We have been bowdlerized
This is third draft. I have long line of text and email messages asking me to tone stuff down. Also a hilarious one asking me to say something nice about Richard and Claudine's chemistry.
Not linking cause they ping back.
In Your Eyes review
In the world of melodrama, there aren’t really any unique stories, just trope after trope after trope. What makes the stories special is how they’re executed.
GMA Films and Viva Films co-produced the romantic drama In Your Eyes starring Kapuso star Claudine Barretto, Viva-managed star Anne Curtis and resident GMA-7 leading man Richard Gutierrez.
Copping to the changing times, In Your Eyes adds additional elements - a subplot about the fallout of US migration and pre-marital sex, most specifically - but in the end, suffers from the execution in the film, directed by Mac Alejandre from a script by Keiko Aquino.
THE PLOT. Naturalized U.S. citizen Ciara (Claudine Barretto) has taken it upon herself to put her personal life on hold until she can push through with the petition for her feckless younger sister Julia (Anne Curtis). Unknown to her, Julia has fallen in lust with similarly footloose photographer Storm (Richard Gutierrez). He decides to pack up his life and go with Julia to America. He moves in with the sisters. Shenanigans ensue.
THE VERDICT. The first hour of In Your Eyes has at least five montages involving the cast walking through tourist locations, making it look like a travelogue for Los Angeles, California. This means that the movie’s main conflict--the love triangle that develops between Julia, Ciara and Storm--doesn’t actually get started until an hour and a half into the film, when a vulnerable Ciara sleeps with Storm.
Direk Mac also has a tendency to make his main characters emote in the streets for an inordinate number of scenes. This also brings up a weird bit of production design that bugged me throughout the film: why are there “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs in front of Ciara’s home if she’s paid for at least part of it? Very strange.
The truly missed opportunity in In Your Eyes is that there’s a kernel of actual story here that Aquino’s script ignores for stilted romantic gestures: the pathos of actual sacrifice, resentment, gratitude, anger and joy that make up the overseas Filipino experience.
On the upside, the film is lustrously-shot, and the production is designed to the skin of its very shiny teeth. Each wall looks freshly-painted, each marble counter looks Pledged, and Julia lays out an entire loaf of bread for Storm’s breakfast for no reason other than the fact that it looks nice.
Against all odds, it’s Anne who fares best in the drama. She creates an unapologetic Julia, who is childish, demanding, and generous in different, but consistent bursts. She appears to be connecting with the other characters instead of posing while waiting to say her next line. There are a few inconsistencies, however, such as how Julia was able to get a teaching job when it’s been established that she only has a student visa, but that’s a minor crack in the script. The actress also has a much-publicized, but very brief, scene where she shares a post-coital shower with leading man and former boyfriend Richard, that was well-received by the premiere audience.
Richard’s Storm is a successful photographer in the Philippines but when we see him at work shooting a fashion shoot with a backdrop that looks like a simple bedsheet. When he decides to pack up and follow Julia to the States, he becomes a petulant child when he gets a menial job at a mall express photo shop. He acts like the job is beneath him, which leads one to ask what Storm expected after scoring a job in a mall photo shop. When the Storm-Ciara relationship becomes sexual, the strangely inert chemistry and maternal vibe between Claudine and Richard makes the triangle seem like a misfire. Maybe more workshops were necessary to develop the chemistry - both actors have been very capable in other projects, after all.
Claudine does her best, but is let down by the script, which never bothers giving her a character outside of “self-sacrificing.” It’s a pity - if they managed to write Ciara with other shadings, she could have possibly gotten a home run with the film, instead of the one-dimensional character she ended up with. Considering she plays a character that consistently settles for what she can have instead of what she wants, however, maybe that’s not deliberate, and all Ciara wants is to get out of this situation.
Not linking cause they ping back.
In Your Eyes review
In the world of melodrama, there aren’t really any unique stories, just trope after trope after trope. What makes the stories special is how they’re executed.
GMA Films and Viva Films co-produced the romantic drama In Your Eyes starring Kapuso star Claudine Barretto, Viva-managed star Anne Curtis and resident GMA-7 leading man Richard Gutierrez.
Copping to the changing times, In Your Eyes adds additional elements - a subplot about the fallout of US migration and pre-marital sex, most specifically - but in the end, suffers from the execution in the film, directed by Mac Alejandre from a script by Keiko Aquino.
THE PLOT. Naturalized U.S. citizen Ciara (Claudine Barretto) has taken it upon herself to put her personal life on hold until she can push through with the petition for her feckless younger sister Julia (Anne Curtis). Unknown to her, Julia has fallen in lust with similarly footloose photographer Storm (Richard Gutierrez). He decides to pack up his life and go with Julia to America. He moves in with the sisters. Shenanigans ensue.
THE VERDICT. The first hour of In Your Eyes has at least five montages involving the cast walking through tourist locations, making it look like a travelogue for Los Angeles, California. This means that the movie’s main conflict--the love triangle that develops between Julia, Ciara and Storm--doesn’t actually get started until an hour and a half into the film, when a vulnerable Ciara sleeps with Storm.
Direk Mac also has a tendency to make his main characters emote in the streets for an inordinate number of scenes. This also brings up a weird bit of production design that bugged me throughout the film: why are there “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs in front of Ciara’s home if she’s paid for at least part of it? Very strange.
The truly missed opportunity in In Your Eyes is that there’s a kernel of actual story here that Aquino’s script ignores for stilted romantic gestures: the pathos of actual sacrifice, resentment, gratitude, anger and joy that make up the overseas Filipino experience.
On the upside, the film is lustrously-shot, and the production is designed to the skin of its very shiny teeth. Each wall looks freshly-painted, each marble counter looks Pledged, and Julia lays out an entire loaf of bread for Storm’s breakfast for no reason other than the fact that it looks nice.
Against all odds, it’s Anne who fares best in the drama. She creates an unapologetic Julia, who is childish, demanding, and generous in different, but consistent bursts. She appears to be connecting with the other characters instead of posing while waiting to say her next line. There are a few inconsistencies, however, such as how Julia was able to get a teaching job when it’s been established that she only has a student visa, but that’s a minor crack in the script. The actress also has a much-publicized, but very brief, scene where she shares a post-coital shower with leading man and former boyfriend Richard, that was well-received by the premiere audience.
Richard’s Storm is a successful photographer in the Philippines but when we see him at work shooting a fashion shoot with a backdrop that looks like a simple bedsheet. When he decides to pack up and follow Julia to the States, he becomes a petulant child when he gets a menial job at a mall express photo shop. He acts like the job is beneath him, which leads one to ask what Storm expected after scoring a job in a mall photo shop. When the Storm-Ciara relationship becomes sexual, the strangely inert chemistry and maternal vibe between Claudine and Richard makes the triangle seem like a misfire. Maybe more workshops were necessary to develop the chemistry - both actors have been very capable in other projects, after all.
Claudine does her best, but is let down by the script, which never bothers giving her a character outside of “self-sacrificing.” It’s a pity - if they managed to write Ciara with other shadings, she could have possibly gotten a home run with the film, instead of the one-dimensional character she ended up with. Considering she plays a character that consistently settles for what she can have instead of what she wants, however, maybe that’s not deliberate, and all Ciara wants is to get out of this situation.