Winsome portrayals buoy up John Lloyd and Jennylyn’s improbable rom-com
MERCADO AND CRUZ. Keep viewers rooting for them.
IT’S HARD to suspend disbelief that the crowd-drawing romantic tale that fuels Cathy Garcia Molina’s “Just the 3 of Us” could be anything but frothy fiction.
After all, which bachelor in his right mind would agree to let a kooky woman live with him, just because she claims to have gotten pregnant with his child after a one-night stand?
John Lloyd Cruz and Jennylyn Mercado’s first screen tandem is compromised by the improbability that pilot Uno Abusado (Cruz), an eligible but elusive bachelor with a heart-breaking back story, would be forced to let flight attendant trainee, CJ Manalo (Mercado), to stay with him until a paternity test confirms or disproves the lovely stranger’s claim.
While CJ tries her best to show her temporary “landlord” that she’s girlfriend/wife material, Uno does nothing but demonstrate that he’s far from the ideal beau she’s always imagined him to be. It doesn’t take long before sparks fly, however—and they end up falling for each other!
Problem is, CJ’s romantic past has loose ends (Baron Geisler) that need tying up, while Uno is raring to settle a score with the estranged father (Richard Yap, appropriately cast but ultimately underwhelming) who abandoned him as a child—who just happens to be his stern supervisor!
Molina pulls out all the stops to make the film’s silly premise plausible—that it’s all right to disregard the dangers you’re exposing yourself to if your stalker is as lovely as, say, Jennylyn—with meme-worthy pa-kwela and pickup lines, to boot.
JUNG. Precocious scene stealer.
The movie and its breezy appeal eventually overstay their welcome because of its tired, been-there done-that formula.
It chooses to focus more on selling the sizzle more than the narrative steak—it looks fun and glossy, but it doesn’t really come up with the insightful lessons about parenthood it promises to impart.
Sure, it has the rom-com formula down pat, but it doesn’t have much to show, other than its pa-kilig contrivances.
Having said that, the film is still viewable, not so much for the labored chemistry that eventually grows on viewers due to its hard-working leads, but because of John Lloyd’s perfectly calibrated portrayal and Jennylyn’s winsome star turn.
Jen sometimes pushes her scenes a little too much, but she keeps viewers rooting for her, because she isn’t just adorable and lovely; her dramatic chops have also become as reliable as her spot-on comedic timing.
On the other hand, John Lloyd knows how to sell every scene he’s in, from the winking humor he’s occasionally tasked to deliver, to the stirring dramatic moments he limns to perfection—and convincingly knocks out of the ballpark!
Aside from John Lloyd and Jen’s notable portrayals, the precocious little girl who plays John Lloyd’s next-door neighbor (Chun Sa “Chuchay” Jung) helps the new tandem enliven the film and leaven its manipulative dramatic sequences. In fact, she almost steals the film from Jen and Lloydie. Yes, a new child wonder has arrived!
