A Love Story is not your typical Filipino film. It was told in a non- linear fashion and the plot consisted of many ironies but still it is lacking in terms of plausibility as well as character development. Aside from that, there was a lot inconsistencies in the lead protagonists and in the plot. I just hope that the scriptwriter should have looked more into the story. There are just too many inconsistencies in the main characters and questions that should be considered about their traits and the story such as the following:1.Why would a woman who already suffered from a failed marriage due to adultery would enter another affair? 2.Why would an eligible bachelor of who states that he wanted to marry the "perfect girl" would marry somebody after a one-night stand and a younger, immature and loose woman at that?Obviously,she isn't her so- called "perfect girl".3.Is it just right that a married person would have an affair because his wife works a stewardess,who is away from the country most of the time and not seeing each other often?I just hope they got more creative with their marriage problems rather than the requirements of the plot alone.4.Why does the two woman have to resolve the issue of the affair and not the wife and the husband?Also,why should both women compromise? I don't agree that is the best resolution that the movie needed.5.Finally,the most intriguing one.Does the scriptwriter know the difference between DEMENTIA a.k.a Alzheimer's Disease and AMNESIA? Apparently,the father of the lead male has signs of amnesia when he could not remember one of his sons.I consider that they did this for dramatic purposes.But it looks fake and unrealistic since the father's level of dementia has no reason to forget one of his sons.Its either he forgets ALL HIS CHILDREN or BARELY REMEMBERS EACH OF THEM.In his case,he should barely remember each and everyone and NOT FORGET ONE and BARELY REMEMBERS THE OTHERS.If that's the case,the father should have been stated to have BOTH amnesia and dementia.Obviously,the film suffers from the poorly written screenplay.As far as the cast is concerned,the performances is far from memorable. Aga Muhlach remains stereotyped in handsome roles which he portrays with perfection.Maricel Soriano never fails to deliver. While Angelica Panganiban is a sexy but so-so actress.Nevertheless,this film does not fall short in entertainment as far as being a drama is concerned especially for viewers who are more concerned about who is starring on the film rather than what the story is all about.
... View MoreI saw this movie last night on DVD for some reason, I lost tract with the civilization that I don't have an idea that this movie exists nor what it's all about, so I made it a try.The movie is all about Ian Montes, played by Aga Muhlach, along with all his love interest, Dr. Joanna Villanueva played by Maricel Soriano and the 22 year old flight attendant Karyl played by Angelica Panganiban. Sounds very interesting right? How could you go wrong with the comparison of a 22 year old flight crew with an doctor.Aga Muchlach, as always, perhaps, the only Filipino actors who proves the Einstein theory that time doesn't exists. He doesn't aged a bit, he can portray any genre or character, he can convince everybody that he is either 25 or 45 and living you without any doubt.The way the movie goes was very interesting, something that hasn't been done before, its a very new way for the Filipino audience, I'm sure a lot of the movie goer could be confuse for some part cause director Mario J delos Reyes made it in a way that you will hold your seat and wait what gonna happen, so it's kinda tragic and not the usual Filipino movie that you would hope the ending will be.It is a slow start, I could really tell that hey had difficult time introduced the character, but it went very well, everybody at their age might get relate with them or somehow get the sympathy of the characters cause they portrayed it very well.... and oh yeah it has twist....In general, I love the movie, I love the story, I love the characters, I totally recommend it to watch it.
... View MoreI watched this movie with not much expectations. I've been let down several times by most Tagalog movies that it's hard to expect too much. So with an open mind, I watched this movie with a friend. And boy were we in for a real disappointment.Before I start ranting, credit must be given to where it is due. The over all look of the movie is not bad. Like almost all recent Filipino movies, this movie also looked expensive. The cinematography and editing were good, the direction was average and the acting were good given the material that the actors had to work with. Aga's portrayal of Ian's character was moving in a sense that I'm sure Filipino yuppies were able to identify with him. Maricel's (Joana) portrayal was her usual drama. Nothing spectacular. Angelica (Karyn) is a pretty face but she could not cry to save her life.What irked me the most, aside from the musical score, was the plot. The basic storyline was a disgrace to the intelligence of women all over the world. Yes, it is a virtue to forgive and forget. Yes, love should conquer all. But balance must also be made with respect to morals and values.This movie patronized how men could conjure up reasons why they would cheat on their spouses or their girlfriends. Unavailability of your partner is not a reason for anyone to go looking for someone else. It may be a reason for a termination of a relationship but definitely not one for cheating - not that there's any reason to cheat, mind you.Maricel portrayed an intelligent, successful woman who was once betrayed by the man she loved. And then all of a sudden, here she is falling for a married man. That's illogical. How could someone who have supposedly suffered so much commit the same adulterous mistake once made against her. Though it may happen on real life in the unlikeliest of situations, the writers of the movie failed to create a reasonable impulse on Maricel's character for the audience to comprehend her actions. In addition to this, in the scene where Joana and Ian first met, the former said:"pwede ba tayong magpakuha ng stretcher?" No self respecting doctor would sound so doubtful in this kind of situation.Aga, on the other hand, played a rich, recently married playboy who has issues with his father. Aga plays the role of a rich playboy so well we almost believe that in real life, he is (who knows). But the problem with this with regard to this movie is that such shallow characterization of Aga's character failed to utilize Aga's acting skills. Can he just stop playing cute in each and every movie and be a serious actor soon? Like in this movie, Ian, who was supposed to have shun his family's already steady business to make a name for himself appeared to be shallow and immature in his personal life. The writers could have used the character's pain brought by his dad to their advantage by making Aga's character deeper, wrought by confusion, racked by guilt and generally logical. But somehow, in their attempt to make the audience sympathize with the character's betrayal, the writers forgot the actual character.As to Angelica's character, well a former comment on this was so apt. Karyn's character was not fully developed, to say the least. Here is a smart guy who has everything in the world going for him who met a pretty girl who is so much younger than him. They slept together and then boom! They're married? How come? What compelled this elusive bachelor to get hitch with this seemingly loose girl? Once again, there is no logic here. To be contrite about it, there is simply a lack of progression.The movie seriously underestimates the intelligence of the Filipino audience. Gone are the days when people seem to be satisfied with a happy ending. Loose ends NEED to be tied seamlessly this time. Gone are the days when movie patrons comprise mainly of yayas and manongs. The educated Filipinos are trying to appreciate our film industry. Give us good stories. Give us reasonable tales. Give us a reason to come back. Stop feeding us rehash of old tales. And please, stop advocating male machismo at its worst.It is NEVER okay to cheat on your wives and expect to be forgiven just because you're sorry. Even if you have a child. Women need to understand that children are not a reason to stay in a marriage. You don't lose your dignity when you get married.
... View MoreI just seen this movie and from what I saw, the only thing I could say is that it had a very good idea behind it. Unfortunately, they lack important details such as how Karyn(Panganiban) and Ian's(Mulach) relationship ever blossomed. I mean, sure they showed how they met, and how they ended up in bed, but where's the middle part? It's like sex without foreplay. Yeah, Just straight to orgasm. But then again, what the hell do I know about that stuff. Anyway, back to my point. The concept of having the audience think that the mistress was the wife and vice-versa was very well planned. It had the potential to be one of the most unforgettable movies of all time; However, because of the lack of support for each of the character's background, the movie ended up just as a one-time thing. You watch it, you forget it. Period. I am aware, though, that they deliberately intended for the audience to start hating Karyn, given the way that she was exposed slowly to the viewers, but a little more detail could not have hurt.As for the sympathy for the characters, there was not much. The only dominant feeling throughout the movie was the growing hate for the character of Aga. He was flat and boring AND annoying. The little screen time Angelica had gave even more growth as a person, and insight to the expecting viewers. Maricel's character showed development too, but I didn't think that she would've done the same thing that happened to her to another person. There's trauma, yes, but that was just plain evil. Who makes people hurt the way they did? All in all, I would still recommend A Love Story to most people. Especially if you're Filipino.Though not very lengthy, it still had parts where you just get lost thinking with the characters as you watch them, possibly even share the feeling that they had at the time. I can't deny that it did have it's moments, it's just that they weren't very unforgettable.Again, good idea, could-be-way-better depiction.
... View More