The Achy Breaky Hearts

DIRECTOR:  Antoinette Jadaone  LEAD CAST:  Jodi Sta. Maria, Ian Veneracion & Richard Yap  SCREENWRITER: Yoshke Dimen & Antoinette Jadaone PRODUCER: Malou Santos and  Charo Santos-Concio  GENRE: Romantic Comedy  DISTRIBUTOR: Star Cinema  LOCATION: Philippines  RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes 

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 2.5

MTRCB rating: PG

CINEMA rating:  V14

Sa edad na 30 ay nababahala na si Chinggay (Jodi Sta. Maria) sa estado niyang single. Sumisidhi ang pressure sa kanyang sarili kapag tinatanong siya kung kalian siya mag-aasawa. Ito ay dahil wala siyang boyfriend sa nakalipas na pitong taon kung kailan iginugol niya ang panahon sa pagsuporta sa pag-aaral ng nakababatang kapatid. Kaya nang makatapos ito ay hayagan siyang maghahangad na magkaroon ng kasintahan. Tila sinagot naman ang hangad niya dahil magkukrus muli ang landas nila ng dating kasintahang si Frank (Richard Yap) at makikipagbalikan ito sa kanya. Kasabay nito ay mababaling sa kanya ang atensyon ng isang  broken hearted na customer at matagal na niyang crush na si Ryan (Ian Veneracion). Malilito si Chiggay kung sino ang pipiliin niya.

Mula sa matagumpay na tambalan sa telebisyon, dinala ng malikot ng imahinasyon ng Star Cinema sa isang pelikulang romcom (romance-comedy) sina Sta. Maria, Yap at Veneracion.  Katulad ng inaasahan nakapaghatid ng kilig sinuman kina Yap at Veneracion ang kaeksena ni Sta. Maria.  Ito ay kahit hindi naman sa love triangle ng tatlo nakasentro ang kwento ngAchy Breaky Hearts kundi sa pagtahak ng pangunahing tauhan na si Chinggay sa buhay bilang isang single na tila midamadali ng ibang tao na mag-asawa.  Kaabang-abang ang wakas dahil hindi predictable ang plot katulad ng mga karaniwang romcom.  Pero medyo nakakainip ang pelikula na parang pinahabang salaysay.  Ang linyang “kailan ka mag-aasawa” na maraming beses tinanong kay Chinggay sa simula pa lang samantalang pinapaliwanag na ng voice over , gayundin ang mga matagal at paulit-ulit close up shot  ng iba’t ibang pag-eemote ni  Chinggay. Marahil nakadagdag din sa pagkabagot ng manonood ang monotonous  na boses ng voice over. Mabuti na lang magaling sa punch line  ang mga paulit-ulit din na eksena sa kainan ang magkakaibigan. Parang tinipid sa make-up at tila si Sta. Maria lang ang maayos na meron nito.  Maganda naman ang disenyo ng produksyon, pati ang mg inilapat na ilaw at tunog.  May kabuluhan at tumatak ang isinaliw na musika. Sa kabuuan ay parang madalian ang produksyon at di masyadong napag-isipan ang materyal para pagbidahan ng tatlo.

Sa panahon ngayon ang pagiging single at pananatiling malaya sa responsibilidad ng pag-aasawa ay isa nang option  at dumarami na din ang pumipili nito. Wala namang masama sa pagiging single at hindi dapat itong ikabahala ng sinumang nasa ganitong estado lalo na kung kapaki-pakinabang naman ang mga pinagkakaabalahan, katulad ng pagtulong sa pamilya at pagpapalago ng sarili at karera.  Ngunit mahalaga na tanggap mo at nauunawaan ang sitwasyon kung dumating man ang totoong pag-ibig.  Batid kaya ni Chinggay ang makakabuti sa kanya habang naghihintay pa siya kay Mr. Right?  Malamang ay hindi, kung ibabatay sa mga kabuluhang itinutro ng Simbahang Katoliko ang kanyang mga ikinikilos. Bago pa naman nagkaroon ng ganitong realization ang bida ng pelikula na si Chinggay ay hinayaan niyang mangibabaw ang kahinaan sa kanyang sarili—katulad ng pakikipagsiping sa dalawang lalaki kahit na wala pang linaw kung ano ang mga namamagitan sa kanila. Sinadya rin niya na pahirapan ang dating kasintahang si Frank nang nakikipagbalikan ito sa kanya upang makaganti sa pang-iiwan sa kanya nito noong nakaraan. Binigyang-katwiran niya at hinangaan pa ang kapatid na nabuntis ng boyfriend na walang trabaho at sumuong sa pag-aasawa nang hindi handa.  Bilang isang propesyonal at manager ng isang business, kahit na crush mo pa, hindi akma na samahan mo hanggang sa kwarto ng motel ang isang customer na gusto mong suportahan, o hayaang isubo ang daliri para matanggal ang singsing gayung bilang nagtatrabaho sa jewelry store ay alam mo dapat ang mga paraan kung paano ito matatanggal.  Hindi rin kailangan sumisigaw kapag tinatawag ang waiter lalo na sa isang fine dining restaurant.  Maaaring akalain ng manonood na katanggap-tanggap na ang mga gawing ito, at tularan pa ng mga kabataan.  Maaaring walang eksenang sex ang pelikula pero para sa mature viewers ang kabuuang tema at presentasyon nito ng pelikula. 

Me before you

DIRECTOR: Thea Sharrock  LEAD CAST:  Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance & Brendan Coyle  SCREENWRITER: Jojo Moyes  PRODUCER:  Alison Owen & Karen Rosenfelt  EDITOR: John Wilson  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Craig Armstrong  GENRE: Drama  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Remi Adefarasin  DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Entertainment  LOCATION: United Kingdom  RUNNING TIME:  110 minutes

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  2.5

CINEMA rating:  V14

Me before you is about the relationship between Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a rich, high living bachelor who gets paralyzed when hit by a motorcycle, and Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke), a bubbly 26-year-old pastry shop waitress who has just been fired and is looking for a job, any job to help support her family.  As luck or fate would have it, the employment agency finds her the perfect job that requires no skills and pays “excellent money”.  Interviewing her, Will’s mother Camilla Traynor (Janet McTeer) hires the chatty but winsome Louisa on the spot, to be a caregiver-companion to Will.  Days into her new job, Louisa overhears Camilla and her husband, Will’s father Steven (Charles Dance), arguing over Will’s decision to end his life at the conclusion of a six-month waiting period he has promised his parents.  It is to be done at a facility for assisted suicide in Switzerland.  Steven fully supports Will’s determination; Camilla is against it.  The awkward adjustment period between the quirky Louisa and the depressed Will turns into acquaintance, and then friendship, and then something more.

There are two outstanding features of Me before you: impeccable performances and respect for the intelligence of the audience.  Given the theme—end-of-life issues—this drama could have easily slid into melodrama, and the romance could have been steered to titillate viewers looking for happily-ever-afters, but it does neither.  Instead of passing moral judgment on the idea of assisted suicide, it lays out the pros and cons of it through the characters’ viewpoints and interaction, leaving viewers free to think for themselves or to take sides to affirm their own convictions.  The romance part grows out of the breath of the protagonists whose performances make their characters alive and real, not like props that must keep the plot up until it reaches a Nicholas Sparks ending.  In this romance are a man paralyzed from the neck down but has an unbending will to die, and a woman believing her pledge of undying love can make him change his mind.  The biggest surprise in the cast is Clarke playing Clark, a complete and absolute U-turn from her role as the queenly Mother of Dragons in the HBO blockbuster Game of Thrones.  The girl can act.

Viewers tend to think the title “Me before you” smacks of selfishness.  But as the story unfolds “Me before you” takes on different colorations.  By her own admission, before she met Will Louisa was a nobody, especially as her family compared her with her younger sister, “the brains in the family.”  But having caused Will to talk, laugh, and eat again (to his mother’s delight), Louisa finds meaning in giving care and being needed, and is empowered to improve herself—for Will.  Before his accident, Will was the envy of his friends—there was nothing the sporty good-looker couldn’t do in any setting—land, snow, sea, and air.  Before he met Louisa, he was slumped in deep dejection, a condition aggravated by the subsequent affair between his girlfriend and his best friend, but the unsinkable Louisa let the sunshine in with her candor and total self-acceptance.  So—are they being selfish or selfless in the end? 

As for the issue of assisted suicide, pay very close attention to the dialogue.  Only one character wants it, another supports him; all the others are against it.  Take note, too, of where Will and Louisa are coming from—high society, working class—and compare the family dynamics in both backgrounds.  See how the consciousness of God’s presence and providence affects people’s dispositions.  CINEMA could have given Me before you a moral assessment score of 3 (Acceptable) for the film’s mature handling of the subject, but lest people mistake it as accepting of suicide, prudence dictates that the score be 2.5, which means guidance is imperative, whatever the age of the viewer.  Me before you makes for an excellent discussion in school, parish meetings, or at family dinners.

Finding Dory

Direction: Andre Staton; Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O’Neill, Diane Keaton; Story:  Andrew Staton; Screenplay: Andrew Staton, Victoria Strouse; Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky; Editing: Axel Geddes; Music: Thomas Newman; Producers: Lindsey Collins; Genre: Animation; Location: Under the ocean; Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture; Running Time: 103 minutes 

Technical Assessment: 3.5  

Moral Assessment: 4 

CINEMA Rating: VA (Viewers of All Ages) 

One year after the first movie, Dory (DeGeneres) lives peacefully with Nemo (Rolence), Marlin (Brooks) until her memories are triggered by a lecture about migration. She begins to have a burning desire to find her parents and convinces Nemo and reluctant Marlin to accompany her to the Jewel of Morro Bay in California. As expected, the trio has a near death encounter which leaves Marlin blaming Dory and Dory getting lost. Fortunately, she is captured by volunteers of the Marine Life Institute and brought to the Quarantine Section. She meets a 7-legged chameleon-like octopus named Hank who bribes her into giving up her tag so he can be transported to a permanent aquarium in Cleveland in exchange for him helping her get to the Open Ocean exhibit. Along the way, Dory meets her childhood whale shark friend Destiny and Bailey, an echolocator whale. Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo have their own adventure as they encounter more sea creatures who are all too willing to help them.  

Finding Dory is a lot of fun especially with DeGeneres skillful voice performance that is both calculated and raw. She hits each comical moment, matches the energy of the action-packed scenes and makes the drama believable and relatable. O’Neill’s Hank grows in you and most likely would star in the next sequel. The rest of the characters are bland and boring. Story develops with less imagination and overrated melodrama. There are too many unnecessary characters and scenes that were merely included just to add more comical moments. Just because they were executed gracefully does not exactly justify their presence. But because Disney has already mastered this genre and undeniably creates an enjoyable film for young and old alike regardless of its shortcomings. 

Finding Dory reaffirms the value of family from beginning to end. Family in the film transcends blood relations and embraces anyone who shares the same love and care regardless of species. Family in the film also means sacrifice—learning to leave one’s comfort zone and letting go of personal gain and objectives for the sake of the other person most in need. Family is a symbol of hope and courage. You just need to “keep swimming” because at the end of the day, you know that they will always be there waiting to lend a hand and be one’s support and cheerleader. Finding Dory is a film for all ages and one of the better weekend family bonding moments.