‘Unforgettable’: Built-in appeal quickly overstays its welcome

Sarah Geronimo with Milo

Despite its canine-fueled appeal, Jun Lana and Perci Intalan’s three-hanky drama “Unforgettable,” starring Sarah Geronimo with a star-studded coterie of supporting actors, barely scratches the surface of its well-meaning and feel-good themes.

As a result, it fails to provide enough cohesive meat for its lead star to chew on, and quickly overstays its welcome despite its built-in charm. And that is a pity because, for the most part, the singer-actress acquits herself with as much earnestness as her pooch’s unconditional affection for his doting master.

Unfortunately, earnestness isn’t synonymous with consistency or skill.

Don’t get us wrong; that isn’t saying there’s nothing to like about Sarah’s characterization. In fact, there’s something about her luminous presence that makes viewers want to instantly root for her.

Having said that, hers is certainly a tricky dramatic turn that is burdened by thespic indecisiveness, compromised further by a tentative commitment to go for broke.

With Regine Velasquez (left)

A braver performer would have taken bolder, less ambiguous acting choices by parlaying her crowd-drawing appeal and time-honed likability into acting gold.

Sarah’s role, as gentle simpleton Jasmine Lagman, requires greater risks as an actress. When her doting Baguio-based Lola Olive (Gina Pareño) is diagnosed with tuberculosis, Jasmine is forced to live with her less-than-sympathetic sisters Dahlia (Ara Mina) and Violet (Meg Imperial) in Manila.

Their impatience and lack of empathy hardly endear Dahlia and Violet to their “mentally disabled” sister. But making it even harder for Jasmine to interact with the intolerant world around her is her inability to lie and her refusal to say sorry.

With KimMolina (right)

Jasmine’s only source of comfort comes in the form of stuffy, fluffy Happy (Milo), the precocious Jack Russell terrier she adopts after he rescues her from bag-snatching baddies. His calming devotion helps Jasmine deal with unexpected bouts of anxiety.

Jasmine’s life takes a quirkier turn when she runs away from her siblings’ home and takes a 245-kilometer trip to Baguio—with Happy in tow, of course—to help her frail grandmother see through her debilitating illness.

Along the way, Jasmine meets strangers, both helpful and cruel, who teach her a thing or two about kindness and compassion, among them Regine Velasquez (as a beleaguered restaurant owner), Cherie Gil (who’s always a delight to see, even in thankless cameos), Tirso Cruz III (as Lola Olive’s attending physician), Dennis Padilla (as a cash-strapped, gun-toting cab driver) and Marco Gumabao (as a veterinarian)—with mixed results.

Geronimo plays Jasmine

Jasmine’s adventure becomes even more eventful when she meets the delightful Kim Molina (as a barrio lass who becomes her “bakla” BFF), Yayo Aguila (as Kim’s mother), Alessandra de Rossi (as a conscientious dog pound attendant) and the deliriously wacky Anne Curtis (as a tone-deaf, power ballad-belting nurse).

“Unforgettable” is a thinly veiled call for compassion, framed by the unabashed melodrama that fuels its disparate and predominantly uneven sections.

It has a story that is “wired” to tug at viewers’ heartstrings. But it is ultimately weighed down by “staged,” deus ex machina moments that are steeped in schmaltz. That isn’t always a bad thing but, in “Unforgettable’s” case, its warmth and affecting dilemma don’t quite linger after the credits roll.