ENGLISH ONLY, PLEASE

The film started strong with the introduction of Jennylyn Mercado’s Tere. The usual Jadaone female lead. You know, tatanga-tanga. But what’s different from her is that there is the sex element involved in her katangahan. It’s slightly more matured than Tadhana and more graphic than Mayohan. But this is still a love story. We were introduced to Rico who was perfectly portrayed by Kean Cipriano. I remember teenagers in the theatre saying, “Tangina talaga ng mga ganyan, talaga! So relate. Ipapapanood ko ito kina besties.” and I was like, “Bitch, you know nothin!” in Chris Rock’s voice.

"Mahal kita... pero slight lang."

What I liked about this film is that the guy had some depth. Derek Ramsay deserved the Best Actor award for showing the side of a tough-but-sensitive dude who has mommy issues. He needs a nurturing girl like Tere and she needs a faithful guy like Julian. It’s kinda slow in the start but the conversations are perfectly structured. They win you over as it goes. Plus, the musical score is nakakakilig. Sobra.

Try to observe Derek’s pronunciation of “Kitakits, Beh” as the movie progresses.

Cai Cortez’s scenes reminded me why I like Joyce Bernal’s My Destiny. Their balut scene is my favorite part of the movie. Most people need a friend that will smash their head with the truth and not those shitty Marcelo Santos III quotes. Isabel Frial was also good in portraying kids today. Man, they know such things in their age. There is a surfacing product placement in here. I don’t know how they’ve done it but it’s not as bad as what we saw in My Little Bossings and Feng Shui 2. It’s kinda innovative in a way. They show some differences between Pinoy and American culture. As expected, the movie has a lot of witty Filipino lines. Some of them are expressions that we use daily like “Traffic sa EDSA” and “Bakla ka!”

“There are exes worth waiting for and there are exes worth coming back to. We can never forget the people we love. But once they’re gone, they’re gone. We can’t do anything even if we look back.”

Now, for the hard truths. Most faults lie in the last part where there has to be a conflict. It’s kinda formulaic and unnecessary but it doesn’t hurt the film. I just hoped that it became more organic and not this cheesy. I’d hate Tere if I was riding in that bus. The KTV singing can also be cut. But my biggest problem is that there are scenes in the trailer that aren’t in the movie, like Julian’s Tagalog scream to a waiter. I love Antoinette Jadaone’s That Thing Called Tadhana. I liked Dan Villegas’ Mayohan a lot and the trailer is very good so my expectations got me as I watched this film. I’m hoping to see it again to have a fairer experience. And it’s not bad seeing it for the second time because it’s so good.

English Only, Please takes its time to let us feel the magic of falling in love and be tatanga-tanga for the right one.

ISAWTASTIC! 4/5

Watch That Thing Called Tadhana on February 4, 2015.

Congratulations to everyone involved in English Only, Please!

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