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.