Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Review of SO CONNECTED: Intuition by Internet

May 21. 2018




Karter was the video editor of a company that produced a youth-oriented YouTube show called Misyu. One day, his new cellphone got stolen and eventually wound up being sold to this girl named Trisha.  Because of an app on his phone, Karter can see all the photos and video Trisha took on stored in his Storebox cloud. Out of curiosity and attraction to her pretty face and cheerful attitude, Karter located the noodle shop where Trisha worked as a waitress, and finally got to meet her. 

This new film by Jason Paul Laxamana explores the phenomenon of social media among millennials nowadays.  We will see how this new technology can ruin lives with irresponsible postings without regard for possible negative repercussion against the subject. In the film, we can see how viral videos would take situations out of context to the detriment of the people involved in the video.

We can also see some pros and cons about cloud applications. While it can help you recover photos and files from a lost phone, you can actually spy on the photos and files of your phone's owners. In the film, Karter relied on the information he learned from Trisha's photos and videos to help him find her and court her. Of course with his insider information, Karter conveniently knew all of Trisha's likes, making him seem like her soulmate. 

Janella Salvador faced a challenge to play her offbeat character Trisha. She was introduced to be a sweet and happy "jologs" girl, but she was given to manic mood swings.Trisha was a drifter with no permanent address who lived alone, so unlike the Disney princess image Salvador projected. But with her winning smile and bubbly personality, she imparted a sense of luck and serendipity in her scenes that seemed unlikely, like how Karter's cellphone went out of town to get to her, or the totally random way they first saw each other in person.

Jameson Blake looked like he had a more relaxed time playing Karter. He always looked fresh-faced and clean, even if he had to walk long distances and commute to a different province every single day in order to court Trisha.  His Karter was a disarming and winsome suitor, even if his obsessive behavior bordered on disturbing. Blake is a very natural actor with a magnetic screen presence, proving that the award he won for his film debut in "2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten" (MY REVIEW) was no fluke.

Director Laxamana knew how to mine the sense of romantic thrill between Salvador and Blake, even if they are a new pair. They looked good together and projected an effective chemistry. Standing out among the supporting characters were Karter's precocious sister Kate (Kristal Brimner) and that cute purple elephant stuffed toy they named Panti Panti.  On the debit side, there were just times when you would feel the scenes were getting repetitive and long, especially when Karter was trying to impress Trisha with his "intuition." 

Overall though, this rom-com was fun, wholesome and entertaining with some important lessons about social media and the internet. It is not as predictable as you'd think. 7/10. 


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