Here’s a movie review by our dear friend, Atty. Ferdie Topacio. In fairness, puwede nang karerin ni Atty. Topacio ang pagiging movie reviewer, ha!
“Make no mistake about it: English Only, Please is Jennylyn Mercado’s movie. To be sure, Derek Ramsay was a revelation, showing that he can give a multi-dimensional performance, and the support was consistently competent.
“But the movie could not have worked without Ms. Mercado. The female protagonist — Tere Madlangsacay — was a role that she has made her own: the character inhabited her, it became her, she became it, until 15 minutes into the movie, there was no more Jennylyn, only Tere.
“The plot is ‘same old, same old’ romantic comedy: boy meets girl, they don’t like each other at first, they get to know each other, fall in love, quarrel and get back together again.
No spoilers here. But the trick is in the execution. It’s like navigating the ‘traffic sa EDSA’, recurring dialogue in the movie. You can traverse it in an old taxi, or you can ride a Benz.
You’ll get to the end either way, but the ride is definitely more satisfying in a Mercedes. “And the director and writers did take us for a trip on a Mercedes Benz in this movie. The lines are smart and witty and worthy of a second viewing.
“The character development — at least for the two leads — are several cuts above the usual cardboard roles. It is a funny movie that does not insult your intelligence (Is Bossing reading this?) And did I mention that Ms. Mercado’s acting blew my socks off?
“I’ve never seen a Jennylyn Mercado movie before (although I saw several episodes of Rhodora X), so I was truly in awe as Ms. Mercado almost flawlessly acted the role of the dutiful working daughter and gullible because love-besotted girlfriend of an opportunistic cad.
“Her reading of the Tere character is richly-textured and finely-nuanced, with every facial expression, every vocal inflection, every gesture aimed at displaying the character with great consistency; in other words, she makes it seem so seamless and effortless, the characterization just flowing out with ease that Tere becomes extremely believable and plausible.
“If she is able to do this consistently in her future movies, then in a few years we can add her name to the roster of our best younger actresses alongside such names as Bea, Sharon, Judy Ann and yes, my personal favorite Claudine (Gretchen is not in the list, sorry).”
“I urge all of you to enjoy EOP then, knowing that it may have singlehandedly saved the 2014 MMFF from the blandness of its other ho-hum offerings.”