LOVE YOU TO THE STARS AND BACK (2017): A FILM REVIEW
2:12:00 PM
Had this film been written and directed by another person as well as starred by a different set of leads, there's a pretty good chance that I wouldn't have forgiven its premise. But since I understand that it's crafted by Antoinette Jadaone and it features Joshua and Julia, everything just fits perfectly the way it should be.
If you think about it, "Love You To The Stars and Back" bears the same signatures Jadaone wrote all over "That Thing Called Tadhana" - narratives whose majority of events falls inside a 24 to 48-hour time frame, a guy and a girl meeting at a chance encounter, and conversations to convince audience that it is possible for love to spring in this short amount of time. But this is the same premise that could alienate viewers. Gaano nga ba ka-posible na ang dalawang taong bago lang nagkakilala ay mahuhulog nang bonggang bongga sa isa't isa?
For Love You To The Stars and Back, the answer which even the most critical of audiences have relied on, is 'Minsan, kailangan mo lang maniwala.'
Fans of JaDine, KathNiel, LizQuen and other love teams (if there are others that are relevant, lol) may be angered by this statement but JoshLia is the most talented pair in this generation in terms of acting. I never watched a scene with Julia Barretto in it and told myself that she wasn't giving it justice. Girl always delivers. She is a brilliant actress who surprisingly adapts perfectly to roles given to her. Joshua, on the other hand, deserves Best Actor awards as early as now. What I think works perfectly well for him is that people who give him roles know that he could pull it off and he studies his characters in great depths so he plays them as if he isn't acting just to act. He's just on another level. Not cringe-worthy, not rehearsed, not forced.
Make no mistake about this movie because while its trailer seems to be a feel-good kind of experience, the full-length one is gonna make your heart heavy before it attempts to rip it out of your chest. (Oo, natraydor ako sa bigat ng pelikula. Kahit yung katabi ko nafeel kong sobrang na-stress din dahil sa bigat ng pinagdadaanan ng mga character.) HAHAHA. It's gonna make you giggle, laugh, cloud your eyes and let you hagulgol if you allow yourself to. LoL.
Some movies are praised because they depict encounters and events that are very close to real life. This movie is not one of those.
But there are movies about special chances and events that may occur rarely to special people with complicated lives that they want to make simple. This is one of those.
And it's an excellent one.
Xoxo,
@callmenorby
Photo courtesy by: Star Cinema
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