And I Love You So borrows its premise from a few familiar movies: how to cope with the loss of a beloved, with the help of the deceased lover’s soul. We need not look to Hollywood as this premise shows up on at least one Filipino movie: Honey, Nasa Langit na ba Ako? featuring Janno Gibbs and Regine Velasquez. While the latter is a comedy infused with some fantasy, the former (and the topic of this review) is grounded on reality, with most of the dialogues between the departed and the bereaved happening on another, more private space.
The essence of the plot can be summarized in just a few lines that was delivered by the lead character (Bea Alonzo); drunk and morose, she compares herself to the other widows in her focus group: “buong buhay nila, kasama nila yung mga asawa nila. Ako, limang buwan lang.” This, all happening while venting it all out in front of her initially disinterested tenant who, just like all Star Cinema romances, falls in love with her, gets involved in a big disagreement, separates with her and—again, just like all Star Cinema romances—finds his way back to her and gets a happy ending. (Come to think of it, when did a Star Cinema romance not end with a happy ending? Except for that Kristine Hermosa-Aga Mulach movie, where he dies in the end.) In other words: boring, just like Bea Alonzo’s character who loses to hold on to the viewer’s empathy after having one too many rants about being a young widow.
Sam Milby and Derek Ramsay parlayed their roles satisfactorily, with Sam Milby getting more points for delivering a cool, disinterested character (although he still needs a lot of work in getting his Tagalog right and believable). Bea Alonso appears too young to handle the demands of a very mature role such as in this one. It was as if you were still seeing her in a primetime telenovela, where the demands for acting is tolerably lower because of time contraints. Nikki Gil is an interesting addition to the case, although her character has been underdeveloped by the movie’s writers in order to justify her being concerned about family matters.
One final word: the supposedly-controversial “love scene” turned out to be a dud. It was just a simple kissing scene. If you went to see the movie just for this, you’ll just end up disappointed. Same with the scenes of Bea wearing a two-piece swimsuit—and while I’m at it, with the scenes of her wearing nighties with thin fabric. Expect no shocks there, not even surprises.
RATING: 3 out of 10.