Love You (DVD) (End) (Taiwan Version) DVD Region All

Rainie Yang and Joseph Chang play two strangers, Xiao Ru and Jie Xiu, who meet at a bar and get drunk together over their respective relationship failures. The next day, they're horrified to discover that they got married the night before while drunk. They reluctantly decide to remain married contractually for three months as a cover for Jie Xiu's secret relationship with a famous model-actress (Tiffany Hsu). As with all contract marriage romantic dramas, they fight and then fall in love but must overcome various obstacles - the girlfriend, the ex-boyfriends, the nosy reporter, the mothers, childhood trauma, principles, miscommunication, and plain old stubbornness - before admitting their feelings for each other. If you've watched more than two idol dramas, you've likely seen some variation of this story; what matters is the chemistry and the delivery, and Rainie and Joseph are a great match.

Rainie's presence in Love You is down to earth and free of the gimmicky character traits of her last few dramas. Though there's nothing particularly special about her character, that in itself is refreshing. Without the need for cute or comedic mugging, she's able to shine as an everywoman with a measured and mature performance.

That said, Love You really belongs to Joseph Chang. Though Joseph has appeared in many idol dramas before - including Legend of Speed which was also directed by Chen Min Zhang and co-starred Rainie - he's usually the second lead and serious. His acting style has always been on the subtle and world-weary side, more appropriate for the big screen than for idol dramas, so it's a revelation to learn in Love You that Joseph Chang can be so hilarious and endearing. Especially in the earlier episodes, he manages to throw out an impressive multitude of exaggerated reactions and expressions. At the same time, he doesn't ever unnecessarily pose or overact, a common affliction of idol drama acting.

Love You has the same weakness that many other longer Taiwan romantic dramas do, which is that the story isn't quite substantial enough to cover the prescribed length, in this case 18 episodes. The first half of the drama is very entertaining and heart-tugging, establishing Rainie and Joseph's bickering, budding relationship as a counter to their previous romances. The second half is when the secondary subplots and melodrama rear their heads; this is usually when idol dramas take a semi-dive.

Thankfully, for Love You, other than the contrived family-related drama and the protagonists' wishy-washiness, a major focus of the second half is Alien Huang's character. Romantic rivals showing up midway is often a frustrating detour, but in this case it's one of the drama's major draws: Rainie's real-life first love playing her fictional first love! Rainie and Alien is THE onscreen pairing fans have been waiting for years to see, and Love You deserves a special spot among Rainie Yang dramas just for making it happen.