Director: Petersen Vargas
Cast: Khalil Ramos, Ethan Salvador, and Jameson Blake, Peewee Ohara, Jomari Angeles, Joel Saracho, Mean Espinosa, Ana Capri
I hate to be the party pooper here since everyone seems to be loving this dark coming-of-age film about a nerd who befriended two Filipino-American brothers who made such an impact in his young life but if I’m being quite honest, this film just didn’t work for me for so many reasons save for the amazing performances of its lead actors – James Blakeson, Ethan Salvador and Kahlil Ramos.
In case you didn’t know (like moi), 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten was part of last year’s Cinema One Originals Film Festival garnering the Best Picture honor as well as Best Supporting Actor for Blake Jameson and Best Cinematography for Carlos Mauricio.
I just want to say first that the cinematography award was very well-deserved because Mauricio was able to encapsulate the contrasting beauty of the lahar-ridden Pampanga, the fascinating dreams of Felix (Ramos) and the youthful vibrancy of the actors playing the main characters. Even before I watched it on the big screen, I was already all over it towards its beautiful cinematography when I Initially viewed its trailer on Facebook.
Secondly, (see, I wasn’t aware of the said Film Festival so boohoo! on me) Jameson Blake winning an award for his role is not that surprising. After watching the film in Trinoma last Saturday (March 18, 2017) I was asked by my seatmate in the cinema how I find the film, I told him outright that the guy who played the role of Maximillian was simply enigmatic! He’s very effective and the eye-candy thing was just a bonus! They’re all good in their roles but Blake just stole the thunder from Ramos and Salvador on this one.
Now, let me make it clear that I do not hate the film. I just don’t like the development of the story. I wasn’t expecting it to be cheesy and all that stuff but I thought the dark twist revealed midway was rather an unsavory surprise. Twists tend to do that but that subplot just made me cringed because it felt forced for me. I thought I knew what the writer / director was trying to convey but incorporating said plot was rather over the top in my opinion.
We’re already all over Felix’s (Khalil Ramos) sexual identity crisis and the angst of the Snyder brothers and I thought the story could lead into a more subdued yet impactful resolution – instead we’ve got the subdued yet very strange conclusion.
But hey, who am I to judge like an expert? After all, I’m just a movie-goer hahaha! Kidding aside, I think it’s a case of “it’s me, not you” thing so I think people are still going to enjoy watching this one but as for me – I’m okay with watching it once for now.
Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
PADDYLAST INC. 