Soft Hearts (Pusong Momon)
Picture: C
Sound: C- Extras: D Film: B-
Annie is a nice girl who is out one evening having a good
time when she finds herself attracted to a drunken Ron, who she proceeds to
have sex with in his car. When she gets
pregnant, he finds out, but the surprise is on her when he turns out to have a
lover named Nick in Soft Hearts (1998), a comedy from the Philippines
that is not as much of a sitcom as it sounds.
Of course, this also sounds like the plot of anything bad
TV can come up with lately, but was made a few years ago. Add how it comes form another country and
you get a potentially interesting story without all the pretensions. The DVD case wants to term it a screwball
comedy, but it really does not go in that direction. Instead, it is a very of-the-moment kind of comedy that has the
comedy inside a light drama. The laughs
are rarely out of exaggerated situations, and the film is trying to argue that
a three-parent family could arise out of the chaos.
Directors Joel Lamangan & Enrico (actor Eric under a
first-name variant) Quizon do not have an agenda here, and the film is not
outright political, give or take its simple and practical acceptance of
homosexuality. Though unrated, the film
is nothing more than a light R, due mostly to the situations at hand. There is good chemistry going here among the
three principles: Lorna Tolentino, Albert Martinez, and Eric Quizon. The screenplay by Ricardo Lee and Mel
Mendoza-Del Rosario is not bad, and though it may seem to drift into My Best
Friends Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bridget Jones’ Diary
type territory, it never becomes as plastic as the two former films.
The full screen, color image is average, from an older
analog transfer, but this is a nicely shot film that is visually amusing by
cinematographer Romeo Vitug. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is problematic, sounding a bit compressed throughout, but this
is also obviously a low-budget film.
These combine for an experience that is still of DVD origins, above VHS
or some CD-V import, and is also still watchable with subtitles most viewers
will need to enjoy the film with. There
are no extras.
It would also be fair to say that some points made in the
film will be missed by people not familiar with the Philippines way of life,
but the film overall is not “so foreign” a viewing experience. It does sometimes-familiar material with
flair and spontaneity that makes it a pleasure to watch. Soft Hearts is a pleasant sit-though
that deserves a wider audience.
- Nicholas Sheffo
