Reviewing the reviewers of Maybe This Time

Each time a potential hit comes along that threatens to dislodge a good many others from their position of comfort, there is normally a rush for the Internet where bloggers and mainstream writers compete for attention. Such is the case that the love drama Maybe This Time, starring Sarah Geronimo and Coco Martin, has been experiencing since it opened recently.

Under the direction of Jerry Lopez Sineneng, the story tells of a young lady named Stephanie (Sarah), Steph for short, belonging to a middle-class family but who is naive in the ways of love, being too busy with her duties to the family to pay any attention to matters of the heart. Enter a young man Tonio (Coco), handsome but brusko and much too certain he could make any woman fall in love with him. She is attracted to him precisely for the reasons that make him obnoxious to many. They get close to each other, to the point that they become almost lovers. Almost — that’s the keyword.

Then suddenly, all communication stops between them. Sarah goes to their favorite meeting grounds but Coco does not appear — no explanations, no apologies.

Seven years passed by and Sarah had almost forgotten he existed when suddenly she and Coco bumped into each other. But now the situation has changed completely. Coco has a new love, his station in life has improved and he is ready to have a family. Enter Monica (Ruffa Gutierrez), the new girlfriend, attractive, intelligent, but unwilling to give Coco any room to think for himself.

Naturally, Monica and Steph will need to meet and have a confrontation, otherwise this will not be a love drama. How do you think the story will end?

From the netizens of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we gather off-the-cuff reactions and comments. From Paul John Calingo: “I chose to walk away from you but fate had another plan.” From Super Jax Fernandez: “May mga bagay na hindi dapat tinatapon, kasi hindi mo pwedeng kalimutan, dahil hindi mo siya kayang pakawalan.” Tony Gonzaga says, “Pag mahal mo isang tao, ipaglalaban mo talaga at dapat huwag kang matakot.” And finally from Juliebet Serundo, “Love you so…Coco-cute Martin.”

There are those who can’t stand the presence of an Ogie Diaz in a movie and say so, but we feel his kakornihan helped rescue the film from becoming a cut-and-dried love story. We also feel Shamaine Buencamino’s presence as mother of Sarah could have been put to use much more since it would be revealed later that she proved to be an important turning point in the storytelling.

There are other criticisms directed towards the writer of the film, but although we agree that there could be some improvements, this is not the major problem in the project. To us, the more important problem to be solved is actually the main lead Sarah. Although she tries hard to bring out the character she is portraying, a romance story will be unable to fly if one will constantly hide behind a screen when a kiss is all it takes to be believable.

We are confident that at this stage of the game, those in charge of crafting the career of Sarah will realize that they may be missing a great opportunity. At age 25 (pushing 26 next month), she is no longer a child and can already make her own decisions. Apparently, her parents (specifically her Mommy Divine) have realized this and loosened the leash around their daughter so that she is more able to breathe comfortably and make her own decisions in matters of love especially.

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