I don't wanna see it coming.

Storylines and Sellability:
A Nontechnical Review on Star Cinema’s “The Reunion”
by Cheeno Marlo Sayuno


The Philippine cinema holds a lot of promise because a lot of Filipino filmmakers really have great ideas in making a film that will create impact to its audience, along with actors and actresses that give acting one helluvah good job. However, most of the time, ideas are compromised in the virtue of commercialism.

Star Cinema’s The Reunion, for instance, really has a good story if you would watch its trailers. It shows how four people who were the coolest students back in high school didn’t become as big time as they were in the past. Everything dawned at them when they attended their batch reunion and were slapped in the face that, while everyone else is moving on with their lives and making something out of what life has to offer, the four characters Lloyd (Enchong Dee), Joax (Xian Lim), Bogs (Enrique Gil), and Pat (Kean Cipriano) have not performed well with the management of their lives’ direction.

That was what how I take it upon seeing the trailers and the promotional interviews of the lead actors. However, the actual film gave something else. Indeed, you don’t get to fully judge a film by its trailer.

It turns out that the four youngsters where brought to downfall after losing their loved ones in high school (yes, you heard me right, in high school), and after Joax’s irrational idea that they have to solve Lloyd’s love life so that they could get rid of bad luck, the story progressed in having to find their respective then-girlfriends to find Ara (Cristine Reyes), Lloyd’s high school love, where in fact it wasn’t even established that Ara, Joax’s Toyang (Megan Young), Pat’s Shirley (Bangs Garcia), and Bogs’ Ligaya (Julia Montes) were actually best of friends. Why would they have to look for these people and not their batchmates in general? Well, anyway, that’s how they end up finding their respective then-partners anyway.

They all broke up after an incident where this sexy girl Julie (Alodia Gosiengfiao), flirty as she was, asked the boys to help her find her earring inside her small car. They end up rioting inside and everybody thought they are having a gangbang inside the car, which is totally ridiculous. I mean, they don’t have their clothes off. It was exaggerated. Above all, it was too petty a fault to cause all the split.

After the breakups and the years that have passed, Ara ended up getting ready for her marriage. Toyang became a nurse who had a son and a foreign husband-to-be. They will be flying to Canada. Shirley became a model. Ligaya became a bar/restaurant (they referred to it as a bar but it doesn’t look like one; it looked more like a restaurant) manager but had her leg cut off due to an accident.

And oh, we also have Ali (Jesse Mendiola), best friend to Lloyd, who is in love with him. They ended up being together because Lloyd had to see Ara first for him to realize that, after all, it has always been Ali whom he has happened to fall in love with.

I would have to let you know all the details for yourself if you would still insist watching it (as support to our industry, maybe?), although I might be revealing a lot in what would come next.

Good points

• I personally really appreciate the story line of Ligaya. It touched my heart. Bogs and Ligaya, back in high school, promised to each other that they would climb this really high mountain. After their breakup, Ligaya hiked up to the mountain on her own. She met an accident, which cost her a leg. She has a prosthetic leg. It was really touching because she was established as a adventurous and outgoing type of girl. It really broke my heart. I also liked how she had a happy ending, getting married to Bogs.
• The most well-established character was that of Ali. I don’t know if it was because it was a very common character to portray, being the girl best friend who, all this time, is in love with the guy character. Showing how Ali actually has always been there for Lloyd but Lloyd has always noticed Ara was really heartbreaking. There was a part where it was raining and Lloyd and Ali saw Ara without an umbrella. Lloyd borrowed Ali’s and ran to Ara. Lloyd and Ara went away together. Ali was left alone and without her umbrella. It was really sad for Ali’s part, and Lloyd was a total dumbass for doing that. 
• The establishment of the background story of Lloyd, Joax, Bogs, and Pat in the beginning was well done. It was brief, simple, entertaining, and direct to the point. It says a lot in a short span of time. Too bad the establishment was not given justice in the conclusion.

Not-so-good points

• Since it has already been mentioned, let’s start with Ali. She was a major character. Jesse Mendiola should have been credited as a lead character. I don’t know how much of her has been advertised, but for me, the story is more of abut Lloyd and Ali than the four male leads. It was a starring role for Jesse if you would look at it. Well, I think it became a matter of commercialism. I mean, it would be better to sell four goodlooking famous men that just a pair of lovers, depending upon the audience. Or I guess it is because the central focus is actually the four male leads, only it wasn’t justified, which brings us to the second bullet.
• I would have appreciated the story line of having those four guys establishing something for themselves by the end of the film. But then, it was just Lloyd’s story that had a better ending, his going to Singapore for a job on graphic design. The cool introduction of the present state of the other three main characters in the beginning of the film was not at all given justice. There was no resolution to their story line, when in fact they were treated as lead characters.
• While their futures were not resolved, the love lives went well. They all had pairs except from Joax. In turned out that the son of Toyang is actually Joax’s, but they can’t be together because Toyang has a partner. In the finale where they all attended the wedding of Ligaya and Bogs, Joax’s son was shown, but it was unclear of he has taken custody or what because Toyang wasn’t in the wedding and she said that they will fly to Canada. 
• There are a lot of inconsistencies in the story line and even in locations. Back in college, the girls broke up with the boys, but Shirley, upon meeting Pat again, said that it was Pat who broke up with her. Where they live wasn’t mentioned, but they went to Antipolo and then to Paete, Laguna. Somewhere in Antipolo, they were arrested by policemen for robbing the wheels of Aljover’s (Tom Rodriguez; I’m not sure of the name of the character) car. It was Aling Nena (Gina Pareño) who bailed them. Aling Nena is from the place where they live. I don’t think that’s anywhere near Antipolo because they were shown travelling very far to get there. Besides, where the hell are their parents in situations like this?
• There were also character inconsistencies. Bogs was shown to be a playboy and someone who likes hot girls and sex. Upon seeing Ligaya, Bogs right away accepted her. It could be possible, but it wasn’t natural. There should have been a more realistic first reaction. It could have been more natural if, at first, Bogs seems unable to take what has happened to Ligaya, but he would later on realize that he was willing to accept that anyway. Well, they were not the central focus of the story (I told you, it was Ali and Lloyd), so they have to speed up their story line, no matter how inconsistent their character would end up.
• This one is just a little detail, but it was irrational for me. In the bridal shower  /bachelorette party scene, Ara was totally ignored by the rest of the attendees, to think that it was her bridal shower. I haven’t been to a bridal shower, and unless I would be a macho dancer, I would never be in one, but I think that there should be a part where all the attendees watch as the bride-to-be is being seduced, because that’s the point. The attendees went on partying on their own. Weird.
• The use of Eraserhead hits was not at all significant in the plot. I was hoping that, at the very least, the songs will be inserted at parts that are relevant to the songs to be used. But the relevance is not much highlighted. The last character to speak would just have to mention the title of the song at the end of his/her line, and thus, the song will be inserted. I’d like to make the exception of “Magasin” (inserted when Pat found out that Shirley has become a magazine model) and “Huling El Bimbo” (played at the prom scene during high school). These two fit well.
• The thing I think I hate the most about the whole film is the fact that they went from serious and inspirational and awakening (about thinking about the future) to inconsistent and not-humorous-at-all humorous. I can’t take the Avenger-ish fight scene at the airport. 

Conclusion

I was actually expecting that the film will somehow teach a lesson to its viewers, especially teens. I was hoping that it would be something many could relate to, how we thought our future would be what we want it to be but it ended up being the opposite, but it was something else. Although the part where Lloyd compared the stars and how their light reaches the earth by the time of the stars’ death to his Ara/Ali dilemma (it was romantic), it was not the lesson I was expecting. It was another love story after all.

The film could have been a good material, but it compromised that in order to sell. They were just selling the actors and don’t mind much about the plot. It was like Vice Ganda movies, where the point is just to make Vice Ganda deliver jokes (I’m referring more on Petrang Kabayo than Private Benjamin because the latter was rather entertaining).

Also, it gives a negative message to teens. It could somehow convey a connotation of focusing more on love life and depending too much on it (in high school) instead of focusing on their future and aspirations. The process of moving on and dealing life in a better perspective was not highlighted when it could have been the one portrayed, as shown in the beginning of the film.

I get that this film is not meant for Cinemalaya of for any film competition, but are we going to always give that as excuse so that we can make films that are more actor-centric, focusing less and less on the plot?