REVIEW: I Do Bidoo Bidoo

Title: I Do Bidoo Bidoo

Director: Chris Martinez

Producer: Studio5 and Unitel

Distribution: Studio5 and Unitel

Date of premiere: August 29, 2012

I Do Bidoo Bidoo is one of those rare mainstream movies that triumph in all aspects. It is almost perfect, sans the abrupt ending.

Unlike other mainstream productions, which make do with maskipaps technique, I Do Bidoo Bidoo looks high-end--every aspect looks polished well-thought-of. No wonder the film took five years to conceptualize.

(Maskipaps: maski papaano/whatever works. Seen in almost every mainstream production, where production is done where it saves time and money. Examples: Production design materials are composed of whatever's available, shots are at the most minimum, extras are not given time to rehearse and the director does not care even if they make mistakes.)

The story is simple: Poor boy Rock (Sam Concepcion) and rich girl Tracey (Tippy Dos Santos) are getting married at an early age, after the girl got pregnant. Both of their parents are against the idea, but the kids are intent on pushing on with the marriage. When Rock's family goes to meet Tracey's family over lunch, their social statuses clash, thereby threatening the promising relationship.

What's not simple is how the story is handled: there are efforts to keep the storytelling from too much exposition. For example, notice how Tracey's wealth was revealed. Instead of characters speaking about it, there were hilarious scenes about long drives, gates, and main mansions.

Helping the story stay fresh are musical numbers with high production values. Set to timeless music from the APO Hiking Society, each number is a delight, and viewers' favorites will highly vary.

Personally, I like the Blue Jeans number the best. The number starts out slow, then turns into a great flash mob in the middle of some school's grounds. 

The Blue Jeans number shows how much the cast and crew worked on this movie. The number looks rehearsed, and is shot from many different angles. You'd wonder how many times it (and the other numbers) were shot and performed just to get the perfect takes.

Set and production design are also as excellent. Rock's house, for instance, is full of backdrops that look meticulously-planned: from the curtains and wallpapers made from quilted rags, to movie posters and other curiosities. Other sets had other curiosities that need mention, particularly Tracey's "main mansion," which had ballerina-styled maids.

It is a good thing that the actors cast actually know how to sing. Sam and Tippy are perfect in their roles, and you'd wonder why they have not reached lead star/idol status in their networks yet. Breakout performances come from Jaime Fabregas, who plays Tippy's grandfather, and Neil Coleta, who plays Rock's best friend.

The only thing I did not like is how the movie ends. There are no strong build-ups to the two of the ending scenes. (SPOILER below)

[SPOILER: One is how Sam suddenly appears in Tracey's window, to convince her to elope.]

But all in all, I Do Bidoo Bidoo shoots up at the top of my leaderboard of the top mainstream films I have seen this year.

EDITED TO ADD: This article may help explain away the abrupt ending: Inquirer interview with Chris Martinez

"Meron bang song na masama sa loob mong tanggalin?
“Huwag Masanay Sa Pagmamahal.”  That’s one sequence na natanggal due to the total running time. We had to take out one scene where Ogie and Uge are taking care of a drunken Sam. They’re trying to sober him up while singing, “Huwag na huwag masanay sa pagmamahal. Kapag nasanay ka naku kawawa ka.” Editing decision yun na talagang masakit. Ganun talaga, you really have to be ruthless sometimes. Ilalagay yan sa DVD bilang deleted scene."

RATING: 4.5 stars out of 5

SUMMARY: I Do Bidoo Bidoo is a charming musical movie with high production values. 

(Original post has grammar errors, brought about by typing only in 15 minutes.)