Film Review : Always Be My Maybe

Romantic-comedy film "Always Be My Maybe" is top-billed by Gerald Anderson and Arci Muñoz.

Helmed by award-winning director Dan Villegas, "Always Be My Maybe" is a post-Valentine movie of Star Cinema that will exhibit Gerald and Arci's maturity and romantic charm.

My notes on Always Be My Maybe:

1. This has been really bugging me ever since I heard the title: does it also remind you of Ate Mariah with a really clogged nose?

2. Even if I'm a Dan Villegas groupie (I liked all of the previous films that he directed), I was honestly prepared to hate this one simply because of my bias against Gerald Anderson. My Bebe Idol may have already moved on from her heartbreak, but I still haven't forgiven the guy for his (supposed) philandering.
To be fair (to me), he was always the weakest link in good movies, like On the Job. I went inside the theater in full "Matitikman niya ang batas ng isang API!!" mode, already coming up with the best possible potshots. Boy, was I in for a surprise! As the dashing dumped gentleman named Jake, he was actually really good here (a huge improvement from his work in Everyday I Love You where he couldn't even act as a guy in a coma). Titig pa lang niya matutunaw ka na. (Excuse me while I cry in a fetal position).

3. The film itself was a straightforward, light-hearted (real meaning of) romantic-comedy without a lot of cliched external conflicts. The lovebirds fell in love, they realized their true selves (one's egotistic and the other one's krungy, both with trust issues), and they tried to make the relationship work. There were no real third parties (hello, Gerald's ex was a complete tuod), no typical family problems (dealing with class differences or sick parents), no career issues, etc. Everything just revolved on the "do these two people deserve each other" premise (or as one friend pointed out, "Ang simple lang ng problema nyo"). It was actually refreshing given the hugot-driven formula recently required by the genre.

4. All of the hugots were done for laughs by the wonderful Arci Munoz (as the crazy in love make-up artist Tintin) in her YouTube tutorials. Yes, she played a gorgeous MUA and we all know for a fact that most of them do look better than their celebrity clients.
Arci was scorching hot that I swear several gay men immediately forgot their Rebel Heart Tour experience as soon as she appeared onscreen. She had that beautiful alta look with a palengkera mouth (raise your hand if you suddenly thought of Marian Rivera) and matching babaeng bakla personality (as if her unicorn doll wasn't enough of a giveaway). Also, best ASG look ever. Popoy, you were such an idiot for letting her go.

5. My favorite tip for single people on a first date: "Surface lang. Huwag mo muna ikwento yung MMK life mo."

6. I was a bit confused when Jake showed his IG page to Tintin and his last picture with his ex showed "12 weeks ago" when he actually got dumped 6 months prior. Was that a relapse move or just a technical error?
Speaking of social media, is it true that girls are more likely to block and delete past relationships? Hey, I do that all the time!! Uhm...

7. Best use of Aegis' Halik in a movie ever. Perfect timing. I cried laughing.

8. Tintin had an amazing set of friends in Esang (Kakai Bautista) and Andre (Ricci Chan). Kakai, as expected, was a perennial scene-stealer (best out of the blue line: "Ang dami mong utos, may patago ka?", second best bit: the entire Wag Tularan si Tintin monologue) and Ricci has perfected the sensible gay best friend role. With friends like them, who needs a lovelife?

9. For a change, the lovers were not eating pares (if you're a Jadaone/Villegas fanatic, you'd understand this one).

10. Shaira Luna may be a professional photographer now but she would always be the gifted Promil kid to me. Weirdly enough, I could barely recall her spiel about the human anatomy, but I always associated her with "The sun is the center of the solar system, moving around it are the planets" which was said by a different Promil kid. (FYI, I have always blamed my mom for letting me drink Nido instead of Promil and not ending up as the next Doogie Howser.)

11. I really liked the sensual photoshoot scene. Everything that Tintin said came out unintentionally funny ("Can you unzip me?", "Anong gusto mo gawin ko?") that if this were a Regal movie, she would definitely be removing a magic kamison.

12. Admit it, you've also done the wrong send technique. And when truly desperate, you would have resorted to a wrong dial as well.

13. Single friends, listen to Tintin. Always be "confidently beautiful with a wais heart". Huwag laging hopia mani popcorn cough syrup expectorant. Char!!


Movie Rate : ★★★★☆
Movie Review by : Jason Javier