CBCP review body rates suspense flick ‘disturbing’

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation (Cinema) rated as "disturbing" the new suspense thriller movie "Killing Me Softly."

"Killing Me Softly is a film about sex. It projects the impression that when a relationship is purely physical, based on sex as portrayed in the movie, (it) is bound to fail," Cinema said in its latest movie review.

Cinema said love can only grow when two people begin to know each other better. Otherwise, what is felt – including love-at-first-sight – is only physical attraction.

"Killing Me Softly" combines a love story and psychological thriller. From the first meeting on a bright and sunny day, the story of Alice (Graham) and Adam (Fiennes) progresses into the shadow of mistrust and suspicions.

"Although the number of sex scenes, shown in quick shots, is within the context of the story, their nature calls for mature viewers with discerning minds," said Cinema.

Fiennes is very good as the mysterious and brooding mountaineer. Graham and Natasha McElhone match his character adequately, said Cinema.

But the CBCP review group rated the movie as technically below average.

The combination of the music and moments of suspenseful silence easily builds the expectation of the audience but, for some viewers, these moment could be too many to sustain suspense and are a let down, Cinema said.

On the other hand, Cinema rated the movie "About a Boy" as morally acceptable and technically average.

"This is a touching though not really that original, feel-good movie, despite its difficult-to-understand British manner of speaking and dry British humor which might not sit well with our local audience, unlike the "Bridget Jones Diary" and "Notting Hill," from the same producers," said Cinema.

"About a Boy is the story not of one but rather of two diametrically opposite boys – a 38-year-old perpetual adolescent (Hugh Grant) languishing in a solitary and shallow self-existence, and a 12-year-old loner striving to survive a stressful home and school environment and just wanting to make his emotionally disturbed mother happy," Cinema said.

The 12-year old boy, son of Freeman’s date Suzie (Victoria Smurfit), and Freeman develop an unusual friendship when they meet.

In the Filipino sex flick "Sagad," starring Via Veloso, Cinema rated the movie as morally disturbing and technically below average.

Cinema said that aside from the movie’s unfocused story telling, lack of directorial imagination an artistry.

"The story of the movie was only written to justify the several scenes of sex and nudity shown in the film, which are all out of context," said Cinema.

"Like in other sex flicks, the women are seen as payment for debts incurred by the family, by sacrificing the women’s dignity," Cinema said.

The movie also shows drug abuse by children, which ironically could be followed by the youth themselves," Cinema said.