‘Kilig’ movie for everyone

Maybe it’s unavoidable that at first, because of the trailer and the synopsis given in the wide publicity, potential moviegoers got the impression that the new movie by Maryo J. delos Reyes, I Think I’m in Love, was a blatant copycat of the recent Hollywood fare starring Josh Hartnett, 40 Days and 40 Nights. But this is a misconception. The similarity begins and ends with the idea that the romantic hero is a womanizer who is driven to celibacy, or at least to platonic friendship with a sexy, gorgeous woman. In the foreign movie, the entire movie hinges on this will-he-or-will-he-not? comic suspense.

But the local movie is concerned with other stuff – the two principal characters’ relationships with other people, and their kindling passion for each other. Having seen both pictures one after the other, this writer had several moments of good laughter with 40 Days, but the pleasure one gets from I Think I’m In Love is fuller and deeper, and in gaining such pleasure, one completely forgets 40 Days. The first is simply clever, while the latter is both funny and touching (cry babies are advised to bring hankies to wipe those tears of joy).

The characters in Maryo J.’s movie are people so easy to fall in love with, not just the two leads but the minor ones as well, and the actors who play them are all supremely likeable. A character who becomes nasty or makes life hard for the hero or heroine is quickly put in his or her place (in soap operas, the situation is stretched to eternity).

Piolo Pascual, currently the premier heartthrob in Philippine movies, plays the Prince Charming with a giant libido but also... an equally big heart. The well-heeled Lothario has a penchant for gifting his girlfriends with expensive perfume; but he has a better side: he makes periodic visits to a geriatric institution to cheer up the residents. He is also kind enough to fulfill his promise to an elderly woman to take her family out for a day at the beach.

But Piolo is such a fine actor he comes off not as saintly, cloying, or wooden. Maybe it’s because the writer (Jun Lana) and director – and the actor – adds a "neutralizing" element: his suppressed but ever-rising romantic passion for his seductive friend. Piolo attacks his dilemma with equal parts charms, intensity, and vulnerability. It would relieve moviegoers however had the writer and director made more effort to show why Piolo, intelligent as he is, is unable to decide if his feelings for Joyce is unadulterated love or pure lust. Why, for crying out loud, does he not answer Joyce’s text messages?

Joyce Jimenez, finally seen in a movie that doesn’t exploit her sexy image crassly, plays a working girl who dutifully accompanies her lola to the old folks’ home to visit the old woman’s boyfriend. With this and her recent movie outings, Joyce has effectively proven that she could also be a "Sweetheart ng Bayan" as much as Pantasya ng Bayan (without the latter’s limiting For-Adults-Only dimension). Well, okay, in a bikini, it’s hard not to admire Joyce‘s gorgeous body. Younger viewers however may relate to her as a sister to root for.

Some girls may be envious or resentful, and they are represented by Joyce’s fellow salesladies at the department store’s perfume section, who are like three wicked stepsisters in a fairy tale. They eye her like Cinderella, but this Cinderella hits back. The other "villainess," for her part, Piolo’s girlfriend – played by the wonderful Nancy Castiglione – is such a delightful presence she lights up every moment she’s in. And how about those boys who badmouth Joyce and her family? She gives them a piece of her mind, short of punching them (she won’t cheapen herself by getting physical, she confides later to a friend).

The other characters who orbit around the couple are believable as they are familiar, from Piolo’s brother (Lorenzo Mara), to the boy and girl next door to Joyce’s (Jam Melendez, Aiko’s younger brother and Roselle Nava). More atypical is Joyce’s grandma, played with aplomb and gusto by Gloria Romero who ignites the screen with her own star power, as a free-spirited widow who is loving, independent and full of life. Why, the elderly star is even seen joining a physically-demanding sack race! A small grace note is her reunion with ’50s leading man Luis Gonzales as the man she visits at the institution.

Usually, the so-called "kilig" movie caters to adolescent and late teen audiences. This escapist fare – now also known as a Feel-Good Movie – will please a larger group: the young adults and professionals, and even, with the subplot involving Gloria and Luis, the older folk. You’ll think you’re in love – no, you’ll FALL in love when you watch this crowd-pleaser.