MOVIE REVIEW: Love is Blind (2016)

LOVE IS BLIND (2016) Review
Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana

We’ve all seen Kiray Celis in comedy films in support roles or sometimes, we hardly notice her character. Regal Entertainment Inc.’s Love is Blind gives the talented young actress a shot at a lead role. This is good for mainstream movies but its attempt in breaking the norm of having pleasing looks felt done half-heartedly as it gave more chance to its bigger stars to shine as it ends.

Love is Blind starts with Fe (Kiray Celis) being pimped by her auntie played by Beverly Salviejo. Fe knows that with her sister being beautiful, people will ask inappropriate questions regarding her looks. And her chances of finding true love is quite thin since looks does matter at first in finding partners. So she shots down her probable suitor and leave for work.

Fe is an intern at Luxent Hotel in Quezon City, yes the name is flashed on the film at times as advertising in local movies isn’t new today but it wasn’t as painful to look as some. There she met Wade (Derek Ramsay), who is about to attend a conference about farming. Wade doesn’t really want to be a farmer or doesn’t want anything to do with their family’s business even though it was theirs longer than he knows.

Wade is experiencing a fallout with his girlfriend Maggie (Solenn Heussaff) because he’s pressured of being better than himself and than what others think of him especially his high school friends, so an artsy girlfriend that doesn’t care about looks and material things isn’t good for his image.

Fe’s admiration to Wade grows more as the day goes by, seeing him everyday at work but can’t do anything about it and doesn’t have a chance of getting anyhere near to be intimate with him. She goes to Yari (Kean Cipriano), who conveniently works as a masseur at the hotel but also sells potions and charms for hopeless case on love. Yari helps Fe with her problem with Wade, making her a potion that would make her be the most beautiful person in the eyes of Wade alone, Solenn Heussaff. Fe named herself Felicity for Wade. So there goes the awkward situations which is mostly hilarious, but in the process, Yari is falling in love with Fe.

But the potion Yari made for Fe doesn’t have the right ingredients resulting it to wear off and revealing Fe’s true looks to Wade. After a fight, Wade and Fe cleared and patched things up as Wade returns to the arms of his love, Maggie. Fe realizes that all along, there was someone there who cares for her, Yari. But as soon as she confronts him, he saw the same ingredients they made for a everlasting love potion with their picture in it. Fe confused, storms out and thought that she was bewitched by Yari for him to love her. But the two did not know that the contents of the potion were replaced by pure water.

While Fe drowns herself in pity as she lost the chance at love, she was disturbed by a shouting Yari who rushed to her once he knew about the potion being replaced. The two ended up together  and Fe realizes that there’s someone who can love her for the way she is.

While the film wants to break the standard in Philippine mainstream movies by highlighting stars that aren’t actually good looking, it needs more Celis and Cipriano because basically, it is the core of the story. Love is Blind though is a delight to watch as it presents surprises which at times are jaw-dropping. And though the film centers on Celis’ being not as physically pleasing as most leading ladies, it doesn’t get to be insulting or offensive through words. It uses it as an advantage to build up its comedy and it worked because of its actors and how it was executed.

Solenn Heussaff is not new in making herself look crazy as she mirrors Kiray Celis’ character in the film. This is the most fun part about it, but the audience would be surprised that there’s more to it. The awkward scenes really pays off as its entertainment. Jumping from one shot where Heusaff is Fe to being Celis looked hilarious.

Love is Blind could’ve been more. Fe and Yari’s storyline has a lot of juice that wasn’t squeezed enough for the film to fully work, to actually make something different than the typical local romantic comedies. But Celis outshines the bigger stars in the film which made the film a worthwhile journey to experience that will make you laugh hard and sympathize with a character that just wants to love and to be loved.

3 OUT OF 5 STARS

“Love is Blind” is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Regal Entertainment, Inc. Rated G by the MTRCB.