Disclaimer: My opinion about Star Cinema is supported by past and most recent romantic films it has unleashed on hapless moviegoers' short attention span.
Chronologically, these include the following:
Suddenly It's Magic
24/7 In Love
One More Try
and it's latest offering - A Moment in Time.
The fact that these movies got made - regardless of these films' commercial success or failure - shows the thought process and sensibilities of its `creative' staff. From these same films we can therefore deduce a Star Cinema Theorem which states that:
Copy the plot of an old movie + replicate scenes from these old movies + sprinkle fresh, good-looking stars x (insert sexually repressed/dysfunctional characters) = VOILA! Star Cinema Movie!!!
e.g.
Suddenly It's Magic = Isang Tanong Isang Sagot
24/7 In Love = (Perverted) Love Actually
One More Try = In Love We Trust
A Moment in Time = Suddenly It's Magic (the Coco-Martin-serenading-Julia-Montes-and-Julia-Montes-beatboxing-scenes), My Only U (the-Julia-Montes-giving-Coco-Martin-a-surprise-bday-party-scene), Milan (the Coco-Martin-going-to-Amsterdam-to-look-for-Julia-Montes-scenes).
I therefore conclude that Star Cinema's creepiness knows no bounds.
Why?
1) It doesn't give a shit that it is xerox-ing plots, scenes from movies already seen and then using it in their 'original' film without acknowledging the source of its `inspiration.' It's creative piracy. If you buy an unoriginal dibidi of a Star Cinema film you're actually buying a double-dead movie / it's a pirated version of a pirated movie.
2) It is copying its own scenes from its own movies because
a) it is easier to do aka it's the lazy way to make movies - it's writing without actually writing
b) it's there
c) they find their own work amazing enough to be replicated continuously aka they're so pleased with themselves they just want to jack off to their own product
Their inherent creepiness is so deep-rooted it just leached into Coco Martin's character in Star Cinema's latest film A Moment in Time.
Coco Martin's Patrick is a less skilled version of John Lloyd's dysfunctionally suave character JD in The Mistress.
To be fair, A Moment in Time is fun to watch thanks to Julia Montes' and Coco Martin's charismatic and affecting performance.
But - Julia Montes' Jillian is right when she shouted at Patrick and called him "Weird!" when he drew her face on a wall, called her by not-her-name (with the expectation that she'll pay attention to him), and hurled himself in front of her chauffered car.
Weird is right but is an understatement as Patrick is simply dysfunctional.
And the Star Cinema way to make this personality dysfunction likable, romantic, aspirational, entertaining is to apply the Star Cinema theorem:
1 Add a good-looking actor - to better distract you from the abuse he is inflicting - and even find it okay enough for you to even ask for more of the same
2 Convince the audience that love is equal to violating a person's boundaries
Patrick calls Jillian all the names he thinks fits her but not her real name. He doesn't even bother to come up to her politely and ask. Instead, he assumes her name is "Heidi," "Sheryl," "Baby"
because he really doesn't want to know who the real her is. He only wants to know the image he has of her - thus his question at the start of the film:
"ANO ANG ITSURA NG TOTOONG PAGMAMAHAL?"
You can see an image, a picture, but can you experience an image? a picture?
He can't experience what love is so he settles to have an image of it / a picture of it in his head.
He only loves his image/imagining/perception of who he thinks Jillian is but not THE REAL Jillian.
That is why Jillian is wise when she says, "(Sana) di lang ako drowing sa canvass mo." -- because she knows she is.
That is why Jillian is wise when she says, "(Sana) di lang ako drowing sa canvass mo." -- because she knows she is.
He doesn't care about the real Jillian - he only cares that he thinks he cares. It is an image of himself loving an image of someone else that he LOVES - not the person - regardless of whether that person accidentally killed Patrick's mother (a contrived plot device to easily explain away Patrick's abnormal behavior).
If it aint already obvious, Patrick is already abnormal even before he discovered Jillian's accidental killing of his mother.
3 Make unwarranted persistence adorable
When Jillian says "NO," Patrick doesn't listen to her because he thinks that she doesnt really mean "NO." He doesn't think she is serious. He doesn't care that she is serious. He doesn't respect her "NO" because he only cares about what he wants not what she wants.
4 Make arrogance and rudeness an adorable virtue
To those who think Coco's Patrick is adorable when he forces himself on her space - in that scene where he was wearing a Max's Delivery uniform inside an elevator and was with Julia's character Jillian - think again.
If you are not creeped out by this specific behavior, ask yourself if you'd want to experience something similar in real life or - better yet - imagine how your reaction will be. To be fair, don't imagine Coco Martin creeping you out. Imagine someone else, e.g. one of those long-haired villains in those late 80's early 90's Pinoy action movies. Doing this mental exercise is a true test of your authentic reaction to abnormal behavior.
5 Make deception a natural part of a relationship
When Patrick discovered that Jillian accidentally killed his mother, it was actually not the discovery that made him act "weirder." He is already weird in the first place.
The fact that he hid his discovery and pretended that everything is fine or that there is nothing wrong - is downright chilling.
If this detail went over your head - look at where you are now and ask yourself if you're in a relationship that echoes that dynamic. Ask yourself too why you didn't find that detail odd???
6 Make the process of wearing down a person's healthy boundaries the "noble" goal of the adorable protagonist - better yet make it the film's aspirational climax
Patrick's process of pursuing Jillian is akin to stalking. Jillian has expressed her defiance by saying
"Look, your shit's got to stop." (that was a paraphrase). But Patrick doesn't. He chases her car and gives her something he knows he could hook her emotions with - her old violin. And his hooking strategy worked. She falls for him. They get back together and she lives unhappily ever after with him.
He never loved her. He never will. If he really loved her - and if he doesn't have a personality disorder - he won't string her along and pretend that he didnt know she accidentally killed his mother.
If the movie wanted a happy ending, Jillian could have ended up not with her Hallmark-card spouting-fiancee or the insanely obsessed and psychologically dysfunctional Patrick, she could have discovered why she fell for Patrick - her own issues - her fears - her beliefs and then made the life-saving decision to love her self and be the person she wants to attract and have a relationship with. But that's not dramatic enough for ya huh.
All in all, A Moment in Time is not that bad --
A Moment in Time’s glossy visuals helped soften Manila’s grime and grittiness the same way Coco and Julia’s onscreen presence made this Star Cinema movie about an emotionally abusive relationship, exceptionally entertaining, romantic, aspirational, and even likable. - WEIRD!!!
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