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Mario Bautista, has been with the entertainment industry for more than 4 decades. He writes regular columns for People's Journal and Malaya.

May 6, 2014

Tom Rodriguez & Carla Abellana Shine In Their First Romcom, 'So It's You'

TOM RODRIGUEZ wants to make it clear that he didn’t have a bad breakup with ex-GF K-la Rivera. “It was a mutual decision to focus on our respective careers and up to now, we still have communication, we’re good friends,” he says. “Work talaga ang dahilan kasi hindi ako sanay sa schedule ko ngayon na ang sobrang dami ng ginagawa. The movie I did with Carla Abellana, ‘So It’s You’, is opening this Wednesday in theatres and I’m shooting a new movie, ‘Beauty in a Bottle’. Up to now, I’m still adjusting to my busy sked. Like I said, I’m really falling in love with my work and I want to focus on it more. This whole four years that I’ve been here in showbusiness, feeling ko, hindi ko naibigay ‘yung lahat ko. Ang atensyon ko, laging hati. So, for the first time in my life, I think I owe it to myself na mag-concentrate naman sa career ko totally. And I owe it to God sa dami ng blessings Niya sa akin.”

Is he happier that way? “Siyempre, masaya sa blessings. Pero when a relationship ends, it still hurts. But you know, there’s a lot of great things ahead kaya dun muna ako sa maraming doors that are opening for me now tulad ng first rom-com movie I did with Carla Abellana, ‘So It’s You’.”

We saw ‘So It’s You’ at its premiere at SM Megamall last Monday and it was very well received by the SRO crowd who’s really cheering so hard for Tom and Carla. They have undeniable chemistry, do look good together on screen and the camera loves them both. What’s nice is that both of them can act convincingly, give endearing performances and do exceedingly well in their respective roles. Carla is Lira, a product specialist for a pharmaceutical company whose family is noveau riche after her dad (Joey Marquez) won millions in the lotto. She’s about to wed Tony (JC de Vera) but he gets cold feet and runs away on their wedding day. Tom is Goryo, a shoemaker and single dad dumped by the boy’s mom (Bangs Garcia) to marry someone else. They meet by chance in Baguio and Lira uses Goryo to make Tony jealous even if he’s already married to (Gee Abrahan who’s a riot as JC’s weird wife).

How Lira and Goryo finally end up with each other is a long circuitous route that can still be made faster-paced if the movie would do some trimming since it’s too long. The ending where they are finally reunited in the middle of a busy street is very Star Cinema in really trying hard to please the viewers. But what’s absolutely hilarious in this movie is the unlikely romance between Kevin Santos as Carla’s macho brother who turns out to be a closet queen and Paolo Ballesteros as her very gay best friend. If the two were given more scenes and exposure, they would have ran away with the movie. Writer-Director Jun Lana (“Bwakaw”, “Mga Kuwentong Barbero”) deviates from doing pang-award indie films with his first romantic comedy and proves that he’s adept enough to pull it off.

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