 |
Saturday, May 07, 2005
My guess is that Jose Javier Reyes was torn between making a socially relevant story and a typical teeny-bopper romance that in the end, he just decided to do both in one movie. And it didn't help tht he was rushed by the network/producers before the fans of the Hero-Sandara love team lost energy, so he wasn't really able to link the 2 themes he decided to tackle. Yup, the movie had many loose ends that weren't tied up, and you just know that it's not because they're planning on making a sequel.
In a way, I hate the producers for rushing art, but then I can also understand their point. You should strike the iron while it's hot, and knowing that Sandara was leaving SCQ Reload to be replaced by another actress, they predicted that if they'd shown a Hero-Sandara movie even a few weeks later, they wouldn't have made as much profit. Sometimes it just sucks how real life circumstances get in the way of would've-been brilliant things. But anyway, despite all that, the movie was fine.
I think it was also because the plot had so much potential, that's why it was hard to narrow down. A Korean studying in the Philippines who falls in love with a typical Filipino guy--and I say typical because he wants to go abroad. It would've been perfect, except the girl's parents don't want her marrying a most-probably money-grubbing Pinoy.
To tell you the truth, when I first heard about the plot, I thought the ending would be that because Daisy (Sandara Park) likes the Philippines so much because Ryan (Hero Angeles) is Filipino, Ryan remembers how to appreciate his homeland and their love ends up conquering racial and cultural  differences. I guess in a way, they did conquer such things, but I really should've known better than to actually think that a recent movie would give out any semblance of nationalism.
This is why I think production was rushed, because despite the film having bits and pieces of information showing the "situation" of how everyone wants to leave the Philippines, that issue was not resolved in the end. Ryan never wavered from his position of wanting to become a nurse to go abroad. None of Daisy's dormmates said they didn't care what the nationality of their boyfriends were. And it was never mentioned whether Joross' character eventually did go to Japan or stay here because this was where Roxanne's character was. So yet again, I ask the question (as it's so common in local films), why open up these topics when there aren't any resolutions?
Cinematography was wonderful, though. I really liked how they actually showed the characters composing and sending text messages, especially the part where Roderick Paulate's character goes into the boys' room to scold them and Ryan's cellphone beeps while he's talking--it's just so realistic.
What wasn't realistic was how they could go from one place in Alabang to another in Manila, all in the same hour. And I guess a lot of movies are like that, I just didn't like how they didn't even try to promote a plausible date route while they were at it. Unlike some Hollywood movies where you can actually trace on the map where the characters go, well, I guess tourism was just another aspect too broad to have been included.
I absolutely loved how the montage at the end was done. No annoying "1 Year Later" epilogues, and text narrations of what happened to the characters (i.e. Can't Hardly Wait, Legally Blonde, etc.), just pictures and relevant objects, which, if you think about it, really are enough.
It's really too bad that there wasn't enough time to improve on this as I have a feeling this'll be the last Hero-Sandy movie with the plot of 'Korean in the Philippines falling in love with a local'. I mean, despite it's being such a fun plot to build on, it does get sickening after a while, especially when it's true potential isn't realized.
|
|
|
