Watched it last: February 15
Watched it with: Celine, Hazel, Leah and April
Released last: February 2012
WHY I WATCHED IT: JLC! JLC is, for me, the best actor of his generation. And he doesn’t even have to resort to showing his abs to be effective.
Released last: February 2012
WHY I WATCHED IT: JLC! JLC is, for me, the best actor of his generation. And he doesn’t even have to resort to showing his abs to be effective.
We’ve seen this plot before
in lots of Hollywood movies, mostly in recent years. “Friends With Benefits”
(Di ko pa napanood) and “No Strings Attached” (Napanood ko na), to name a few.
Except for the indie film “Ligo na U, Lapit Na Me”, this is one of the few
local films, if not one of the first ones, to mainly touch on this topic. And a
mainstream commercial film at that!
I wouldn’t rave about its
plot, because obviously it’s hardly original. But I guess, putting it in the
Filipino context, in a way it is. Let’s face it, as conservative as we purport
to be as a people, this is a fairly common setup in adult relationship these
days. Having said that, I appreciate the Filipino touch to it. (Which I am
betting that “Ligo Na U..” has done already, but I don’t know for sure because
I wasn’t able to catch that one).
JLC’s acting. JLC’s superb acting is as sure as the rising of the sun
every single day. Naks! JLC and Angel both had heavy dramatic sequences, but I
was more emotionally affected by JLC’s. Angel showed a remarkably improved performance, but JLC was simply way better.
The Roommates.
Most enjoyable and entertaining local romcoms bank on a dependable supporting
cast. And JLC’s roommates were exactly that. They provided adequate comic punch
lines every now and then, and the obligatory but amazingly insightful advices
(which made me think – who are these people and why are they so wise! Haha).
Fear of love.
Oh, can I write an entire blog post on this topic. Haha! I think that one’s
attitude on love, regardless of one’s personal experience on it, is mainly
dependent on the people that surround us. I know a few people who’ve been
beaten hard by the tragedy of their love lives, and yet they still believe in
love simply because they see it from their families or friends. Experience
should lead them to be so jaded and untrusting, but knowing that it exists by
seeing it on others only strengthens their resolve to be patient and still
believe that someday, it’ll be their turn on the happy ever after.
Love has its limits.
I’ve said this time and again. But really, it’s surprising how love can stretch
your previously-set limits. Haha!
Overall, the movie was entertaining.
It effectively infused the comic moments in the daring scenes, which I think is
more of a calculated move than a creative one, just so the movie wouldn’t be
too “liberated” or “daring” to the usually conservative Filipino audience that
make or break box office hits. And I say that is just fine. The leads don’t
really have that daring sexy image anyway (even as Angel Locsin is often voted
as one of the sexiest), and this movie reinforces their hold on this film genre
and provides a fresh facet to their line of portrayals at the same time. There
are also many quotable quotes, akin to another
John-Lloyd-Cruz-Cathy-Garcia-Molina movie, “One More Chance”. One major
weakness of the movie though is that once the serious dramatic stuff started, it
kinda lost its entertainment value. I found myself wanting to fast forward to
the ending to skip the let-us-explain-why-these-characters-are-this-way-by-letting-them-cry-buckets-
of- tears-while-they-are-at-it.
RECOMMENDED FOR: Star Cinema romcom fans! Some people are sick of it, but hey, this movie is another reason why we love them Star Cinema romcoms. Haha!
