More loud than lovable

“MY BEBE LOVE.” Insufficient unity and coherence in terms of focus and style.

WHAT ARE the things about Joey Reyes’ “My Bebe Love” to like? The MMFF frontrunner offers a few: There’s a long and funny sequence in which senior leads, Vic Sotto and Ai Ai delas Alas, feistily feud and fight—then end up in bed, both shocked at and thrilled by the very thought that their seethingly hate-hate relationship could come to this!

That and a few other scenes made us laugh, and feel that we were in good comedic hands. Ingenue lead Maine Mendoza’s debut performance for the big screen was also occasionally fresh and endearing.

Most of the time, however, watching the movie was a caution—and even a pain, especially when Ai Ai was screeching at top decibel to force us to laugh, which was often.

The country’s so-called queen of comedy was an unroyal pain to listen to, and our aggrieved and aggravated eardrums throbbed from the aural abuse.

As for Vic, he was kinder to our sensibilities, but we sadly noted a lessening or “softening” of his once sharp comedic “timing” and light-fingered delivery of his funny scenes’ punchlines. Is this a sign of age finally gaining on him? We hope not.

For his part, young male lead Alden Richards was playing so much to the gallery for maximum “kilig” appeal that his performances was neither here nor there. Yes, he’s become popular, but his thespic dynamism and focus have been drastically compromised.

Viewed in totality as a film, “My Bebe Love” was short of lovable because it lacked unity and coherence in terms of focus and style. Some scenes were made to stretch out too long, while others felt like unrelated snippets, “blackout” skits that didn’t real end, but simply faded away into awkward nothingness.

As Joey Reyes movies go, this is a weak addition to his output. Yes, it’s a hit at the tills, but couldn’t the otherwise creditable filmmaker have aimed for the best of both worlds? “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” was both a delightfully viewable and a hit—why couldn’t “My Bebe Love” gone that way instead of this?

The movie’s supporting cast? It appears to have been “infected” by Ai Ai’s screaming miscomprehension of the essence of comedy—except for Valeen Montenegro (as Vic’s assistant in his “events” outfit). Against all odds, the rising comedienne was able to be both pert and funny, even as most of the actors around her were mugging and shouting and “pushing” for all they were worth—which turned out to be not very much at all!

There may not be a trophy for “best actress in a smaller than supporting role,” but Valeen deserves a medal for her thespic valor—for holding on to her focus as a performer in the midst of all that messy caterwauling—and chaos!