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WiseRatFlames An unexpected masterpiece

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Desertman84 A Love Story is not your typical Filipino film. It was told in a non- linear fashion and the plot consisted of many ironies but still it is lacking in terms of plausibility as well as character development. Aside from that, there was a lot inconsistencies in the lead protagonists and in the plot. I just hope that the scriptwriter should have looked more into the story. There are just too many inconsistencies in the main characters and questions that should be considered about their traits and the story such as the following:1.Why would a woman who already suffered from a failed marriage due to adultery would enter another affair? 2.Why would an eligible bachelor of who states that he wanted to marry the "perfect girl" would marry somebody after a one-night stand and a younger, immature and loose woman at that?Obviously,she isn't her so- called "perfect girl".3.Is it just right that a married person would have an affair because his wife works a stewardess,who is away from the country most of the time and not seeing each other often?I just hope they got more creative with their marriage problems rather than the requirements of the plot alone.4.Why does the two woman have to resolve the issue of the affair and not the wife and the husband?Also,why should both women compromise? I don't agree that is the best resolution that the movie needed.5.Finally,the most intriguing one.Does the scriptwriter know the difference between DEMENTIA a.k.a Alzheimer's Disease and AMNESIA? Apparently,the father of the lead male has signs of amnesia when he could not remember one of his sons.I consider that they did this for dramatic purposes.But it looks fake and unrealistic since the father's level of dementia has no reason to forget one of his sons.Its either he forgets ALL HIS CHILDREN or BARELY REMEMBERS EACH OF THEM.In his case,he should barely remember each and everyone and NOT FORGET ONE and BARELY REMEMBERS THE OTHERS.If that's the case,the father should have been stated to have BOTH amnesia and dementia.Obviously,the film suffers from the poorly written screenplay.As far as the cast is concerned,the performances is far from memorable. Aga Muhlach remains stereotyped in handsome roles which he portrays with perfection.Maricel Soriano never fails to deliver. While Angelica Panganiban is a sexy but so-so actress.Nevertheless,this film does not fall short in entertainment as far as being a drama is concerned especially for viewers who are more concerned about who is starring on the film rather than what the story is all about.

Arwen Star I watched this movie with not much expectations. I've been let down several times by most Tagalog movies that it's hard to expect too much. So with an open mind, I watched this movie with a friend. And boy were we in for a real disappointment.Before I start ranting, credit must be given to where it is due. The over all look of the movie is not bad. Like almost all recent Filipino movies, this movie also looked expensive. The cinematography and editing were good, the direction was average and the acting were good given the material that the actors had to work with. Aga's portrayal of Ian's character was moving in a sense that I'm sure Filipino yuppies were able to identify with him. Maricel's (Joana) portrayal was her usual drama. Nothing spectacular. Angelica (Karyn) is a pretty face but she could not cry to save her life.What irked me the most, aside from the musical score, was the plot. The basic storyline was a disgrace to the intelligence of women all over the world. Yes, it is a virtue to forgive and forget. Yes, love should conquer all. But balance must also be made with respect to morals and values.This movie patronized how men could conjure up reasons why they would cheat on their spouses or their girlfriends. Unavailability of your partner is not a reason for anyone to go looking for someone else. It may be a reason for a termination of a relationship but definitely not one for cheating - not that there's any reason to cheat, mind you.Maricel portrayed an intelligent, successful woman who was once betrayed by the man she loved. And then all of a sudden, here she is falling for a married man. That's illogical. How could someone who have supposedly suffered so much commit the same adulterous mistake once made against her. Though it may happen on real life in the unlikeliest of situations, the writers of the movie failed to create a reasonable impulse on Maricel's character for the audience to comprehend her actions. In addition to this, in the scene where Joana and Ian first met, the former said:"pwede ba tayong magpakuha ng stretcher?" No self respecting doctor would sound so doubtful in this kind of situation.Aga, on the other hand, played a rich, recently married playboy who has issues with his father. Aga plays the role of a rich playboy so well we almost believe that in real life, he is (who knows). But the problem with this with regard to this movie is that such shallow characterization of Aga's character failed to utilize Aga's acting skills. Can he just stop playing cute in each and every movie and be a serious actor soon? Like in this movie, Ian, who was supposed to have shun his family's already steady business to make a name for himself appeared to be shallow and immature in his personal life. The writers could have used the character's pain brought by his dad to their advantage by making Aga's character deeper, wrought by confusion, racked by guilt and generally logical. But somehow, in their attempt to make the audience sympathize with the character's betrayal, the writers forgot the actual character.As to Angelica's character, well a former comment on this was so apt. Karyn's character was not fully developed, to say the least. Here is a smart guy who has everything in the world going for him who met a pretty girl who is so much younger than him. They slept together and then boom! They're married? How come? What compelled this elusive bachelor to get hitch with this seemingly loose girl? Once again, there is no logic here. To be contrite about it, there is simply a lack of progression.The movie seriously underestimates the intelligence of the Filipino audience. Gone are the days when people seem to be satisfied with a happy ending. Loose ends NEED to be tied seamlessly this time. Gone are the days when movie patrons comprise mainly of yayas and manongs. The educated Filipinos are trying to appreciate our film industry. Give us good stories. Give us reasonable tales. Give us a reason to come back. Stop feeding us rehash of old tales. And please, stop advocating male machismo at its worst.It is NEVER okay to cheat on your wives and expect to be forgiven just because you're sorry. Even if you have a child. Women need to understand that children are not a reason to stay in a marriage. You don't lose your dignity when you get married.

MirandaSoft August 22nd was the first (and only) time my wife and I could watch this movie because of her hectic work schedule at the local Cable TV company. We watched this movie at SM Megamall in Philippines. Her officemates already watched this movie before her and I watched it, last night.Normally, I don't have tears during movies because I try to hide my emotions, but this movie had brought back memories for me, considering I've had many sour relationships, but I wasn't a playboy as what Aga Mulach played as Ian Montes. I'm a American Citizen and Filipino Mestiso (my dad was natively born in Philippines) and I (finally) got married to my wife in October 2006. -- Fortunately or unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as Ian was in the movie.In many of the scenes, such as when Ian (Aga Mulach) and Karyn (Angelica Panganiban) were arguing after Karyn was at a party with her friends, my wife kept nudging me. Many of the things that Ian had said were, either the same or similar, to what I've said to my wife, but in very different circumstances, but mostly were at the start of my marriage and not currently. Ian said something similar to, "I need my wife... but you're never around." I remember saying that to my wife, more than once. I admit that.High technology was not in this movie, with the minor exception of mobile phones and text messaging. I didn't see an internet connection, such as internet chat or e-mail being used or emphasized. The movie contained Motorola and Nokia cellphones, but no PDAs (such as Palm Pilots, Blackberries, etc.), as seen in other Love Drama stories.Angelica Panganiban, acting as Karyn Torres, plays an immature part of the movie. She claims to be 22 years old, and my wife both agree that she is too young to have any real relationships. Her job as a flight attendant signifies that she has not decided what her future is going to be. My wife describes her as "too wild." Her attitude is focused on sex, first, and then relationship, second. -- In the movie, some parts were missing, such as what happened before Karyn and Ian slept together. The plot was missing. It went from meeting for the first time, to sex in bed. And then, meeting in a public place. I wasn't sure what Maryo J. De los Reyes (Director) wanted in Angelica's character. Did she want a prostitute that falls in love, or a desperate woman that does not want to work? I couldn't figure that out.Maricel Soriano, acting as Joanna Villanueva, was missing through some very important parts of the movie. There was a lot of missing information about her marriage with Peter (Mark Gil). I guess that was Vanessa Valdez's (writer) idea to add suspense in the movie. I kept asking my wife, questions, because there was too much information missing. Even my wife could not figure out the missing parts.Mark Gil (Peter) is a "person of interest" to me, since he was in "Mula Sa Puso." He doesn't have a Filipino name, yet he is a Filipino TV/Movie star. For some reason, he keeps his identity a secret, even to IMDb. When I seen him in A Love Story, I didn't recognize him, until he spoke. His Tagalog has unusual accents, maybe mixed with non-Filipino dialects. Most Filipinos don't notice that. His part in this movie should have been a lot more than just a few short scenes. From my perspective, he looks like he was just "planted" to fill in the roll of Peter. He was talked during many parts of the movie, but his acting just wasn't there.Aga Muhlach (Ian Montes) wore a plain Cross neck-less throughout the movie, but there was no Christian/Catholic events in the movie. His character shows that his cross is for show-only, not for any religious conviction. I was expecting Maricel Soriano to have a church scene, such as in "Paraiso: Tatlong kwento ng pag-asa", but I didn't see one in the movie. I'm not sure if this was done to allow persons from all religions to watch the movie or not.The movie missed adding any Wedding Scenes. In nearly all Filipino love story movies, a wedding scene (with a priest), is part of the movie. The movie emphasized on "anniversaries" but there was little or no emphasis on any actual marriage ceremonies. -- I was looking for this in the movie... Remember the movie and soap opera, Mula Sa Puso? The movie, "A Love Story", brings out the importance of marriage, or at least, a true relationship. The movie could be nicknamed as, "Don't cheat on your spouse or else!" It emphasizes events that really do happen but nobody pays any attention to it.In case you have not seen this movie, yet. Please do so, as I highly recommend it. Ladies (and some guys, too), please bring tissue or towel, as this movie will make you cry.

jemps918 Finally, a mainstream Filipino flick that experiments with non-linear storytelling, uses an excellent cast (not reliant on the upcoming star of the moment), and doesn't insult the moviegoers' intelligence with overly explicit explanations.Direk Maryo J. de los Reyes does an excellent job with A Love Story: the plot is complex enough to hold a more discerning audience's attention. The sound engineering was consistently solid, the wardrobe and make-up were expressive of the characters' personalities, and the acting was mostly spot-on. The cinematography is subtly symbolic, thoughtful and well-motivated. The first establishing shot is a bird's-eye view of the Alabang Town Center fountain, done ala Gaudi with fragmented tile pieces, foreshadowing the movie's theme of broken relationships, and ends with the lead characters walking over a rocky shore.Ian Montes (played to the hilt by Aga Muhlach) is the classic Pinoy male who feels he's God's gift to women; unlike most men of this strutting ilk, at least he comes equipped with dimples, a well-maintained bod and makes oodles of money. Joanna (sympathetically performed by Maricel Soriano) is the doctor who finds new love in Ian after recuperating from a cheating husband and showers him with attention. Karyn (believably portrayed by Angelica Panganiban) is the stewardess that Ian is drawn to because of her youthful spontaneity. The characters are complex and offer facets the audience can relate to.Absurdly fascinating yet true is how these independent, strong-willed women are reduced to mindless martyrs whenever the object of their affection throws another testosterone-filled tantrum. What is ridiculous is while both women are shown to have depth beyond their looks (which is supposed to complicate the choice further); there is nothing beyond the superficial that Ian offers other than what is apparently great sex. His father's words of wisdom apparently did not impress upon him: Flowers are like women; do not pick a flower if you will just throw it away. You have to take care of it because there will never be another one like it again. There is nothing more satisfying than right triumphing over wrong, no matter how difficult. Those who indulge in adultery really set themselves up for inevitable pain. This is really a good example of while we all have a choice, it takes two to tango! All in all, a good movie, but if I had to nitpick, I'd change the title (why in English? And why so plain and non-descript?). Some of the supporting cast could've been reconsidered because they were painful to watch (Karyn's bestfriend/fellow stewardess was OA, Karyn's OB-Gyne and her son Jacob were also camera-conscious), some minor technical flaws (what must be a handsfree microphone set is visibly tucked behind Maricel's jeans; the reflection of the hand holding the non-glare shield is visible on the windshield in the scene where Karyn is sitting in her car). Also, cut out the draggy parts and reshoot some of Angelica's speaking lines in English because they distract from the dialogue. And okay, rehashing the Joey Albert song "Tell Me" is cheesy with literal lyrics as a compromise-trademark of Filipino films, which could've been tolerated except whenever it played in the movie and the lady beside me would burst into heartfelt song. Each time!