Direction: Avid Liongoren;
Cast: Rhian Ramos, Enzo Marcos, TJ Trinidad;
Story: Screenplay: Charlene
Sawit-Esguerra; Cinematography: Odyssey
Flores, Rommel Sales; Editing: Jether Amar, Jethro Razo; Production Design: Rommel Laquian, Erik
Manalo; Music: Mikey Amistoso; Producers: Catherine Jacques, Alain de
la Mara, et al Genre: Romance-Fantasy: Location:
Manila; Distributor: Paramount
Pictures Running Time: 90 minutes
Technical
assessment: 3
Moral
assessment: 3
CINEMA
rating: V14
MTRCB
rating: PG
Sally
(Ramos) is a geeky gadget inventress whose parents are just overly protective.
Marty (Marcos) is her cartoonist best friend who sees the world crawling with
monsters. Between encounters, we realize that Sally is physically abused by her
parents and she feels that her only way out is marrying Nick (Trinidad) her
narcissistic older boyfriend. Because Sally is not allowed to have a
relationship, much more have dates, Marty acts as Sally and Nick’s go-between—which
breaks Marty’s heart because he secretly loves her. Meanwhile, Marty tries to
finish his story and realize his dream of publishing his illustrated comic book
in color.
Saving Sally is the type of
movie which grows on you. It starts slow and feels like an ordinary boy-likes-girl
story until you have followed Marty and Sally enough to realize that the clumsy
sweetness is a prelude to the poignant situation Sally is in. The animation is
wonderfully creative. The attention to detail—from the different symbols on
Marty’s perennial white and green shirt that reflect his mood to the quirky
monsters lurking in the background to the whimsical names of establishments—reveal
the thought process that went into the production. And the movie would not have reached that
level of endearment if told in plain live action. Sadly, Marcos’ performance falls
flat with his limited facial expression and monotone delivery of lines. The
production design helps but the animated Marty interacts better than the live
one. Sally’s character is underdeveloped. Her quirky genius at creating a-la-Inspector
Gadget contraptions feels out of place with her simplistic analysis that
marriage to a guy she barely knows is the way to get out from her abusive
parents. Both the resolution and ending feel rushed after all the struggles of
the characters. A two-minute or so animation to explain how Sally finally
escapes her parents and develops a relationship with Marty does not justify the
more than an hour build-up. Over-all, the movie is not perfect but the
technical lapses could be set aside because it successfully brings the message
in the most novel and creative presentation.
To
see Saving Sally as merely a
romantic story will be too simplistic because the core is not really about how
they will end up together but how Sally will be free and Marty will be able to
fulfill his knight-in-shining-armor fantasy. As the title hints, Sally—our
damsel—is in trouble and needs saving. The question is from whom? From what?
Our knight-in-shining-armor protagonist says from monsters lurking all around.
He cleverly observes that monsters are everywhere and concludes that as long as
they do not bother him, he can let them be. Are these the monsters that our
sweet Sally needs saving from? Yes, she needs to be saved from monsters, but the
monsters are not just the bad people who want to hurt or take advantage of her
but also the monster of stereotyping. Just because she is the daughter does not
mean she has to live through her adopted parents’ cruelty. Just because she is
a girl does not mean a man will sweep her off her feet and rescue her through
marriage. Sally is supposed to be smart and creative yet she never used them to
see through her options. In a way, it sends the wrong impression for girls. On
the other hand, sub-themes like friendship and consequences of parents being
too strict on their daughters are also tackled. Saving
Sally, although wholesome and animated, will be better suited for older
teenagers.
