REVIEW: Suddenly It's Magic

Title: Suddenly It's Magic

Director: Rory Quintos

Producer: Star Cinema

Distribution: Star Cinema

Date of premiere: October 31, 2012

[NOTE: This review has spoilers. Given the predictability of this film, however, I say it does not matter.]

After about some time sitting in the theater while watching this movie, I checked my watch to check time. When I saw that not even 30 minutes has passed, I knew I was in for a lot of hurt.

(A quick note: for me, the best movies should not make me feel that I should check the time. When I do, that means I'm getting impatient, and that the movie sucks.)

Star Cinema's Suddenly It's Magic is postured to be a light romcom. The reality is far from that though, since the movie is sluggish and illogical. I wonder how it even made it out of the gate.

The story's simple and done before: hot young actor from another country gets tired of his job and so he goes to the Philippines to have a little retreat from all the attention. There he meets a young woman who is recovering from a heartbreak. And even though their first meet-up is chaotic, the two fall in love. When all things look perfect, a few conflicts are introduced. But of course, they pass all these problems, and go back into each other's arms. End credits.

Cliched does not even start to describe it.

Note to directors: chaotic first meetups are so old, and so unlifelike. Please don't use it.

This movie's chaotic first meetup is a little supernatural: Mario Maurer's Marcus takes a bite of a cupcake that Erich Gonzales's Joey made. Marcus says the cupcake "tastes sad", thereby enraging Joey, who then makes a scene by eating a lot of cupcakes to near-choking. Marcus sorts of saves her by doing an amateur Heimlich maneuver on her, accidentally touching her boobs.

Did I say the leading man said he can taste emotions for cupcakes? Yes, he said the cupcakes "taste sad." Not making that shit up.

Erich Gonzales's character is also as faulty. Early in the film, she is implied to be suffering from a heartbreak because she got left at the altar. That narrative piece is not solidly established though, so her characterization feels shallow and bipolar--happy one second, and sad the next. 

Maybe it did not help that the first scenes showing Joey did not establish this well. Her first scene had her baking yummy and colorful cupcakes. 

The scene where she goes home to an empty large house could be set up to make the audience feel her grief, but it was not utilized well. The scene starts with a long shot where she enters a gate from the corner of the screen. The shot shows her dwarfed by a large house, but the house's exterior is too busy with ornaments to heighten the impact. 

One issue I have with this movie is the use of three languages: there's Thai, there's Tagalog/Filipino, and there's Ilocano. The use of a diverse set of tongues is not an issue in itself; the issue is that the Filipino characters (Joey plus her friends) speak to Marcus using their native tongues, even though he admitted that he does not fully understand them. I know for a fact that Filipinos are a hospitable lot, and that we try our hardest to speak in English whenever a foreigner is within hearing distance.

And about Joey's friends: they are played by a diverse set of actors--Dinky Doo, Ces Quesada, Cacai Bautista, and Joross Gamboa--yet they are indistinguishable from each other. It does not help that acting is subpar from this set, particularly with Joross Gamboa, who cannot quite get the quirks needed to act gay.

But my main gripe with this film is how predictable it is. I can see the movie's twists and its ending from miles away, so I had a hard time staying put. I was tapping my feet in impatience at one point, and I was even doing fun things with my sunglasses to fight boredom. 

[How to have fun with your sunglasses inside a movie theater: (1) bite the ear grips, (2) hold at an arm's length and check how the glass's concave-ness warps the actors' faces, (3) wear the eyepiece to check how the movie world has gone dark, (4) repeat.]

The movie raises a lot of plot points, and rushes to wrap all of them in the last minutes. Joey, for instance, has issues with an absentee father, who only appears once earlier in the movie. The last minutes show her reconcile with the father. This reconciliation is expected, but it could have been set up better if there are earlier scenes pointing to this. After all, Joey spent too much time in Thailand doing nothing but sulk.

The only positive aspect of this film is that it is a visual spectacle. There's a lot of refreshing scenery nicely captured to captivate viewers, from the beaches of Ilocos to the landmarks of Thailand.

So if you want to watch this, lower your expectations and just desire to see the sights. And don't forget your sunglasses.

RATING: 1 stars out of 5

SUMMARY: It's pretty, but shallow, predictable and sluggish.