JOSEPH Marco (left) and Alex Gonzaga
In Emmanuel de la Cruz’s “My Rebound Girl,” Alex Gonzaga (as Rocky) knows all about rebound relationships and its ego-squishing effect on her self-esteem. In fact, she has endured four of them (Luis Manzano, Ryan Bang, Dominique Roque and Carl Guevara). To keep heartbreak at bay, she creates a set of rules for herself to avoid another romantic mishap.
But, as they say, once bitten, twice shy (four times, in her case). Rocky’s series of sob stories leave her in a state of constant indecision—now, she can’t even decide which blend of coffee to offer to the customers of her cash-strapped coffee shop!
Because of the café’s dwindling finances, Rocky and her business colleagues (Martin Escudero and Helga Krapf) enlist the help of new partner Rich (Joseph Marco), who’s also mending a broken heart.
Rocky and Rich argue about anything and everything, but they also can’t ignore the sparks that fly every time they’re together. With a string of items on her list upended, is Rocky headed for another heartache?
With eager-beaver Alex Gonzaga pacing its “trendingly” youthful cast, De la Cruz’s rom-com gets off to a breezy start, but quickly stumbles thereafter. Sadly, the performance of pretty but unabashedly perky Alex is weighed down by a befuddling continuum of relentless shouting, livid histrionic schmaltz and manic energy.
It doesn’t take long before you suspect that the character Alex portrays with eager-to-please gusto just might need a dose of antipsychotic drugs to calm her down.
Buoyed up by brisk pacing and gorgeous cinematography, the film quickly overstays its welcome—and the rest of the act eventually becomes loud, tedious and annoying.
To make matters worse, Alex and Joseph’s vaunted screen pairing is largely devoid of chemistry—which is like sounding the death knell for Tinseltown’s latest big-screen tandem.