Olivia Lamasan's "Starting Over Again" - Delightful Grieving

Ginny’s (Toni Gonzaga) school girl crush on History professor Marco (Piolo Pascual) has turned relentless that she’s brazenly proposed to him at every opportunity she gets. But on the most unexpected time, when she’s been rejected to play the Virgin Mary for a school play, Marco finally accepts. Thus starts their unlikely love story. 

While Ginny dreams of bigger things, like taking her Master's degree in Barcelona (where her mother works and raises a new family), Marco seems content with his culinary hobby, refusing to even finish his special course. And like most romantic relationships, lovers start noticing the chipping off of gloss. Marco in fact reflects Ginny’s father’s passivity and lack of ambition, a few of the reasons that lead to the eventual separation of Ginny’s parents (Lito Pimentel and Yayo Aguila). When some ideals are tainted by brash realities, admiration quickly dissipates. Ginny learns to “unlove” Marco. So she flies to Barcelona effectively cutting off her relationship with Marco who's devastated by the absence of an acceptable explanation. How does one move on without much closure?

A few years later, Ginny unexpectedly receives a “letterlater” (a web-based mail pre-sent on a later date) from Marco three years from the past, fortuitously rekindling her affection to the heartbroken ex boyfriend. 

What’s more serendipitous? Ginny, now a successful architect specializing in restoration, gets an invitation to propose a design for a new restaurant owned by Marco, now a prosperous chef. Wasn't this the same ancestral house where their dreams of putting up a restaurant first started? What’s the catch? Is Marco the same guy who has hopelessly written the “letterlater” three years ago? Is Ginny really handed a second chance? Or was this a retaliatory ploy to get back at her? But life isn't a walk in the park. Marco, it turns out, has a new girl friend, the gorgeous pastry chef Patty (Iza Calzado) who “looks like the Virgin Mary” – a role that Ginny was once rejected for. And she is getting mixed signals from Marco. His longing is palpable when he gazes at her. What’s a girl to do? Should she pursue him again, like she once did? Has he moved on? Or was it time to start anew?

Director Olivia Lamasan presents a legitimate narrative dilemma that takes his audience on a compelling journey along with Ginny, Marco and Patty. It’s easy to get devoured by Lamasan's romantic maelstrom. While the film follows a template familiar in romantic comedies, the characters are deftly written. Moreover, each narrative element is masterfully pieced together.

Some narrative issues are in fact worth exploring and discussing, as when Ginny recognizes some of her father's loathsome traits in Marco. Once romance scratches the surface of reality, human frailties are revealed, exposing Marco's decrepitude. If a relationship is worth keeping, we eventually learn to accept the flaws. Otherwise, we leave.

The movie is told from the point of view of Ginny Tolentino that necessarily makes this vehicle Toni Ganzaga's who takes full advantage of the character's broad and livid gestures. In fact, some of the most delightful and slap-happy scenes involve her, i.e. Ginny and Marco's first concupiscent moment, a rollicking scene that shall be remembered with hilarity long after the movie has stopped screening in cinemas. Or when Marco gives her the run around from Taft to Alabang to San Juan to Tagaytay, braving through taxis, trains and traffic- on six-inch heels! Then there's the silly seduction scene by the ladder, and her falling into Marco's arms.

Unlike many Star Cinema romcoms, the quirky, albeit annoying extended families of our protagonists are featured minimally. There’s little exposition on Ginny’s separated parents or Marco’s folks and Lola (Liza Lorena). This allows the narrative to focus on its three central characters, allowing more flesh on their motivations and intentions. Let’s take the case of Ginny who possesses a consistent characterization. She’s the loud, unyielding, aggressive soul who finds ambition and talent sexy. When she detects a flicker of passivity in Marco, she loses interest. That, to me, is human nature. And what is cinema if not a character study blown up on celluloid. Even Marco and Patty are well sketched. This refulgent delineation of characters is tangible enough that when Patty refuses to be brazenfaced when verbally confronted by Ginny (the uncomfortable and climactic kitchen scene: "Palayain mo na si Marco"), we realized quite well that indeed some people carry such enviable dignity despite aggression - or grace under pressure.

Strong performances define this movie. Toni Gonzaga appears in her career’s best performance, thanks to a script that utilizes her thespic vulnerability, exquisitely infusing it with the flick’s comedic inclinations. Romantic comedies are her forte, and this is evident as she masterfully glides through with self deprecating charm. Piolo Pascual returns to form. He revives an easy deportment not seen in a while, but when it was time to pull out all the stops – as when Marco tries to stop Ginny’s taxi from taking her to the airport, he was brimming with empathy. When did we last see him this fetching? Eight long years ago in Joyce Bernal’s 2006 romcom, “Don’t Give Up On Us” (with Judy Anne Santos). Iza Calzado imbues Patty with adequate charisma that, at some point, we wished she would “get the boy”. Thanks mostly to a classy character excursion.

It is a curiosity though how Olivia Lamasan has outdone Cathy Garcia-Molina in the romcom genre. After all, Lamasan does dramas, not romcoms. If this were Molina’s film, there’s be sing-alongs at airports involving every living beings (including the ceiling repairmen); there'd be sun dances in the middle of a park or during a blustering rain; there'd be terpsichorean extravaganzas in gyms filled with fawning spectators, and all those cheesy, peanut-gallery tricks that may be amusing, but ultimately unrealistic. How did Lamasan outdo Molina? In what could be the decade’s most captivating epilogue, the film follows our crestfallen heroine as she rushes to a meeting: hailing a taxi, climbing a stair, meeting a new colleague, and shaking the hand of someone who could be her ticket to moving on! Genius!

Now tell me you're not inspired.

Piolo Pascual turns on the megawatt charm.

Toni Gonzaga: career best

When McDreamy becomes a local affair.

Iza Calzado as Patty: Killing with kindness.

Smiling their way to the bank.

Every Breath You Take - Into Disparate Paths

After a visit with her obstetrician, Majoy (Angelica Panganiban) realizes that she needs to fast track her romantic proclivities. Her only viable ovary is nearing expiration and needs to fulfill its physiologic raison d’etre. How urgent? “As in now na!” asserts the doctor. That is, if she wanted a child of her own. But sweet and gullible Majoy is hopelessly single. She, in fact, is a virgin who believes that a man out there is meant for her, and he will come with a few serendipitous signs – there would be roses; and rain; there would be bells ringing and angels singing. But Majoy’s only ardent suitor is the exceedingly enthusiastic Ji Soon (Ryan Bang). Unfortunately, Ji Soon doesn’t come with signs. Moreover, the Korean lothario doesn’t captivate her.

One day, she meets Leo (Piolo Pascual). And like a twist of fate, the signs come dashing like a clamorous parade. Leo, a cavalier realtor, is Majoy’s ultimate contradiction. He abhors rules, fawns over no ladies, and scoffs at emotional devoir. He parties hard, but works even harder. But little does Majoy know that her Casanova is a scarred soul who vowed never to be manipulated by the Machiavellian wiles of deceitful women – the way his father (Lito Legaspi) was deserted by his mother who left the family for another man. This doesn’t keep Leo from casual hook ups with frisky girls who couldn’t resist his boyish, devilish charm.

When Majoy sets her sights on Leo, she knew he was the one – and it isn’t beyond her to pursue him. Wouldn’t you if you believed he was “the one”? Wouldn’t you if, more importantly, he looked like Piolo Pascual? Duh! Let’s kick the self preservation bucket out of the window and lasso this abs-riddled gentleman – pronto! Majoy follows him to his gym, befriends his secretary, leaves him pastillas, tracks him to his favorite restaurants; heck, she even answers his secretary’s phone! Unfortunately, getting his attention isn’t as easy as dogging him around. Majoy’s romantic reconnaissance is hampered by several road blocks: Leo is at the brink of a promotion and his rival Mario (Ryan Eigenmann) is pulling all the stops to outdo our protagonist; Leo is being pursued by the relatives of a love-crazy fling Dianne (Wendy Valdez) who wants him standing before the altar beside her – by hook or by crook! Then there’s the salient detail of a familial history of heartbreak. What’s a girl to do?

Angelica Panganiban stars in her first romantic lead, a reliable indicator that a mainstream actor has “arrived”. After all, what is a “bida” who doesn’t fall in and out of love right before the eyes of a thrilled audience? Panganiban’s Majoy is deftly and richly limned into a full character: naïve but determined; shy but generous. Though these adjectives dispute each other, thanks to Panganiban’s nuanced interpretation, she makes Majoy fly with utter sincerity and pizzazz. It is hard not to empathize with her – even when (at times) the writing gets too manic.

Angelica enjoys several showcases like when she asks Leo, “Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng gullible?”- or the scene at the police station when she tries to relay the events at the park with the masked gunman.  

Piolo Pascual effectively pulls out his charm offensive. He reminds us how he once won us as Vince in Joyce Bernal’s “Don’t Give Up On Us” (opposite the equally adorable Judy Anne Santos). He is made of masculine beauty that others can only dream of, regardless of his sexual preference. The sad thing is, Leo Dimalanta isn’t as intricately threshed out a character as Majoy’s. In fact, if he shunned women from the get-go, why does he date so many? He went out with loopy Dianne (Wendy Valdez) several times, yet he kept forgetting her name. Surely, you would remember that particularly clingy, obsessive girl, wouldn’t you? Or was he immune to her John Hinckley tendencies? (She threatened to jump off the roof, etc.)  

Ryan Bang plays Majoy’s passionate Korean suitor Ji Soon who wouldn’t give up his love for the willful Majoy who had set her sight on Leo; a proverbial “Mahal Kita, Mahal Mo Siya, Mahal Nya ay Iba” scenario (except that Leo more befittingly loved himself). Bang gets a more than decent screen time, thus he was able to showcase an unexpected knack for comedy. What’s with the Korean “Krung Krung  Syndrome” that has audiences fall for the likes of Sandara Park and, this time, Ryan Bang? Ryan successfully translates his small screen humor with dry wit, a precise comic timing and tongue in cheek delivery that had me laughing in stitches even as I write this. Like when he complained about Smokey Manaloto’s car (“Ang bagal ng kotse mo eh.”) – and then again when he calls the police for help (“Hello, pulis? Punta kayo kay Majoy. May papatay kay Leo!”) The lines don’t even tickle the funny bone when you think about it. It’s Ryan’s delivery that’s spot on. Maybe he got his comic cadence from his turns in “It’s Showtime” and “Banana Split”. Surely, he wasn’t this funny in “PBB Teen Edition”.  

While the first third of the movie is a compelling build up of characters (Majoy especially), the second third sluggishly meanders into contrived theatricals. At its last third, the movie shifts gears and turns into a protracted gag show. It’s easy to see they suddenly wanted a Wenn Deramas-finish. The situations arch over different players: jealous rival Mario (Ryan Eigenmann) chases after the wrong guy (Ketchup Eusebio); Dianne’s father (Manaloto) and her brothers (Carlos Agassi and Joross Gamboa) go berserk and hound Leo to get him to marry their hysterical sister Dianne at gunpoint; Majoy discerns her follies and gets her little heart broken. The uneasy divergent pathways lead into a muddled narrative whole that doesn’t quite sweep us off our feet as a romantic drama nor take us rolling down the floor with laughter. It’s a middling vehicle that has laid the ground work for a particular genre - romance - but inconveniently ended with a different one – comedy!

While this isn’t as bad as the last 6 Wenn Deramas films, Director Mae Czarina Cruz's vehicle isn’t all that good either. It hangs in mid-air acceptability and doesn’t quite land on its feet to provide solid entertainment.

Ryan Bang: Unexpectedly hilarious!

Angelica Panganiban and Piolo Pascual as Majoy and Leo

Angelica Panganiban: Easily shifts from drama to comedy!

Piolo Pascual as Leo

Piolo Pascual

Angelica Panganiban

Wendy Valdez

Ryan Bang and the Krung Krung Syndrome

Babe, I Love You - Bland Formula Flick Hits Box Office Gold

In the last few years, Star Cinema has suffered stark gauntness in their materials. Their films have become extensively hyped but emaciated drivels that somehow inspire dejavus - you've seen them before, but they're peopled by different actors! Mae Cruz's "Babe, I Love You" is no different!

Anne Curtis is promo girl Sasa Sanchez (referenced to KC Concepcion's "promodizer" in "When I Met You"), a peculiar character who has no qualms making a scene in front of a congested university. She meets eternally brooding Nico Ibarra (Sam Milby), a brilliant architecture professor who's a shoo in for his university's vice dean position! One fateful night, Sasa witnesses Nico's run in with some thugs. She maneuvers her car towards Nico's assailants - and the rest, as they say is history!

This movie shamelessly adheres to a very basic Star-Cinema-formula that could be divided into 4 chapters:

Chapter 1 - boy meets girl

Pretty poor girl Sasa meets rich and pretty boy, albeit tortured soul Nico. He seems to dislike her but we see him constantly making reasons to see her! That he is an ambulatory guilt-tripper is thus an understatement!

Chapter 2 - they either constantly bicker or constantly enjoy sappy moments, a process that leads to a relationship

The first one exactly fits the bill. Guilt-ridden Nico offers to drive her around while she recuperates from her whiplash injury brought on by his encounter with the baddies. He even drives her for a fly-by-night beauty pageant in Zambales! I didn't realize it was a lot easier to drive around someone you loath than just pay her up to get rid of her!

Chapter 3 - they separate: this is the part where all those memorable kilometric lines are dropped like bombs in Pearl Harbor!

While Nico is slowly forsaking his work over her activities, he then learns of her past indiscretions. At a family dinner where Sasa is invited, we bear witness to Sasa's ultimate embarrassment when - aw, shucks! - she encounters the wife and duaghter of a married man (Ricardo Cepeda) she's had an affair with! And they happened to be Nico's family's close relations! How convenient, right? Such dramatic coincidences write itself into the story! Phew! Nico confronts Sasa, and they spend their time apart from each other!

Subchapter: This is the narrative's version of a song's coda where each of their family members console the inconsolable. She gets a heart-to-heart with her mama; he gets a dramatic moment with his mom or dad. (Referenced to Gerald Anderson and Zsa zsa Padilla's heartwarming moment in the moronic "Paano Na Kaya".)

Chapter 4 - epilogue to happily ever after (a week later, 2 years after, 25 years later, and so on...)

One year after they separate, we see the lovely Sasa make sawsaw a stick of qwekqwek somewhere in the vicinity of Morayta. Nico drives by and spots the woman of his dreams, the same woman just a year ago he accused of being untrustworthy! In true Star Cinema fashion, Nico turns the wheel over to his friend Guji Lorenzana. He then stands amidst human traffic, never even bothering to first cross the street which, if you've been there, you would know that it won't take him 5 steps to do so - and then he is beside Sasa who is immobile, busy with her qwekqwek-dunking techniques!

But no! It should be cinematic! Nico has to shout above all the noise to get her attention! She turns around. The music swells! The crowd is otherwise oblivious to all the romantic shenanigans happening around! She beams her Diosa smile, he unfolds his CloseUp grin! He crosses the street and they catch-up as though he was never an accusatory dick of universal proportions, and as though she was never a concubine! Life is easy in this vast universe called Star Cinema! End credits roll! Aww, I feel better already. At least they only had to contend with 1 year, unlike Bea and John Lloyd who did 5 years worth of Noel Trinidad psychic meddling!

Now, use this formula and get back to Star Cinema's filmography in the last two years - and I am pretty sure you can apply the aforementioned formula in most of their romantic comedies!

It's hard to find fault when you have a very likable and charming actress like Anne Curtis! She is extremely easy on the eyes; she's perky and healthy, a bundle of sunshine, and she possesses a sincere smile that warms your heart. But it also underlines the incontrovertible - she isn't quite in the league of Angelica Panganiban or Bea Alonzo! Not yet, anyway! Not where emotions are mined! But she is undoubtedly a star! She's never awkward or mediocre, but she probably needs a heartache that's more gut-wrenching than Sam Milby to acquire a bit more gravitas to make an unforgettable romantic heroine! Her undeniably delightful take as Sasa Sanchez is easily forgettable in a few month's time! Having said this, I can't wait to see her in a role that's worth more than a decade of her showbiz career!

Sam Milby, on the other hand is robotic at best! He has mastered this type of fury-inside characterization that has defined him in teleseryes like "Maging Sino Ka Man" and "Only You". In his confrontation with Anne ("I just can't trust you..."), he grapples with his paragraphs, dividing them in grouped phrases while he tries hard to enunciate with heavy syllabic cadence. It was painful listening to him! Aside from this, Sam's characterization is heavily flawed! Sure, such flawed characters make nonpareil cinematic heroes, but there has to be logical lucidity to such shortcomings. Take for example, when he gets a call about Sasa's arrest (he has to bail her out of jail), he could have sent his friend Guji while he finishes his academic presentation, couldn't he? After which, he can follow. Why would you jeopardize a career-making appointment over something that could be taken cared of later? For someone who's supposed to be brilliant, Nico moves around like a dumb jock.

It is hard to pick brilliant moments here. When the movie starts, the screen opens with a dark and fuzzy scene, I actually though "ah, flashback scene siguro". Lo and behold, it wasn't a flashback scene. Then we see Guji Lorenzana calling Sam to join them at the dance floor - and he was out of sync! These days, not only is Star Cinema churning out retreads, they have compromised technical quality too! There was a time when each of their movies was, at the very least, technically superior - with glossy cinematography, great production design, musical scores that help move their stories, etc. Obviously, those were days gone by.

In the movie, Nico's relationship with his mother (Laurice Guillen- who looked constipated and morose 98% of the time - the other 2% she spent looking dazed and busy enumerating lists of "original copy" of books - Considering how brilliant she was as Cory Aquino in "A Dangerous Life", what a waste) is strained after an unfortunate accident that killed his father! When Nico loses the position as vice dean of the university, she joins Nico at the patio and we are taken back to Gerald Anderson and Zsa Zsa Padilla's mother-son bonding scene in "Paano Na Kaya"- one of the very few positive points in the brain-dead Kim Chiu starrer! Yes, Jose, we've seen it just a few months back - and we are seeing it again with a different Fil-Am actor!

Now, the title: Why "Babe, I Love You"? This puzzles me. One, the song isn't even popular with the current generation. Two, I am not aware that the characters call each other "babe" even as a term of endearment. Three, Piolo Pascual's version is karaoke-quality warbling at best! Gesh, whoever gave Papa P the illusion that he will ever be taken seriously as an excellent singer should be taken to the gallows! Off with their heads! Pronto! Papa P is such a cutie pie, but he will never qualify as a world-class singer. Never! His vocal quality just doesn't suffice, unless you're deaf! Or maybe you equate "gorgeous male species" with "great singer" - which should naturally make you an idiot, doesn't it? The only barely-acceptable song from his "Decades" album is "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" - and it's mainly due to the finger-snapping arrangement! THAT could have been a more appropriate title! Fourth, never make remakes that's inferior from the original. Styx can vocally run rings around gorgeous Papa P so this was a really bad idea!

The good news from all these, which would probably cancel out all of my observations is: that this movie is raking moolah at the box office! I guess that's what matters to Star Cinema. Forget giving the people fresh cinema because idiots queue at the tills to watch retreads like "Babe, I Love You" anyway! Yes, I watched the film when it opened Saturday. Despite the early 2nd screening, SM Megamall's theater was almost full! Consider that they had 2 cinemas showing "Babe, I Love You". This has triple the crowd that I've seen in movies that were hailed as "breaking box office records on their first day" - like "For The First Time" (which had a crowd of 10 when I saw it), "Love Me Again" (which had a crowd of 12), "Paano Na Kaya" (which had a crowd of 15) and "BFF" (which had a crowd of 4)!

As the credits rolled when the movie ended, I noticed a growing list of Script Consultants. Wow, it takes all these people to tweedle-and-tweak a movie like this? My maid can write a story as mediocre as this one - easily, and she gets minimum wage! I should recommend my maid to Star Cinema - she is after all, cheap labor!

Congratulations for such a successful generic movie!