ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (2016) Review
Directed by Dan Villegas
From the very successful English Only, Please, director Dan Villegas continues to work on romantic comedies that exhibits situations that are relatable and uses hugot lines for the audiences to feel more from its story and characters, Always Be My Maybe doesn’t go far from that. Tin (Arci Munoz) and Jake (Gerald Anderson) recently broke up or was left by the love of their lives, and as they meet each other friendship blooms and something more was realized as their story progresses. Complication begets them as everything wasn’t supposed to end in a romantic way and both sides doesn’t want to confess their true feelings because they don’t want to get hurt again. But all is well and love reigns, Tin and Jake gets their happily ever after, no char!
Always Be My Maybe follows the same formula, the same pattern as director Dan Villegas’ recent works. While it may fall from being generic because of its familiar story and its final product felt a bit rushed, the film’s charm is too irresistible not to enjoy and its characters and lines are relatable, you will just go with it. Its story is built on simple characters and uses hugot lines and situations that the audience will be empathetic to. There’s the typical support characters that pushes the unprofessed love between the two especially Cacai Bautista who gets to steal the scene whenever her character shows up. There’s magic between the two leads who are first time to be paired, but all of this wouldn’t work if not for Dan Villegas’ deliberate direction.
There’s no denying that Arci Munoz is the star of the film, she finally gets the well-deserved spotlight on the big screen. Gerald Anderson works his charm effortlessly as this isn’t his first romantic comedy film and he continues to prove that he has more to offer than his looks. Munoz and Anderson’s chemistry is weird, you can’t picture it but when the two are together on screen, there’s an undeniable spark between them.
It’s your typical romantic comedy nowadays, attracting the audiences with hugot lines and relatable characters and situations. The overall package is decent but you sort of feel that the story is recycled and felt rushed. But with a careful director and talented actors, it’s more than watchable.
3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Always Be My Maybe” is now showing in Philippine cinemas nationwide from Star Cinema. Rated PG by the MTRCB.