Dubai: Of sad love & wrong dreams

I know how men in exile feed on dreams. –Aeschylus

Even in the worst darkness, there is still the glimmer of hope and excellence. Perhaps the troubled local film industry can be a symbol of our crises-ridden Philippine society. Despite the movie industry’s disunited leaders lacking in vision, the high onerous government taxes and the overall Philippine economic malaise, there are still excellent works being produced. One of which is the new movie Dubai, a well-crafted emotional and heart-warming movie of love and brotherhood set in the overseas Filipino diaspora, starring Aga Muhlach, Claudine Barretto and John Lloyd Cruz.

Ethel Ramos of Star Cinema and Bobson Jeans’ Victor Tan invited me to the star-studded red carpet premiere last Sept. 27. Without a doubt Aga Muhlach, once the poster boy of Philippine cinema, has matured into a dramatic actor in this film, which benefits from an excellent script by multi-awarded writer Ricky Lee and Shaira Salvador and the able direction by Rory B. Quintos. In this film, Aga strengthens his reputation as the ultimate leading man of romantic dramas in Philippine cinema. The second best dramatic performance comes from young actor John Lloyd Cruz. The beautiful theme song Ikaw Lamang was composed by Ogie Alcasid and sung by Gary Valenciano.

Star Cinema has hit the jackpot by creating big-budget family movies filmed overseas and highlighting the topsy-turvy lives and heart-wrenching loves of OFWs in Milan, Hong Kong, Japan and now the Middle East.

Aga’s Love Misadventures, Claudine Miscast

This uncomplicated and touching tale of two brothers takes a tumultuous turn when they both fall in love with the same woman in Dubai. This is not your usual love triangle story, because it has a more subtle and interesting plot.

All the protagonists are overseas Filipino workers. Aga Muhlach (Raffy) works as an air freight employee in Dubai servicing the balikbayan boxes sent back home. He uses up all his nine years’ earnings on his younger spoiled brother in the Philippines, girls, or countless personal loans to other OFWs.

I hope that the film could have emphasized the need for OFWs to save more, because in my previous visits to Dubai, I was shocked to hear of tragic tales such as hardworking OFWs who send all their money to self-indulgent kids in the Philippines and, combined with extravagant shopping abroad or expensive gimmicks, result in depleted savings.

When he finally invites his younger brother Andrew (John Lloyd) to join him to work in clean and progressive Dubai, Aga is so elated and hopes that they would both realize their dreams of a better future. Aga didn’t expect John Lloyd to still harbor their late mother’s dream of migrating to Canada, which later becomes a source of conflict between them. The film reflects most Filipinos’ dream of migrating to North America, but I hope future films will tackle this colonial mentality-driven obsession as the wrong dream, and that we should aspire to make the resource-rich Philippines into an orderly, just and prosperous tropical paradise.

Aggravating problems between the two brothers is Andrew’s falling in love with Faye (Claudine), Aga’s ex-girlfriend with whom he had a turbulent love affair that ended just recently (Aga is a romantic jerk who could be faithful to the relationship). While John Lloyd and Claudine become closer to each other, memories of Aga and Claudine’s failed love affair stubbornly haunt them and shatter their new relationship. The complexities of the two love stories that entangle the three protagonists would definitely appeal to most viewers, especially to hopeless romantics like this writer.

I’m not a showbiz expert, but I found it not believable for Aga Muhlach and John Lloyd Cruz to fall head-over-heels and quarrel over a plain-looking girl like Claudine, who doesn’t even exude sexiness on the big screen even in all that desert heat. Why didn’t Star Cinema cast either Kristine Hermosa or Heart Evangelista as Aga and John Lloyd’s love interest? They would have easily heated up the silver screen, plus do better for the box office.

I once had a low regard for Filipino films due to poor-quality flicks that shortchange the masses, but the progression of Dubai’s story was surprisingly very good, logical, realistic and riveting. I expected John Lloyd’s character to die by an accident, and this did happen, but the tearjerker of a death scene I was expecting thankfully didn’t happen. The movie’s end wasn’t also predictable, trite or boring, only adding more to my respect for quality local movies.

That scene where Claudine stops shortly at Rizal park on her way back home was a bit jarring and a piece of overacting. The wedding scene where Aga gives a preachy speech on OFWs knowing best reminds me of a politician’s speech; perhaps, it’s the producer’s concession to the huge potential OFW viewers and their hordes of kin here. Despite the limitations of his clean-cut mestizo looks and preppy attire, which made Aga look miscast as an OFW (why, he doesn’t even seem to sweat from either hard labor or desert heat?), his performance draws empathy from the viewers and makes his role credible.

Dubai is fun to watch as good entertainment and full of positive lessons. However, I hope someone will someday make a definitive and haunting cinematic masterpiece on OFWs grounded on social realism rather than pulp romance.

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