'American
Adobo' very entertaining
courtesy of Manila Bulletin
January 2002
We agree with most
of those who watched "American Adobo" during its premiere night recently
at Cinema 6 of Power Plant in Rockwell, Makati that the movie is very
impressive, enjoyable and indeed good enough for international release.
In its totality, it is one movie we could all be proud of and in our
hearts we'd like to pray hard that it will finally 
create that Filipino identity that we have long been after. Hopefully
"American Adobo" can put across to the world film market the "Filipino
soul" that will make foreign audiences discover us, as what producer
Tony Gloria has aspired for.
We were impressed most especially by the performance
of Ricky Davao (as Gerry, the closet queen) who truly shines in this
movie, overshining even Christopher de Leon whose role as editor of
a newspaper was not, sorry to say, really established in the story.
Well, except at the beginning when he was talking over the phone with
someone about his editorial work. They should have at least shown
him at work where he could have established his profession even without
words.
Anyway, this is negligible for what one remembers
when he goes out of the moviehouse are the fun moments in the story,
those scenes involving Gerry, his mom (played by Gloria Romero) and
his lover Chris; Dina Bonnevie and Cherry Pie Pichache who are almost
always at each other's throat over catty comments by Dina whose character
is one that is smart and intelligent but who always makes the wrong
choices in matters of the heart. Cherry, on the other hand, is a friend
who's fast getting to be an old maid, and so is super anxious to look
for a man to share her lonely days and nights with. That goal seems
elusive though but it came just the same but at the most unexpected
moment, when she was so desperate she almost died in a fire started
by her own cooking.
Which gets us to the "adobo." If we were the
writer or the director, we would have made the dish a central focus
in the story, it being the title. We could have focused a little longer
on its preparation and cooking, and we could have made it always the
main dish on the dining table, always looking as palatable and mouth-watering
as they describe it to be. What we remember seeing on the table is
the fried lumpia, the barbecue and other dishes.
Dina is very good in her role; in fact she's
so natural at it. We also like Sandy Andolong's role, as the domestic
helper, as it is representative of what usually happens in the US.
Sandy has said that she liked the project so much she really wanted
to be in it, "kahit na anong role ang ibigay sa akin. Because it is
an honor really to be in this kind of movie," she said. At the time
the movie was about to be shot, Christopher and Sandy were in the
US to visit their son Rafael Sandino who's studying there. That was
providential for they were immediately cast in the movie.
"American Adobo," directed by Laurice Guillen
and slated to open on Jan. 16 in Metro Manila theaters, was shot entirely
in the US with a mixed crew of Filipinos and Americans. It is a bitter-sweet
comedy about Filipino friends based in New York. And by the way, they
could have also shown more of the Big Apple's landmarks, not only
the bridges, to really establish that New York character. But as we
said earlier, the movie in its entirety is a good one, very entertaining
and therefore worth watching.
By the way, when "American Adobo" was premiered
at the Lincoln Center last Dec. 29 (with proceeds going to the American
Red Cross to benefit its project on the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy)
Thelma Adams, film critics from the New York Post said "American Adobo'
would no doubt make an enjoyable, sophisticated foreign film." Dell
Publishing, a division of Random House, through its senior editor
Jacob Joye said the film "...was delightfully funny and deeply moving,"
so much so that Dell would consider publishing a screenplay book of
'American Adobo' as a tie-in to coincide with the film's release."
*photos courtesy of www.abs-cbn.com
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