“THE SHIP SHOW” is the follow up project of Viva Entertainment for the new love team of Heaven Peralejo and Marco Gallo, after they hit it big in the Viva One streaming 10-episode series “The Rain In Espana” that’s based on a well received Wattpad novel.
“The Ship Show” is a test case for the tandem if they now really have a big fan base that would attract viewers to pay to get to watch them on the big screen and not just on line.
We’ve seen the movie and it’s totally entertaining. We believe Viva has come up with another bankable love team after the JaDine couple went nuts and this is even more engaging than their 'Diary ng Panget'.
The story of ‘The Ship Show’ is an original material written and directed by the prolific Jason Paul Laxamana, who previously made romantic hit movies.
This is his best movie since “100 Tulad Para Kay Stella”, which had a sad ending. This one is really more of a crowd pleaser and its best asset is Laxamana’s effective script that makes you really cheer for most of its characters.
“The Ship Show” is the title of a reality show searching for the next big love team in local showbiz.
Heaven and Marco join it and they are paired as a tandem competing with five other young love team wannabes.
The problem is that Heaven as Chia is a lively, perky girl who can make friends with anybody, while Marco is Araw, a moody introvert who’d rather keep to himself.
So with them being poles apart, how will they make their love team click with audiences who are supposed to vote for their favorite love team?
The five other couples are all equally determined to prove themselves as the most adorable team so they would win in the show.
There’s the cheerful duo of Nestor (Tomas Rodriquez) and Tintin (Ashtine Olviga), the sexy and confident tandem of Ashley (PJ Rosario) and Belline (Angelic Guzman), the former sweethearts Buddy (Rabin Angeles) and Shey (Bianca Santos.)
Then there’s the pair of singers and music lovers Elbrich (Migo Valid) and Marge (Janine Teñoso) and the more cerebral love team of Monti (Martin Venegas) and Amor (Madelaine Red.)
The challenges given to them get more difficult as the show goes on and it becomes a survival of the fittest game for all of them.
The movie is all about what's happening in the show. So who would be eliminated and who would stay on until the end for their ship to sail on beautifully to success and stardom?
It helps that the movie is well cast as the actors deliver well tuned ensemble acting in their respective roles.
Heaven is totally convincing as the girl who’s desparate to be an actress. Marco is surprisingly persuasive as the quiet young man who turns out to have had a traumatic experience with a swindler of a talent manager that made him withdraw from other people.
Marco is now so adept with Tagalog that he delivers all his lines in Pilipino.
His acting has also improved by leaps and bounds, specially in that dramatic scene where his dad blames for losing his and brother’s tuition fee to an embezller.
You will really root for him and Heaven as the contest goes on and they encounter some kinks in their relationship.
Among the other couples, Angelic Guzman and PJ Rosario as the crackling alpha male and female in the group have the makings of good looking contravidas. Viva should definitely develop them and give them meatier character roles in the future.
Tomas Rodriguez is so cute on screen. He lacks height but he’s so charming that he sent many female viewers swooning during the screening.
It turns out both him and his partner, Ashtine, have their own personal motives in joining the show, both also keeping their own deep dark secrets.
Another lovable team is that of Rabin Angeles, who has photogenic Korean good looks on screen, and Bianca Santos who initially rejects him because he broke her heart when they were still going steady.
Rabin is so good in his crying scene when Bianca tells him that she has really gotten over him.
The movie also gets splendid performances from the supporting cast, mainly from Rafa Siguion Reyna as the show’s lively host, Andrea del Rosario as the scheming producer-writer who has nothing else in mind but to make the show get higher ratings, and Nicco Manalo as the show’s efficient director.
