People can not possibly still be shocked that I’m a KathNiel fan – I’ve repeatedly admitted this, so of course I will willingly hand over cash to watch their movies.  I can’t explain why exactly I like these two, but I think it’s because their chemistry is so palpable on screen.

Raydon and I wanted to make the most of our trip to BGC so we headed off to SM Aura to catch an evening movie.  Aside from the whole KathNiel thing, this was the only movie neither of us has seen yet.  Talks of catching the last full show were thrown around, but because we were both early risers nowadays, that idea was quickly scrapped.  As much as I don’t like the 2D cinemas in SM Aura (because their viewing angles suck), it was the cinema that had the earliest screen time.

Here’s the round up of Mae Czarina Cruz-Alviar Crazy Beautiful You.

Please note that there may be spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Serrano (Kathryn Bernardo) only wants to study photography in NYU.  Unfortunately, because of a series of altercations – the latest of which was a car accident that lands her in jail – her separated parents Dra. Lea (Lorna Tolentino) and Arthur (Dante Ponce) are more than a little bit hesitant to let her gallavant on her own.  Tired of her antics and desperate for a chance to reach out to her estranged daughter, Dra. Lea offers Jackie a deal: if Jackie completes a medical mission for Mayor Ito Alcantara (Gabby Concepcion) in Tarlac, she will personally fund all of Jackie’s expenses to New York.  Jackie haughtily accepts and almost instantly gets into an argument with her “babysitter”, Kiko (Daniel Padilla), the illegitimate son of the mayor.  Eventually Jackie and Kiko learn to get along and help each other through their own pains – Jackie with her mother who abandoned her when she was a child, Kiko with being the unwanted blemish of the Alcantara family.  Romance soon blooms between the two but when Marcus Alcantara (Iñigo Pascual), Kiko’s legitimate half-brother, makes it known that he’s interested in Jackie, things become complicated.

THE GOOD:

1. The role reversals.  Unlike all of their projects before, Daniel Padilla now plays the half living below the poverty line.  I like that they’ve changed it up; it means that they’re willing to take on new challenges.  Kathryn Bernardo can do her role in her sleep, but it was nice to see her play a spoiled rich girl for a change.
2. Daniel Padilla’s acting has certainly improved.  While it still can not be considered ‘good, strong’ acting, he has improved a lot because his role in this movie calls for a lot more than just looking pa-cool.  He can actually hold his own against Assunta De Rossi, who plays his absent gambler of a mother, which is just amazing.  Also unlike their previous movies, it is Daniel Padilla who carries the brunt of the acting in this film, which is a nice change.
3. The guts to actually make fun of the whole jeje culture.  They actually embraced the whole thing by making Daniel Padilla play one.  There was an instance in the movie where Kathryn’s Jackie calls Kiko a jejestalker and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep from cackling maniacally.
4. The way Inigo Pascual fit into his clothes.  Seriously, it’s like each outfit was custom made for him.
5. Product placements were few and weren’t as obtrusive as the ones in other Star Cinema movies.  There was this one scary moment though where I thought they would endorse a feminine pad brand that Kathryn was endorsing, but thank goodness it was a false alarm.

THE BAD:

1. Gabby Concepcion just stood there the whole time.  Literally.  I think he only had a total of five lines in the whole movie.
2. Inigo Pascual’s acting.  Sorry, but he’s just not yet ready to be in movies.
3. The waste of the supporting cast, most especially Cacai Bautista.  Why get someone of her comedic caliber if she’s not going to make any jokes?!
4. The lack of a proper build-up of the majestic Pinatubo crater.  It’s almost insulting how they reduced the Pinatubo eruption to a cheesy metaphor.  And also as someone who almost had a hypoglycemic attack during the trek to the Pinatubo crater, I’m insulted at how they made it seem like it was just a stone’s throw away from the native camps.

THE UGLY:

1. How they portrayed the lavish lifestyle of a Filipino politician.  I admit that I’m over thinking this BUT the Mayor has at least one illigitimate child that he’s employed into public service, the Mayor’s family lives in a huge mansion, and his kids treat trips to the United States like trips to Quiapo.  The worst bit was when Marcus was trying to talk up Jackie and he actually offered her a scholarship to NYU.  Say it with me: e di wow.
2. The totally unrealistic change of Jackie’s disposition in a span of seven days.  Again this is me over thinking, but wouldn’t it have been more believable if they at least had a month to work out their problems?
3. That kiss in the end, if you can even call it a kiss.  I know that because of religious reasons, this particular love team’s hands are tied as far as public displays of affections are concerned.  And I do acknowledge that people have been waiting for that kiss – I kid you not when I say that there was a strained silence in the cinema when it seemed like it was finally about to happen – but the kiss the film makers threw in there almost seemed like a joke.  As it is I would have preferred that they just did what they usually did and faded the screen to black and leave it there.

All in all Crazy Beautiful You gave me exactly what I was expecting: an incredibly predictable story and a whole lot of Kathniel feels.  Because of the role reversals, Daniel Padilla was the half of the love team who really carried the movie because he whole heartedly committed to being a charming jejestalker.

THE VERDICT: 6/10

*All photos are lifted from the film’s official page.