Can This Be Love?

Another over-hyped production/promotion of ABS-CBN's Star Cinema! Why do I always forget that Star Cinema's tagline is, "If it's over-hyped, it must be bad!" and still fell for it? Or is it because I'm really a sucker for romantic comedies? Er, remember "The Wedding Date"?

I admit that I am Kapuso but nevertheless, I still get to appreciate some of Kapamilya's works, especially those of Star Cinema's. It is now the leading movie producer these days. However, di ko mapapalampas ang pelikulang ito! This movie is only about the trailer and nothing else! It is the major reason why I decided to see this film. Heck, so what if it was a Hero-Sandara movie?! I'm all about the storyline. Besides, it is a Jose Javier Reyes movie whose last romantic outing, "Kung Ako Na Lang Sana" (if I'm not mistaken), was terribly great! When every aspect about the film though was put together, the result was disastrous!

The biggest problem about this film was how it addressed inter-racial relationships. Not to mention Filipinos working abroad or wanting to subplots. The Filipino/Korean leads were characterized very poorly. The movie tried to uplift the good in Filipinos yet it kept on showing how bad they were! When did a Filipino bully someone just because she was of different race? It was not in sync with our hospitable nature. The fact remains that Koreans who are studying here are the ones who seldom approach their Filipino classmates, not the other way around. Kailan pa naging api-apihan ang mga Korean dito sa Pinas? At kailan pa tayo naging discriminatory?

Ryan (Hero Angeles) was so proud of his being a Filipino that he insisted on speaking in Tagalog to Daisy (Sandara Park) eventhough he knows that she won't be able to understand it well. Talk about being a Filipino gentleman! I don't understand why the Filipino characters here are so not into speaking English to Daisy when most of them are in college or professionals. Talk about authenticity! Never did a Filipino asked a foreigner to adjust to our own language rather we try our best to talk in the universal language, i.e. English. Kahit pa carabao English, go pa rin! We are not Japanese. Mali man 'yun pero 'yun na ang nakasanayan natin. The truth is, Koreans went here to study English and not Tagalog!

Re the Korean characterization, why do the film insists that Korea is a very rich country? It is not the US nor Japan, for chrissakes! Bakit ba pumupunta rito ang Koreans para mag-aral? Kasi mura ang tuition fee compared to their country! So 'yun ba ang pagka-yaman-yaman? At least one true thing that it shown was the Filipino thinking, "basta foreigner, mayaman!" Further, why didn't the film explain the tradition of Koreans marrying their own kind and not because they look down on Filipinos? (Though, I don't exactly know if they really look down on us.) Not to mention how much they respect their elders. (We do respect our elders, as well, but with the influence of Western ideas, we tend to be disrespectful at times especially with expressing our opinions or desires.) I wonder how could Daisy brushed aside so easily the Korean tradition handed down on her just because she fell for a Filipino guy. At least, she should've given it much thought and weighed the pros and cons. The dinner scene with Ryan and Daisy with her uncle was so inappropriate! As far as I know, Ryan was well-educated that he'd know how to behave well in situations like that. Besides, di siya patay-gutom para masabik sa mga pagkaing nakahain sa kanya!

Napapa-omg na lang ako rito sa pelikulang ito! Whatever happened to Joey Reyes? I didn't expect him to do good in his recent horror movies because it wasn't his forte. But what happened with this one? Sobra ba siyang nadala sa concept ng pelikula at nakalimutan niyang importante ang kabuuang laman nito?

Acting-wise, Sandara was good. Hero needs to smoothen his craft. Dapat maisip niya na hindi laging kailangang sumigaw just to get your message through. May pinag-aralan naman 'yung karakter niya at hindi bobo 'yung kausap niya! Kung nag-English sana siya e de mas nagkaintindihan pa sila! BUT what bothered me most was the fact that his lips were poutier and shinier than Sandara's! Ano ba naman 'yun?!

Should you still see "Can This Be Love?" after reading this? OMG! Bahala ka sa buhay mo! Gets mo?

P.S. How true that this movie was supposed to compete with the Mark Herras-Jen Mercado flick, "Say That You Love Me" but suddenly backed-out? Was it a case of making sure that there won't be another "Dreamboy" box-office disaster?