Random Thoughts about Paano na Kaya

I did not write my review on Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson’s film, Paano na Kaya, after I have seen it on its first day of showing,so as not to burst the bubble of my friends or relatives who were planning to see it. You see, I’m a fan of these two and I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. The trailer was good, but the film was one confused material.

It was evident that the director was nervous that he would make the bosses happy and at the same time, this film would gross well by giving what the fans would like to see. It has all elements that we have seen before. It was very Star Cinema, in a bad light. I was with my 5-year-old niece when I watched it. We both thought that this was going to be fun, sort of Cathy Molina-ish(?). When the story begins to become a drag, my niece asked me, “Bakit parang TV na? Akala ko ba comedy, pero bakit umiiyak na naman si Kim Chiu?”

I wonder how this material was originally written, because it must be a very good piece. There are times when you don’t really have to inject family stories into a romance material just so Mr. Film Critic won’t ask, now where is this character coming from. With so many angles that it tried to explore, the outcome became “sabog” with so many actors left with no speaking lines because they were not that important and in fact, the movie could have been done without them.

Ruel Bayani, the director, must have been given time to relax after Tayong Dalawa, so he could have prepared more for this material. In all fairness, he handled the kilig scenes way better than how Lino Cayetano did on I’ve Fallen for You. There were many good scenes and good lines, but the main problem remains to be the very thin story and confused story telling.

Despite this, I was forced to come back and watch this film for the second time last Valentine’s Day. Since watching it the first time, my niece wanted to go back and watch the Kimerald starrer every single day. We only obliged come happy hearts day and at the time, the cinema was forever SRO, a proof that no matter what the quality of the film is, people are still going to spend to see this very well loved love team on the big screen. And I am also very sure that I’ll be asked to buy the DVD copy of this movie and need to be prepared to deal with hundred rounds of replays, or else my niece won’t give me any peace.

I just hope that Star Cinema will give Kim and Gerald another project soon, and this time, give them a good story, period. We are not really after good and memorable lines and we’re not even asking for numerous kissing scenes. At these hard times and when money is getting so hard to be earned, moviegoers should demand quality above everything else.

I’VE FALLEN FOR YOU, KIMERALD

Who isn’t familiar with “Kimerald”? Even my 2-year-old niece knows them, only she calls them “Poknat” and “Bokbok,” Kim and Gerald’s nicks for the soap opera they last did, “Sana Maulit Muli.”

Kimerald is Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson, products of the “Pinoy Big Brother – Teen Edition.” They become famous inside the house for how they developed closeness to each other, even the network, which was airing the show, was not prepared for these two to be “it”. The network groomed the teens for different partners. It even had to edit most of Kim and Gerald’s sweet moments inside the house just to make it appear that these two were falling for the partners that the network picked for them. But then no one could no longer deny it and the network would not be able to air anything happening inside the house because all that was happening was that Kim and Gerald were “falling” in a deep friendship, (naks, showbiz na showbiz!)

But even if I am a fan, I still don’t want them to commit into a relationship because it’s still too early. And it’s more “kilig” if they’re still in the courting stage.

After an out-of-the-box concept for their first primetime soap, Star Cinema, the film arm of the network, which launched these two, decided to give them a “very” “gasgas” “cliché” story for their first movie.

And I am really not so happy.

When I first watched the trailer of “I’ve Fallen for You,” Kimerald’s launching movie, which would be shown here in Manila, Philippines on September 26, I didn’t finish it. I’ve more kiligs googling the two and finding pictures and write-ups about them. There is nothing really new that this film has to offer.

I even read the director, Lino Cayetano, saying in an interview, that he is not the kilig-type of director, so when it comes to scenes like that, he just lets Kim and Gerald do their own thing and it always comes out more kilig than he expected it to be.

But that’s how Kimerald has always been, kilig. They’re just standing next to each other and their fans would go crazy.

There was even a scene in the trailer where they were cooking, Kim and Gerald, and they were tickling each other and laughing, hmmm… very PBB, ain’t it?

But this movie has a nice plot. I know that this was intended for Sandara-Hero, but hmm, the two have decided that they’ve had enough, maybe, and went on their separate unsuccessful showbiz ways…

Going back to Kimerald, (sayang talaga ang Hero-San, they have lots of potential), the movie is really about two people having one name, they share one full name. And cute, di ba? It could have been played out to the max. This could have been a Joyce Bernal movie and this will be a riot with the type of kilig that we, as fans, are looking for. Or whoever did the Kimerald’s “Nescafe” commercial would have come out with something fresher than this one, had he or she only directed the film. (But great work on the commercial, something fresh to the eyes, something that fans are not so familiar seeing Kimerald on).

Lino Cayetano, as a new director, wants to prove something – he wants to do a film, which is somewhat socially relevant, the “not your ordinary kilig film” type. Well, Star Cinema should have gotten him veteran actors like Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual, who have already proven their blockbuster abilities and not the likes of Kimerald who are into their launching film.

I am still giving the film the benefit of the doubt. I’ll be watching it because I am a trulili “Kimerald.” I’ll be going to the movie theater on September 26, just because I love the pair, not because I want to see it to enjoy a quality “kilig” film. Heck, they could have done this plot for their soap opera, and “Sana Maulit Muli” could have been their launching movie, and that would suit me, as a fan, much better.

To the fans of Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson, let’s see this film so that Star Cinema would give the pair a “better” film the next time around. And to ABS CBN, here’s hoping that if ever you have something cooking up for the Kimerald pair, let it be something “out-of-the-box” like “Sana Maulit Muli.” Yes, like that, but please stick to the original story and not, “Oh, kumikita siya, pahabain pa natin kahit pilit na” type, like what happened to that soap. Sayang. But that’s another story.



I will watch this definitely, hoping that I would be surprised to see that what I perceived to be “cliché” is wrong after all. Good luck, Kimerald!