaps in Tee (Heng Asavarid), if given the chance again. That would have given this series a real sense of purpose.
I may have overrated this series, but sometimes the likability factor outweighs all its negativity. This series simply has charm, fun, and astonishing entertainment. So, for a few precious hours, we can drift away into a make-believe BL world where all will be well. Sometimes, we just need that feeling. I just loved watching the shenanigans of the characters in this series. They made me smile!
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