Mills & Boon Pinoy style

Star Cinema’s Valentine release, Close To You, is co-produced with Unilever’s CloseUp toothpaste. After the slew of young adult romance, kilig flicks that came fast and furious since the onset of 2006 (I would put the Judy Ann/Piolo and the Angel/Richard films in this category), one almost thought cynically, "Thank God, a toothpaste is co-producing this latest version, as with all the cloying sweetness this film is bound to possess, we’ll need that dental check-up right after leaving the theater."

Starring John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo and introducing Pinoy Big Brother heartthrob Sam Milby, I’m happy to report that while Close To You has the requisite sweetness, and had the premiere’s audience reacting on cue with "ooohs" and "aaahs", the pacing director Cathy Garcia-Molina utilizes made the film fly by without a hint of toothache. Heartache perhaps, but I guess that’s a good thing.

While there are elements of the film that make it look like a Filipino Mills & Boon coming to life on the big screen; the young adult love and romance issues that crop up are real. It’s the classic situation of two best friends (John and Bea) who have been bonding "forever", since they were kindergarten classmates. John is an aspiring photographer, while Bea runs her own little business, a flower shop.

Bea carries a torch for this other classmate of theirs – the character played by Sam, who left for the States years ago and now fronts a band of Fil-Ams touring the Philippines. On the chubby side as a child, Bea’s character was teased perpetually, and one recess, Sam saved her, giving her his necklace so no one would bully her anymore. For Bea’s character, it’s been "We have this connection ever since."

Of course, I say classic because unbeknown to Bea, John is madly in love with her, ready to do practically anything to make her happy and just be "close to her". Okay, so we know where all this will lead to, and no prizes for guessing the outcome. But it’s the getting there that provides the potential worthiness, and augurs success for this film.

Sam’s Orion Band is touring the Philippines, and this gives the seemingly "feet-on-the-ground" Bea reason to suddenly sprout Puppy Love pangs (or is it fangs, given how she drags John into her quest to rekindle her friendship with Sam). This gives the producers a chance to turn the film into a mini-travelogue – Davao, Dumaguete, Bohol, etc., etc., culminating in Singapore. I almost suspected the DOT was as much a co-producer as CloseUp.

Good for direk Cathy though, that she never allows the change in scenery dominate the shifting nexus of relationships between the three characters. Things do develop between the three at a pretty pace and I could feel the audience’s sympathies twisted this way and that, as none of the three main characters are reprehensible, or could be considered "villains".

John’s character has his own family issues, his father being a renowned photographer. And it seems that while loving the profession, he balks at being eventually compared to his father. Sam does develop genuine feelings for Bea, while she is that dreamer of a woman who can become obsessed with her notions of love, wrongly or rightly. The three play on our sympathies successfully, and it will be personal choices of who elicits the most, or who we root for. To achieve this, Cathy Garcia-Molina deftly plays her cards.

John is continuously developing as an actor. His facial expressions, the non-verbal dialogue direk Cathy brings to the fore by emphasizing on reaction shots rather than training the camera on the person who is talking, gives John his chance to shine. Bea gamely pouts and makes funny faces to bring home the character of the porky little girl who has now become full-fledged "swan". To her credit, she makes her character totally plausible even when going on flights of fancy that on the surface seem out of character.

Sam will obviously be this film’s most talked about actor. The role here is obviously custom-made for him – providing the ready excuse for the accent and paucity of lines in Tagalog. The attempt to spout several lines in the vernacular are hopefully indicative of the effort and premium he and personal manager Eric Raymundo are placing on correcting this shortcoming. Otherwise, Sam is liable to become this year’s Troy Montero. A full career in films requires this facility in Tagalog, as only for so many times can he reprise the role of guwapong Balikbayan and maintain the audience’s sympathy.

The support cast provides the needed backdrop for our further understanding of the three main protagonists. Standouts are Nova Villa as a fellow passenger John encounters on one flight in pursuit of Bea’s Orion "star". Melanie Marquez and Boboy Garrovillo are Bea’s parents and the winners of Channel 2’s CloseUp to Fame wing in as Bea’s sister and John’s fellow studio worker.

The film is obviously not some landmark for Philippine cinema. It defies expectations because of the polish and its director’s skills. As unit director for such stalwarts as Olive Lamasan and Lauren Dyogi among others, direk Cathy’s is a sure hand that belies the depth of the material. If romantic comedy is your cup of tea, Close To You will provide hours of easy enjoyment.