It was 2005. A couple of 18 year-old college girls became best of friends. Mariel Salvador (Bea Alonzo) was a responsible, studious, straight-as-an-arrow IT student. Her direct opposite Deena Yambao (Angelica Pangilinan) was an impulsive, emotional, can't-live-without-a-boyfriend type who kept on shifting majors. They vowed that absolutely nothing was going to break their friendship, as they compared themselves to Deena's pair in her ample bosom, Chestina and Chabelina.
Fast forward to 2012. Mariel was going to marry wealthy photographer and businessman Justin Saavedra (Richard Gutierrez). Deena came home from her work as a nurse in Norway to be maid of honor at the wedding, and met Justin's older brother Bene (Ian Veneracion), with whom she hit right off. While the Saavedra matriarch Helen (Gloria Diaz) disliked Mariel, she loved Deena a lot. This was just the first of several conflicts which began to drive a wedge deeper and deeper into their "unbreakable" friendship.
There isn't any doubt that Bea Alonzo and Angelica Panganiban are in top form in their game as leading ladies. They play off each other very well, both in the happy moments and sad moments, but it was especially during those uncomfortable and awkward moments that they really shine. Both Mariel and Deena have their respective big character flaws, and when they clash in a scene, Alonzo and Panganiban made sure sparks fly. Yes, some situations and lines can get incredibly corny, but the all-out dedicated performances of these two actresses kept the film engaging and afloat on even keel.
Richard Gutierrez had a challenging role as Justin, whose character was torn between passion and duty. He delivered credibly, even as his character arc was predictable. As for Ian Veneracion, he certainly prevailed over his smaller role and limited screen time. Bene's sheer perfection made the character scene-stealing and memorable, especially vis-a-vis Justin's faults. Gloria Diaz was very effective as the mother-in-law from hell, in Mariel's point of view that is. Rosanna Roces was underused as Mariel's supportive mother Janice, but she did have a couple of lines delivered with her signature bite.
From beginning to end of this film, practically every problem in the book of relationship plots (involving friends, spouses, in-laws) was thrown into the mix to come up with this 2 hour-long melange of such pure melodrama which was all so contrived and so convoluted that it ended up actually being so entertaining. Director Mae Cruz-Alviar never allowed the story to sag, coming up with another new, more difficult complication to challenge their friendship even further. It was so neat to notice how even the smallest details mentioned fell right into place in the overall story. 7/10.
Would you know who wrote the story, Fred?
ReplyDelete