Film Title: Who’s that Girl?
Direction: Wenn V. Deramas
Cast: Anne Curtis, Luis Manzano, Eugene Domingo
Rated PG-13

What I saw: Geeky and uncool Elizabeth (Anne Curtis) is obsessed with campus heartthrob John Eduque Jr. (Luis Manzano), who hails from a rich and sophisticated family. She is, however, only noticed by him once when he gave her words of encouragement during a perilous moment of her academic life. This becomes life-changing for her.

After few years, Elizabeth had become a successful architect. She one day reads of the death of a John Eduque in the obituaries. She goes to the wake in a rather scandalous fashion only to find out that John Eduque Jr. is still alive, and it’s his father who’s in the coffin. She flees in shame while Mrs. Eduque (Eugene Domingo) embarks on desperate measures to hunt her down, thinking that she was John Eduque Sr.’s mistress.

What I discerned: One commendable trait of Filipino comedy movies is that they usually, if not always, attempt to infuse their stories with moral values. Yes, even the most absurd, story-less and senseless (which a lot of them are) of Filipino comedy movies would, in one way or another, try to give their story an appearance of benevolence.

“Who’s that Girl” is no exception. Somewhere in the script, Elizabeth’s mom (Dina Bonnevie) states the plot’s conflict and the values it tries to impart in a straightforward manner that eliminates subtlety.

The film is a comedy about mistaken identity. Its core message is that maling akala, when immediately believed and left unverified, leads to serious consequences.

Mrs. Eduque and John Jr.’s maling akala about Elizabeth cost them their relationship. John Jr. falls in love with her, and his mom wouldn’t allow him to fall in love with her husband’s “mistress.”

Their wrong notion about Elizabeth also cost them a lot of money. Mrs. Eduque hires a detective and offers him millions of pesos just to find her. She also buys Elizabeth’s condominium unit without her knowledge (which legal impossibility the plot conveniently ignores) and bribes sorbeteros, magtatahos, and local vendors just so she and her family would be subject to fish ball starvation and many other inconveniences only super-rich widows can foist upon middle-class bachelorettes.

The maling akala also cost Mrs. Eduque her sanity. Her reign of terror is primarily driven by bitter nostalgia that pushes her to punish her husband’s “mistress.” (Let me just add at this point that Eugene Domingo once again proves her effectiveness in the genre, and that her consistency is the sole cog that keeps this movie working as a comedy. I’m also glad that she’s not playing cougar this time.) This insanity climaxes in the kidnapping of Elizabeth, and an attempt to torture her by superalimentation. Yes, Pinoy comedies ain’t complete without kidnapping.

So, maling akala can really cause its victims to spiral down the decadent path of unfounded worries and unnecessary inconveniences. Had Mrs. Eduque and John Jr. hold back premature conclusions, they would’ve saved themselves from further heartaches caused by John Sr.’s death.

By the way, this movie made some news about Luis Manzano being worried that the MTRCB might cut his butt exposure scene. Well, what can I say? I just wish the MTRCB had cut it. It’s unnecessary; the shot could have just been from the abdomen up. Obviously, it’s just a marketing strategy (yes, butt exposure is a marketing strategy nowadays) targeted to butt-hungry audiences.

Jade

Jade is naturally horrified by Mathematics in the same degree that activities which require stamina, agility and athleticism ruins his day. But far from being a couch potato, he bought a brand new Ab Rocket (for an amazingly discounted price) which he plans to use while watching TV and DVDs—activities with which, for him, either society’s moral ascent or descent can be pretty much discerned. He co-hosts a web-radio show on The Edge, and recently went back to school studying Film.

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