TO LOVE SOME BUDDY (2018) Review
Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana
Handa ka na bang tumawid from friends to lovers? We’ve seen more than enough best-friends-turned-lovers Filipino romance movies and while some work, they’re basically following the same formula. But in Jason Paul Laxamana’s To Love Some Buddy, we’ve got a new, more insightful look at how friendship can grow or ruin when it turns into something more.
The film tells the story of Faith and Julius. Years after graduating, they’ve met because of a wrong sent photo. From then on, the two seem inseparable, some actually think they are lovers. But to them, they are just best friends, but the closeness they have make it easier for them to transition their relationship into more than just being best friends. But are the treatment you get and receive as best friends enough to actually be actual lovers?
That’s the thing, for some it will just be a third party, or being just a rebound. But in Laxamana’s romance movie, it tells a more realistic scenario in which being best friends isn’t enough to make a relationship work. That knowing more about that person, being comfortable with that person is not enough to make your partner happy. Because, the level of responsibility is very different when you’re lovers.
One more thing, I don’t think I have enjoyed a JPL movie this much since his last Cinemalaya movie Mercury is Mine. You know that this is his work from the quirkiness, the shots, the feel, even though it’s not set in Pampanga, you’d know that this is written and directed by JPL. And that’s a good thing, because we saw what he envisioned on how the journey of Faith and Julius unfold. And it’s a sincere journey.
You get to experience the joy of being friends with someone you can 100% trust, even the awkwardness of being around friends that ship your pairing. It’s fun but it’s also painful.
To Love Some Buddy isn’t your ordinary best-friend-turned-lovers movie. It’s more than that. And you’ll love Maja and Zanjoe even more after seeing this.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
“To Love Some Buddy” is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Black Sheep. Rated PG by the MTRCB.