Jericho-Bela starrer has more than just ‘Luck’ going for it

Bela Padilla (third from left) and Jericho Rosales in “Luck at First Sight”

Bela Padilla has always been an “enthusiastic” performer—and that isn’t always a bad thing (see “I America,” “Camp Sawi”). After all, not every person around us banks solely on his or her soulful orbs to express his/her innermost thoughts and feelings.
However, that flashy (or kitschy) thespic tack doesn’t always win over critics, who are partial to the “less is more” mantra in the acting trade.

Then comes Dan Villegas’ instructively “antirom-com” screen romance, “Luck at First Sight”—which, along with JP Habac’s “I’m Drunk, I Love You,” is the movie-going season’s best and most winsome film—an innovative addition to the tatty romantic-comedy genre.

If you don’t like contrived, manipulative and disingenuous films, “Luck at First Sight” isn’t one of them.

Bela’s fortuitous collaboration with Jericho Rosales, the finest actor of his generation (along with the more introspective John Lloyd Cruz), gives the pretty actress enough elbow room to grow as a performer, as well as a skill-refining reprieve from her tendency to “indicate” her characters’ motivations and “psychological” actions.

Echo’s spot-on portrayal of incorrigible gambler Joma Labayan comes as no surprise. His prodigious ability to make a deeply flawed character appealing and likable is no easy feat.

Take one crucial “game-changing” scene (no spoilers here): As you see the scary desperation in Joma’s eyes, Jericho is seen plumbing deeper into his character’s deceptively “wholesome” surface by revealing the well-meaning but stilted motivations that lead to his desperate actions—and it isn’t a pretty sight to see.

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

When Joma crosses paths with the similarly cash-strapped Diane dela Cruz (Bela), serendipity immediately begins to work its magic. The couple soon realizes they are each other’s “life charm”—and their luck swiftly changes for the better.

Unfortunately, Joma and Diane’s odds-defying “charm” also comes with a stern warning: They aren’t allowed to fall in love with each other—and that’s when the situation begins to go south for the star-crossed pair!

It is at this point where the thematic pertinence of Villegas’ heart-warming movie shows its might over the production’s more accessible elements and rambunctiously kwela moments—most notably, in a sequence showing Diane introducing Joma to her suspicious father as the “special child” she’s mentoring.

Don’t worry, Echo and Bela don’t end up doing the “politically incorrect” deed of making fun of special children—just watch the film, and you’ll know what we mean.

Jericho Rosales (left) and Bela Padilla

True, the movie also hews closely to proven rom-com formula, but Jericho and Bela’s starrer demonstrates that it has more than just luck and serendipity going for its crowd-pleasing love story.

Villegas’ quirkily staged film cleverly arms itself with a compelling and cautionary tale that warns against the dangers of gambling and people’s frivolous fascination with luck and the “swerte-swerte lang” mentality.

Yes, we sometimes get lucky in life—but, without hard work and time-honed skill, good fortune and quick-fix gambits can quickly overstay their welcome.