Smile to Life | Review

An idol falls in love with his fangirl. 

Notable Actors/Actresses

Chang Zhe Kuan: Jiang Nan

Mao Na: Xu Duo Cheng

Chinese Title
一二三，木頭人

One Two Three, Freeze

Genres: Contemporary, Romcom, Contemporary Romcom, 

Network: Youku

Year: 2022
Episodes: 24

Reviewer: FanFanX

Jump to Review | Comments

Cast

Chang Zhe Kuan: Jiang Nan	Mao Na: Xu Duo Cheng
Huang Qian Shuo: Zhan Zi Lin	Jiang Shen: Gu Jia Yi
Lu Song Hao: Zhu Lin Feng	Fang Chu Tong: Yu Ke Qin
Yu Kai Ning: Bao Rui	Yan Jia Ying: Qin Shan

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16* / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Screen-Caps

[Ep1]

Their first-meet...in the women's restroom and he needs toilet paper. xD

[Ep3]

Great [fake] couple-y photo... They're thrilled.

[Ep4]

She kissed help him at the press conference. Chuwen!

[Ep6]

Meeting with her parents - and Dad is a paper tiger.

[Ep10]

His ex The evil witch visits his mother.

[Ep11]

Stealing kiss after kiss... [for the MV]. 

Cute souvenir.

[Ep13]

Xiao Zhu (with a zhu nao) is a horrible photographer. Awful direction.

Thankfully, Bao Rui is here to correct and make it tian mi mi.

[Ep17]

Computer work = Glasses. Kind of like these square frames on him.

[Ep18]

[Ep22]

Tickled that she's a bit jealous...even as she's denying it.

[Ep23]

Return of the earring.

[Ep24]

His Happy [Bucket] List:
1. Plant an orange tree with Cheng Cheng

2. Watch 100 fireworks with Cheng Cheng

3. Raise dogs with Cheng Cheng

4. Put lanterns together with Cheng Cheng

5. Wear Hanfu clothing with Cheng Cheng

6. Spend time in the snow with Cheng Cheng

Other Remarks

by FanFanX

[First Impression (Ep1-)] Mostly cute. Xu Duo Cheng won me over from the get-go. It didn't take long for our seemingly prickly Jiang Nan to grow on me. And this decent guy is surrounded by trolls left and right.

→ 1CP: Contractual relationship between Jiang Nan and Xu Duo Cheng. 

→ 2CP: OWYM pair of Duo Cheng's bestie, Yu Ke Qin and bestie's boss' cousin, Xiao Zhu. 

→ 3CP: Jiang Nan's agent, Bao Rui and bestie's boss, Qin Shan. 

[Actors/Actresses] I had previously watched Chang Zhe Kuan in My Lethal Man and then saw that he was ML in this series, and he didn't disappoint. He's not the best-looking guy but he has that boyish charm in his smile and the right twinkle in his eyes. Visually, he and Mao Na are quite cute together in this. 

[Behind the Scenes] 

→ Look at this serious height difference as she even jumps up into his arms for more kisses. xD 

→ Alas, no, that isn't romantic, but awkward. Ha. 

→ Ep10. These poor actors are in the rain and he's trying to walk and carry her. 

→ Ep13. The cute music video shoot from the series itself.  

→ Practice kiss...with minor injuries. xD

[OST] The OST has a pretty duet at ~5:05. Three tracks are from Chang Zhe Kuan (ML). 

[Ending] Happy together. 

[Review & Rating]

Jiang Nan and Xu Duo Cheng are adorable – individually and together. He’s got a tough outer shell – at least until she breaks it repeatedly. He’s actually very warm. Chang Zhe Kuan is kind of cute with his expressions and I buy his cold act (in the beginning), and then melt with his warm act. It’s fun watching him fall in love with Duo Cheng and I love a doting Jiang Nan the very most. Duo Cheng is sweet, cute, hardworking and very capable. Recently diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), she tries to come to terms with it. However, she’s kept it a secret from everyone – which I think she’s entitled to – it’s a hard fact to have to suddenly face in your early 20s. (I’ve been around someone who was diagnosed in their mid-30s and they’re still alive in their 70s.) Truly a debilitating disease, and I think its portrayal here in its beginning stages isn’t off the mark. Quality of life changes as time marches on. As the series progresses, I truly wish Duo Cheng had more confidence in herself though. I’m not sure if her loss of confidence is attributed to her unexpected diagnosis – as knowing that she has a limited life expectancy/quality of life changes has made her lose her self-confidence. Our duo is loyal, intelligent, and generally reasonable. While there are plenty of sweet scenes – I will say that they have a bit of dead fish kissing going on. 

Yu Kai Ning as Bao Rui, Jiang Nan's agent cracked me up. He’s always good at playing the zany and hyper yes-man/cajoling friend. He’s always pushing the leads together – to build up Jiang Nan’s image which made their romance progress a bit quicker. His own romance though? No chemistry and visually, it just doesn’t work either. 

So I like Huang Qian Shuo but not in this role as Zhan Zi Lin. I couldn't believe that he didn't even have all the facts to begin with yet he had grudges against his former best friend, Jiang Nan and his own father. When he finds out 2% of what actually happened, he just continues spiraling out of control in another direction and with a new target. He could react like a rational person not ruled by his emotions 100% of the time and perhaps he could understand what's actually going on instead. At least they did not have the gall to pair him up with Gu Jia Yi… (And yes, I know and remember him and Yu Kai Ning mostly for their role together as the two lunkheads with good intentions in The Romance of Hua Rong.) 

Xie Chun Yi as Li Da Lin – this guy cannot act. I just saw him in Skip a Beat and his acting is about the same in both. (The newer series is why I even noticed him in this instant series.) His character was so out of place. 

Dislikes: Overloaded with baddies. Delusional and selfish Gu Jia Yi, Jiang Nan’s ex. Also, she totally looks like the grieving trophy widowed wife in her black get-up with the sheer sleeves and the huge black hat. She was present in the series until Ep23. (This series is 24 eps!) Zhan Zi Lin isn’t much better as a friend turned enemy. They took way too long to explain the guys’ former friendship, and so much unnecessary baggage there. So while there isn’t a Deep Voice here, they do have narration for the main characters’ inner thoughts… Why?! Thankfully, they stopped that mid-series. Minor dislikes: The cutaway scenes from ep to ep. Poor editing choices? Missing an explanation for Jiang Nan's mother's health disposition.

I enjoyed the romance between our main leads the most. I didn’t care for the 2CP or 3CP. Sometimes, all we really need is one true couple.  

If you can ignore the hurdles (see above), and hang on for the main CP’s growth, supportiveness and enduring sweetness, then this is worth the watch.

Random Recommendation: 

Rating: 2/5♥♥