In the name of love movie review

I have watched this movie over the weekend and I really love it.  The execution is good, the story is your typical telenovela with romance and drama at its helm but nevertheless, what is outstanding are the characters.  Yes, Aga Mulach as the hip dancer and hosto Emman is kind of awkward considering his age but he delivers the character as believable.  Angel Locsin as Mercedes, the dancer and later the girlfriend is also superb.  She is one of the best actresses of her generation.  She just needs some speech therapy in order to deliver her lines clearly but yes, I did cried on the scene when Mercedes reveals to Emman the things that she had to do and sacrificed in the name of her love and so that Emman can get out from the prison.  Jake Cuenca as the third wheel Dylan is ok.  Just ok as his role as the son of the evil governor.  I could say that his character was redeemed at the end because of what he can also do in the name of love.

But the actress I would applaud is Carmi Martin.  Her role as Dylan's mother is very touching especially when you will see how much she loves her son.

All in all, in the name of love is great film to watch.  The cinematography is excellent and the characters are humane, they are not perfect and they have flaws.  The two main characters Mercedes and Emman are two people with imperfections and that's what makes the characterization different from other films on which the protagonist are either perfect or just beyond human.  But like other films, the movie also caters villains that are evil and the villains are even public officials.  Now that is something.  Watching the movie makes you depressed thinking that your public officials are that evil that they aren't only corrupt but also kills people.  The same people that they have sworn to protect.  Which gives you the feeling of sadness since the truth is really out there in your eyes.

And then, there is the ending.  I think that is the downfall of the movie.  The happy ending. The unbelievable ending just to make people happy.  How can a person who had been shot twice still lives in the end?  And in the end, the corrupt and evil public officials were taken into custody.  Well, could happen but rarely. Because if this happens, I believe that the world is a better place to live in.  But who am I to complain, isn't it movies are fiction and the real world is different. Yet, somehow, there is still hope right.  And the hope that in the end, fiction can become truth. 

No other woman movie review

I just recently watched the movie "No other woman" which stars Anne Curtis, Derek Ramsay and Christine Reyes.  Since the movie had been talked of the town and became the highest grossing film of all time, just like everyone, I was curious about it.

At first, I am reluctant to watch the movie because I admit I enjoy foreign films rather than filipino films.  All the movies are the same, with the same plot, same stories, same actors and actresses and same ending.

For this movie, all I can say is that this is not what I expected it to be.  Since it became the highest grossing film of all time, I expect it to have an exceptional plot, intriguing story and a big bang ending.  But "No other woman" fails me.  Why?  Maybe because I already know the ending before I watched the movie.  I know that the wife will prevail in the end and the mistress will give way. But for the most part, I enjoyed the witty lines especially those uttered by Carmi Martin.  I would say that when you get out from the cinema and continue your life, you will forget the movie but you will remember Carmi's words.  The scene with her daughter crying when she learned that her husband was cheating on her, and her advice is phenomenal.  She told her daughter Sharmaine (played by Christine Reyes).." “Ang mundo ay isang malaking Quiapo, maraming snatcher, maagawan ka, lumaban ka!" (The world is a big Quiapo, there's a lot of snatcher, someone will snatch something from you, fight back!).  By using Quiapo, a place that is renowned for snatching and other petty crimes and comparing it to loving someone and fighting for your love is some other woman ruined that relationship is really unique.  And I guess that's what the movie had a lot while it lacks in plot.


Another good quality of the movie is the characterization of the main characters.  The other woman is portrayed as someone rich, beautiful and intelligent.  The wife as someone who is a trophy wife, a good catch, simple, loving and also rich, intelligent and beautiful.  The husband is portrayed as someone who is good looking, had a hot body and someone who is a smooth talker. 

But these characterization is an anti-thesis of the common mistress, either a materialistic young woman who needs money to support her family and lifestyle, a woman who has self pity and believes in a narrow view that a married man will chose her over his wife or a naive woman who genuinely doesn't know that his boyfriend is a married man.  The common wife who is just a shadow of his husband and doesn't have a career, although in this movie, I think this was tackled especially on the bikini confrontation scene in the pool between the wife and the other woman on which Kara (other woman) said to the wife " You may call me a snake, a bitch or other woman but you can never call me a pathetic, boring housewife".  But nevertheless, the characterization on the movie is good.  It genuinely gives the characters a humane existence.  That being an other woman is not only limited to those women who are lacking in something but even to those who seems to have everything.  That the wife being cheated by their husbands are not only limited to those who are "losyang" but also to those who seems to be a perfect wife. And cheating husbands are not limited to those who are players but even to those who seems loyal to their wives.

And again, that was the strength of the movie, not the story, not the plot nor the cinematography ( I feel asleep during the middle of the movie) and not even the cliche ending.  Although I could also commend the performance of the actors especially Anne Curtis who really stand out as the other woman.  She owned her role and again, we see her in a character that she played best.  A bitch and a classy one at that.  Not the kampanerang kuba who is maltreated or a poor girl who is really an heiress.  I remembered her best character in the televesion as Celine in "Maging sino ka man".  Her memorable lines being " I maybe a slut but I am the best slut in town".  I love that and I hope she had projects like these which can really showcase her strength as an actress.  Christine and Derek had an ok performance.  Not outstanding but can believable because their characters had spoken for themselves and not them as actors. 

Will I recommend this movie to my friends, yes of course.  Here I even found a link to watch it in the internet.  Happy viewing.  http://www.newpinoymovies.com/