As a young girl, Elise (Kristal Brimner) was a pretty girl, but tended to be tough and tomboyish. Her classmate Bert (Geson Granado), a shy, introverted boy, had the biggest crush on her. One day, Elise and her family migrated to the States, so their young love affair was aborted just when it began.
They met again about 8 years later in college. However, because Elise (Janine Gutierrez) was involved with a boyfriend Ivan (Miko Raval) then, Bert (Enchong Dee) was again frustrated in his bid to profess his feelings for her. Will there be ever be a third chance for Bert to meet Elise again and finally win her heart?
The film began with a mature Bert going back to visit his hometown of San Miguel. When he passed by the school to greet his former teacher Ms. Marithel (an unrecognizable Shyr Valdez), she requested him to bring her delinquent student Remy (Miel Espinoza) back to her home, since it was along Bert's way. Along the walk home, Bert told the inquisitive 9-year old girl how his love story with Elise evolved through the years. This style of storytelling by director Joel Ferrer afforded this film the benefits of heartwarming sentiments, hindsight and reflections.
I've admired Enchong Dee as a down-to-earth sensible young man in real life, and he reflected that impression in his character of the earnest Bert. Bert had to work hard to turn his fortune around to prove that he was worthy of their daughter, and Dee was a convincing actor to portray that character credibly. As the main anchor of the whole film, Dee did well to portray a good man who truly loved only one woman for his whole life.
With her mesmerizing face and smile, Janine Gutierrez was a very good choice for the role of Elise, a girl whom Bert obsessed for his whole life. We only see what Bert knew about her, so she remained an enigmatic character with several aspects of her life that were shrouded in mystery. Because of the ethereal quality of Gutierrez's Elise, her chemistry with Dee's Bert was not instant, but a gradually developing one.
I may be in the minority, but the comedy style in several scenes were not really my cup of tea. I did not like the fresh, sassy, direspectful way Remy was talking back to adults, which I presume was supposed to be funny. Bert's best buddy Gian (Victor Anastacio) was the main comic relief during the flashbacks, but the way he delivered his silly jokes did not feel natural for me. The green jokes felt creepy coming from Anastacio, just as they were delightful coming from Pilita Corrales as Bert's grandmother Jesusa.
I thought that the whole episode about 17-year old Bert and the older nursing student Rita (Laura Lehman) went on too long a detour from the main storyline. Also I wish Bert had mentioned in his narration that Josie was his mom's (Jackie Lou Blanco) name. This name would come up prominently at a certain point in the film, but it was not clear who Josie was. I just assumed its significance, which was later to be confirmed at the end credits.
Overall, I liked how the story was told such that I did not really foresee what was going to happen in the end. It was a fresh approach to a oft-told story of first love and its bittersweet ramifications with the passage of time. Those movie clips from Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos and Kris Aquino (with a flash Lilia Cuntapay) were a nice nostalgic touch. The familiar haunting notes of Beethoven's classic piano piece "Für Elise" (or more formally known as Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor) played throughout the film will also be playing in your head as you think back on Bert and Elise's story of love. 7/10.
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