An Exercise In Nonsense

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Kung Ako Na Lang Sana is a story of a group of friends in their college days as we witness their lives from their early 20′s to their 40′s.It stars Sharon Cuneta and Aga Muhlach together with Christine Bersola,Mickey Ferriols,Dominic Ochoa and Jennifer Sevilla.It was directed by Jose Javier Reyes.Among the group,the movie focuses on two individuals: Emmy, a conservative type who is domineering and focused on her career, and Vince, the cool playboy who is laid-back and has a stoic attitude towards life until much later in his adult years.Emmy and Vince started out as casual friends until parallel events in their lives drew them closer to later become the best of friends. Even if they weren't physically close and not constantly communicating, they still manage to affect and influence each other's lives.Later on, they find themselves falling in love with each other. With the fear of losing their friendship, they chose not to let each other know how they really feel until much later on.Familiarity breeds both contempt for these two friends, but love gets the better of both of them.Many Filipino movie romances are cheesy, contrived and sometimes downright silly. It's true that the foundation of a good love story is to find two people we want to see kiss. But what defines their attraction other than their good looks? Sometimes the circumstances that lead two on-screen lovers seem too obvious and fabricated, leaving out important issues that have deep repercussions. Without certain believability, seeing two attractive people falling for each other is just a display of vanity. Others might just consider it voyeurism.The decision by director Jose Javier Reyes to go into both Emmy and Vince's lives and track what exactly brought them together is what makes the story so absorbing. It's not a simple matter of two people finding each other beautiful, or nice, or rich, or good, or funny. It takes certain occurrences that push us towards our loved ones. Through Vince's mistakes and shortcomings, we see how he looks to Emmy's fastidiousness as a model of consistency and value. We see how Emmy's character nurtures respect from Vince, as well as a willingness to better himself. On the other hand, we see how Emmy begins to value Vince's lighthearted outlook on life as a contrast to her own workaholic being. She begins to treasure his bright jabs at their relationship and his amusing retorts on male and female relationships. His humor offsets her gravity. These qualities amplify with each turning point in their lives, most of which they hardly notice, until they look back at them.It was great that the movie focused more on character rather than cheesy romance that is present in many Filipino films.In the end,that is what sets this movie apart from the rest.