Carnival Fun

I know you will lurve it

Eugene Domingo stars as the twin sisters in the comedy film Kimmy Dora. These twins are rivals. No one will dare tie them back again with their own umbilical cords. Kimmy and Dora are the daughters of Luisito Go Dong Hae, a tycoon who is estimably one of the most influential settlers of our country. I am not sure whether they are made out of dumplings or kimchi as their surname implies so, but this comedy film will not hasten to use most of your brain for further analysis of its lampoon. To simplify things up, as long as a comedy film makes you laugh, the film itself is already vindicated and could be praised for its worth.

Kimmy is the smart, career-obsessed and devilish head honcho of the company. She is moody to her staff and sadistic to her assistant Gertrude (Miriam Quiambao). But her heart softens when Johnson (Dingdong Dantes) is around despite their differences in ideas when it comes to managing business prospects. Unfortunately, Johnson is more amiable to Dora, the super-special twin sister of Kimmy who is the opposite of her radical behavior. This made Kimmy be upset even more and sibling rivalry in the past has been dug. With the tension on the loose again, the petty fights has led to the heart attack of their father Luisito (Ariel Ureta). While recovering from her father’s ailment, Kimmy finds out that the will and testament favors more to her sister Dora.

Kimmy Dora will be the newest addition in our recent comedies that are exceptional and charming like Ded na si Lolo and Last Supper No. 3. But those two have a different switch, using social satire as a way to provoke laughter. Ang Tanging Ina could be a grand similarity due to its heavy usage of farce and the slapstick. I think these four films combined define what comedy in our times works. We make films for us to laugh but at the same time, it has the aroma of being our own, something that is not time-bounded.

I have said this before and I will repeat it further even if I sound obnoxious. Yes, I am a fan of comedy films. I have high expectations from our filmmakers when these films show up in our theaters and most especially if it’s the slapstick kind of comedy. I do want to progress with my own taste for comedies even if I have sung praises for the works of Charlie Chaplin and Leonid Gaidai. I am not really fond of Woody Allen films but I do regard his works as universal. Why am I saying this? I think most of our writers have this notion that even comedies should be intelligent with its rendering. And most of them dismiss slapstick as a flawed type of comedy. I will definitely disagree and this film Kimmy Dora will prove them wrong without me saying any further. I could have slapped their coconut brains with my IPOD and entrenched them with my Chaplin Collection. That scene for sure will be hilarious. But they could use wit as their defense tactic for this is the only kind that should progress in the comedy arena. And they could mistake slapstick for being offensive and mindless.

But true to the word, slapstick is not really the type of fresh corals that will sway your brains constantly. It is more of the mechanical type, perfunctory with its domain to produce laughter. Kimmy Dora does most of its pleasing moments on this approach. I will not be surprised with its great deal of slaptickness since it’s the territory of the director Joyce Bernal, who have expressed mightily a great form of absurdity and passed it over as a great entertaining film. Chris Martinez as the sole writer has the upper hand in layering its story with humor for its script with a classifiable ordeal of figures of speech. Kimmy mostly utters her lines in hyperbole while her sister Dora is more ‘intelligent’ and discreet for her one-time use of a palindrome, naming her adopted stray dog ‘Mickey’. Kimmy could have thrust her stilettos for its obvious slur. But she is at home with word exaggeration and slang offenses. Kimmy Dora is a great blend of different comedy types and as an outcome, it is miraculously compelling and mind enthralling.

I am more optimistic that our audience will be guided better so that they will eradicate some of its wrong notions towards film appreciation. Slapstick will always be a great form of comedy - if used judiciously. I am really saddened that most of the times, the audience has lots of pretensions that comedies are garbled as a serious matter and should be viewed with all our brain cells moving towards Level Ten – Einstein brainpower. I may be misconstrued for being narrow-minded, boxing the appreciation only to a certain type of comedy. But my point of view is just simply bending the values of a good comedy. The values of our times have changed. Blame consumerism for the abhorrent proclivities towards any form of appreciation. But I don’t mind the trends. I only believe in good films. Whether it is Chaplin or Allen, as long as it makes you laugh, then it proves that the film that you are watching is a good comedy. But always remember, laugh first before you think.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

More Brandy Please

Your chest is so...

The popularity of Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes as a love pair in television could truly prop up their film One True Love. But this film is a bit more different. To view a film, you have to pay almost two hundred bucks for the admission (if you’ll buy food too) as compared to watching teleseryes or sinenovelas in our very home. As a matter of fact, before you can drag anyone to watch a film, it has to surpass the expectations of the majority who has already seen the film. One True Love has produced a schmaltzy love story which acquired the appalling sentimentality of the soap opera tradition.

Migs (Dingdong Dantes) is a neurologist who is engaged to a nurse named Joyce (Marian Rivera). Upon announcing their engagement to his family, his sister Ara (Bianca King) immediately informed Migs' past girlfriend Bela (Iza Calzado) and advised her to go back to the Philippines. After the wedding, Migs becomes involved in a motorcycle crash and suffers isolated retrograde amnesia. During the time of his recovery, Migs has lost all memories of his wife Joyce. But instead, he chooses to unite again with Bela.

The premise is pretty interesting and it is the only good thing I can say in the film. I can also forgive the clichéd/formula story and plot devices they have adhered to for the past few decades. But it is beyond the pale if they have abused the formula itself. It is also given and yet it is still not cohesive. Migs has amnesia and yet he portrays his character that he also lost all his good values and manners. He acts like a puppet manipulated by the creative core of this film production. This is not love anymore as love gives reverence to the very essence of showing it. A person who suffers amnesia might be a little stressed and shows embarrassment but definitely not to the point of being rude. Even if the character’s neurologists explained the side effects, the actor’s execution is unbearable. Joyce is another problem as she embodies the maudlin expressions of empathy without reasonable gravity. She did at some point in time manage to get angry but it still does not advance the way she should deal with love as a matured individual. Anyway, she gets the sympathy which is entirely the idea of it. Although in the long run, a good story does not need any of this cheap gimmickry.

It is disheartening to watch a film more so a film that tackles the universal language of Love and hate to see everything it has offered. The quality of the technicalities is satisfactory but the other essential foundation has been laid into a dull and gloomy terrain. The acting of the two stars is disgusting to imbibe. Good thing that Calzado gives a performance that could be well regarded as a decent performance and even the character appears to be the paramour.

One True Love is not in any way true love and I am certain about it. I am glad to hear in the news that it did well in the box office even the entire production looks a bit low-cost. Hopefully the money they get in this film will be used again in making a film (hopefully a 'decent' one). Audiences are easy to please. With the theme love, it is more trouble-free as we get to feel it not exactly the same as when others feel it. It is always unique. One True Love has integrated the fantasy love formula that has been here for years. It could be shameful to use. But if it has the certain ‘it’, it will have magic and not an abysmal ending.


Charlie Koon's Rating: