November 2, 2022
Dennis (Gerald Anderson) was the eldest and only single son of Thelma Mercado (Isay Alvarez), the owner of a cocoa farm and restaurant in Dipolog City. One time, their employee Blessie (Malou Crisologo) hosted a pretty Russian tourist Oksana (Elena Kozlova) who used to be her ward when she used to work in Russia as a nanny. When Dennis met Oksana, there was instant attraction as he became her tour guide before she went home.
Upon the prodding of his mother, Dennis surprised Oksana by visiting her in Moscow. Oksana brought her to her opulent family home to meet her father Fyodor (Scott Alexander Young) who turned out to be a wealthy owner of a distillery of a popular vodka brand. As expected, Dennis was on a constant struggle to get on the good side of Fyodor, who was fond of activities Dennis was unfamiliar with, like wrestling, fishing and bear hunting.
This is the latest film by director Veronica Velasco that brings us to a European destination, after Iceland ("Through Night and Day"), Greenland ("Nuuk") and Faeroe Islands ("A Faraway Land"). Unlike these previous films where the protagonists were both Filipino, this escapade to Russia told love story is a cross-cultural affair. Too bad though that Velasco was not able to make the most of her picturesque locations, as most scenes were shot indoors.
Comedy was not exactly Anderson's strong point, so his supposedly funny scenes tended to be awkward and guarded. This was evident when he was trying to play "nervous" in front of the intimidating Fyodor and his hulking henchman Maximoff (Simon Szabo). It was also apparent when he tried to in vain to match the effortlessly outrageous comedic style of Kakai Bautista as Georgina, the "gorgeous" Filipina wife of a handsome Russian guy
Manila-based Siberian model Elena Kozlova was still quite obviously a greenhorn in the acting game, still very self-conscious when her acting. Anderson's skills in drama still made their romantic scenes together look very natural. She seemed sincere and earnest in her efforts to gel with her more experienced co-stars and this was delightful of her. She was able to deliver some Filipino lines here, hopefully to hear more in her next movie projects.
As written by Biboy Calleja, these intra-cultural conflicts were rather predictable, especially when they were in Russia. Fyodor and Maximoff were played as stereotypical Russian men -- unsmiling, unfriendly, aggressive, intimidating. It was only towards the end that a rather comedic surprise about them was revealed. The only thing that was totally unexpected was Anderson's wrestling scene with a wild animal which was executed with realistic danger. 6/10.
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