Movies: Paano Na Kaya

Minsan natanong mo na ba sa sarili mo, "Mahal ko ba talaga siya o mahalaga lang siya sa akin? Hindi ba pwedeng maging best lover ang isang best friend? "

Just when Valentine's Day is around the corner, my officemates and I decided to watch the Star Cinema movie offering for January 2010 which is Paano Na Kaya.

You would normally think that for a 'jologs' movie, this will not be majorly patronized in upscale malls. But there were a number of people in the Rockwell Power Plant Mall who were screening the movie. The moviehouse was almost full. 

With little to zilch expectations for the movie, I obliged to be entertained for the next 1.5 hours. 

The movie's storyline is a typical plot that you always see in Filipino films. Girl falls for guy friend but guy friend falls for another girl. Girl friend loves in silence while guy friend flirts with his girl. Girl friend is always there when guy friend needs him even if it means mending his broken heart. Eventually girl finds the courage to express her true feelings and guy friend makes girl friend as rebound.

Kim Chiu's character, Mae, gives justice to the bestfriend role that she portrays- the one who will always be there even if it means sacrificing her own interests. The friend who is always ready to wait forever to be noticed. The friend who loves silently without expecting anything in return.

Gerald's character, Bogs, is verging on exaggeration. I find Bogs' character immature and insensitive. Bogs is the typical rich-kid-with-broken-family-who-hates-mom guy. 

In the acting department of the movie, I would have to say that Kim was better than Gerald. There were moments where Kim was very natural in delivering her lines and portraying the role. I am more comfortable watching Kim in fun and sassy roles than seeing her in melodramatic scenes. Kim is just more natural when she is bubbly and funny. Gerald needs more acting classes. One thing I noticed, he seems to modulate his voice and making it sound deeper which is annoying. When there are heavy scenes, he has this squinting-eye school of acting method where he tries to evoke tears and project a melodramatic facial expression. It's just plain distracting. Nonetheless, Kim and Gerald have oozing on-screen chemistry. They are the new breed of the Jolina-Marvin loveteam of the 90's which reminds me that Jolina and Marvin also had a movie with a similar plot before.

Story-wise, I felt that the movie was all over the place. I was expecting better transitions from one scene to the next. There were several fun and 'jologs' dialogues that were used in the movie and evoked guffaws from the movie audience. Also, there were just so many characters who were included in the movie but were underutilized in terms of subplots. The movie could have stood alone with minimal supporting cast and could have focused more on the rise and fall of Mae and Bogs' relationship.

While watching the movie, I somehow felt what Mae has been feeling - falling for someone close to you but not being reciprocated with the affection that you are giving. Sometimes no matter what other people say about our stupid actions, it still does not matter because it's what makes us happy everyday. Even if it means always being the disadvantaged and looking like a fool. Mae's fault was to fall for her friend and at one point in our lives, we may have fallen for someone close to us. We were afraid to confront our feelings for fear of rejection and losing the current friendship. We find ways to convince ourselves that somehow if we wait long enough, the person will be able to realize our importance. In Mae's case, Bogs realized soon that it was Mae all along that made him complete and happy. It was Mae who makes him laugh, cry and smile about a lot of things. But sometimes, in real life, the unrequited love will forever remain unrequited and the only choice left to do is to accept reality that the love that you may be hoping for a long time will forever remain in your dreams.

Over all, the movie did not disappoint and stayed true to the friends-turned-lovers plot. But I would have liked it better if they went their separate ways and then at the end realized that they were much better persons because of what happened. It would have been more realistic if that was the ending. But hey, it's what movies are for, right? It's meant to turn our fantasies to realities.


My favorite scenes and lines from the movie:

1. Bogs was drunk because he just broke up with his girlfriend Anna and Mae accompanied him home. Totally wasted, Bogs suddenly uttered to Mae, "Mae, Bakit hindi na lang tayo?" Then Mae, without any hesitation, answered, "Eh gago ka pala eh, ikaw lang ang hinihintay ko."  Then Mae, realizing that Bogs has fallen asleep already, went to say to Bogs, "Sana minsan makita mo rin ako, kasi ako, ang nakikita ko ikaw lang. Tayo na lang. Akin ka na lang." Mae may have sounded pathetic, but that's what she felt and I empathized with her. It's really difficult to be on the losing end of the scale. :'(

2. Bogs and Mae on the graffiti wall scene. Bogs was telling Mae to get out of his life if she feels tired already being his friend. Bogs was trying to recover from his break-up with Anna. Then Mae answered him, "Oo, Tanga ako. Tanga na kung tanga pero mahal kita!" awts! Then sabay kissing scene agad! :)

3. Mae was angry at Bogs because she saw Bogs and Anna together even if they were over already and Mae was already Bog's girlfriend. Mae said to Bogs, "Shinota mo ako Bogs eh. Shinota mo ang bestfriend mo!" 

4. The firetruck scene was just way over the top, both literally and figuratively. Bogs was trying to get back to Mae but Mae declined telling him that she needed to find herself and she needs to find her life without Bogs. Bogs was asking Mae to rekindle what they once had but Mae told him that it would be unfair for both of them to continue and hurt each other more. They need to live their own lives and find their own selves and if they are meant together, then the cosmic universe will find it's way to conspire and make this happen (parang Alchemist lang). :)

5. The ending scene was symbolical for me because it marked a new beginning for their relationship. The graffiti wall was already clean and they were able to realize that they still want each other back. (sobrang cheesy! lol)