Rainbow's Sunset: Overtly melodramatic and too good to be true!

I had high expectations of Rainbow's Sunset knowing that the movie romped away with numerous awards in the recently concluded MMFF 2018 Awards ceremony. The drumbeaters were all saying that this is a must-watch amongst the 8 entries of this year film festival. Others were even hyping it as the saving grace of this year's MMFF batch. Well, I had mixed views after seeing the movie.

This Joel Lamangan latest offering tells about the love story of Ramon (Eddie Garcia), Fredo (Tony Mabesa) and Sylvia (Gloria Romero) and how the entire Estrella family ( Tirso Cruz III, Aiko Melendez, and Sunshine Dizon) cope up with the recent changes revolving the characters. Rainbow's Sunset is not only an LGBT movie but it is also a family-oriented sub-plot heavy.

STRENGTHS:

The Actors- It is without a doubt that the force of the movie is its actors. Eddie Garcia, Gloria Romero, Tony Mabesa, Aiko Melendez, Sunshine Dizon, and Tirso Cruz III delivered sterling performances. Romero, Mabesa, and Melendez deserve their recent accolade. 

All of the tear-jerker scenes of Eddie, Gloria, and Tony are moving.  Tirso, Aiko and Sunshine's performances are effortless too. GMA actress Max Collins is a revelation in this movie.

The Story - I commend Heaven's Best Productions and writer Eric Ramos’s bravery to come up with a non-conventional love story. I've never seen a Pinoy film in recent years featuring 84-year-old men in a gay love story. And not only that, a love triangle (involving the wife) at it. 

The narrative also interjects LGBT awareness and how society should be more accepting of gay relationship regardless of age and social status.

OPPORTUNITIES:

The Story- The scenes are conspicuously melodramatic. I felt like I was watching a primetime teleserye. Some of the highlight scenes are too pushy and over the top.

The subplots clutter the movie too, and it sometimes defocuses the core of the movie.

There is an attempt to tell the back story of FREDO and RAMON through flashback scenes but the equal love and affection of RAMON to FREDO and SYLVIA is still unfathomable. Is RAMON gay? a bisexual? How easy for RAMON to leave SYLVIA at home and live with FREDO. And how martyr SYLVIA is to allow RAMON to decide in a snap. 

In addition, FREDO’s all-out support and provisions to RAMON are too good to be true without an official relationship. In their younger years, FREDO was able to provide financial support for RAMON’s political career and even gave the huge property to RAMON and SYLVIA. And FREDO is all good to be a second fiddle to Sylvia.  Isn’t it too good to be true?

 Directing – Joel Lamangan’s style is no different on how he directed his previous family dramas FILIPINAS,   HANGGANG SAAN HANGGANG KAILAN, PANGAKO ng KAHAPON, KADENANG BULAKLAK.         

Editing – I also noticed that some scenes are not smoothly edited, hence abruptly transitioning to another.

Cinematography- some scenes are blurry and not well-lit.

Rainbow’s Sunset had a very promising storyline at the beginning. It should have stayed simplistic and focused on the delayed romance of Ramon and Fredo. If you are a fan of soap operas on TV, you will enjoy watching Rainbow's Sunset.

My rating:  7/10

image courtesy of Heaven's Best Entertainment. 

Mary, Marry Me : Sisterly love triumphs at the end.

TEN17 Productions MMFF 2018 entry Mary, Marry Me proves that family bond wins over selfish interests. 

The story revolves around two sisters Mary Jane (Toni Gonzaga) and Mary Anne ( Alex Gonzaga) and their sibling bond and love over Pete ( Sam Milby).

Mary Anne comes home in the Philippines with her fiance Pete. Mary Jane is ecstatic about her sister's homecoming and upcoming wedding. Mary Jane agrees to be the wedding planner and encounters an emotional roller-coaster journey in its course. 

Strengths:

The story is value driven. Its core is reflective of how Filipino puts family bond as an integral part of our culture and society. The main characters are relatable as they depict genuine emotions on sisterhood or even sibling rivalry. The movie also teaches forgiveness, unconditional love, sacrifice, and unending support. 

The comedy antics of Alex Gonzaga, Melai Cantiveros, Bayani Agbayani and Moi Bien is commendable. Their wacky punchlines are undoubtedly unequaled. Moviegoers will surely have a good laugh watching this movie.

Acting wise, Toni and Alex's portrayal as sisters is effortless. You can see that they are very comfortable with each other. 

The music of the film is suave and not overrated. The scene where Mary Anne and Pete sang "You are the one" ( theme song of a Toni-Sam movie ) will surely make the viewers romantically excited. 

Newbie film director RC delos Reyes shows a great promise in romcom genre. Given more romcom projects, I am confident that he'll master the formulaic taste of Pinoy moviegoers.

Opportunities:

While Sam Milby looks good on screen with Toni and Alex, I did not see anything new in his portrayal as FilAm beau of Mary Anne and Mary Jane. I think Sam is typecasted with this kind of role.  We can't blame the movie producers/directors to cast him in this kind of role knowing his limitation to speak Filipino. 

The Romcom flavor of the film lacks more push. A possible reason is that Star Cinema is not the producer of the movie. As we all know, Star Cinema is known for several Toni-Sam blockbuster rom-com flicks.

I also find it odd that the film failed to establish why Mary Jane (Toni's character) was left alone in the Philippines as a teener and how she realistically survived. Also, I wonder why it was only Mary Anne (Alex's character) who was taken by a relative to go to USA. 

Some of the locations used in the movie seemed to be simplistic possibly because the movie is not produced by a major studio and the Gonzagas/Soriano would want to be cost-efficient.  

Overall, I can say  Mary Marry Me is entertaining and heartwarming. It's best to see the film with your siblings so you can appreciate them more. As the cliche says, Family is Love. 

My Rating: 7/10

image courtesy of TEN17 Productions.