Even at its best, Dan Villegas’ “The Breakup Playlist,” won’t come across as something we haven’t seen before.
No this isn’t new, we’ve cried over so many sentimental romantic movies like this one for countless times already, and they keep us shed tears over and over again. But in its own heart-rupturing capacity, this new Star Cinema and Viva Films collaboration manages to be different, maybe not entirely, but in so much more tangible and honest ways, crippling enough to deliver the film’s overly familiar message.
The construction of the narrative rolls out the events in a non-linear manner, jumping back and forth between the present and the past. Trixie (Sarah Geronimo), a law student who also aspires to become a singer, meets Gino (Piolo Pascual), who then, is looking for someone to become the lead vocalist of his band. This meeting is also commences the love story between the two, one that would meet a sudden end when Gino starts feeling less appreciated.
Anybody who has soft spot for music and love stories, will find “The Breakup Playlist,” extremely difficult not to fall in love with. The bizarre order of its proceedings provides an insightful look, not just on Trixie and Gino’s relationship, but on anyone who in some ways, share the same emotional disasters the two are undergoing. One would think of it as a musical CD whose songs tell the different stages of our romantic journey, each one singing lyrics we surely have heard before, but carrying a unique tune, so beautifully different and exquisitely delivered, yet reminiscently tragic and heart-shattering-ly painful.
Like any relationships, however, the movie is not perfect, it has flaws, mostly on some narrative choices, but few and too insignificant to be of weight, capable enough to render the film’s irresistibly haunting charm, less effective.
But where it’s best, “The Breakup Playlist” sings a sad melody , and takes beautiful runs and bends, that would surely make hearts melt. Seemingly singing the very same songs telling their characters’ own love story, are two incredibly capable actors, who manage to deliver their roles with utmost believability.
Piolo Pascual, as always and expected, pulls off Gino with genuine ease and refinement, providing the character with outpouring emotions to convey its relatable struggles and heartaches. But there’s more to commend about Sarah, who, here, has finally taken several levels higher with her character choices, taking a more mature role that requires her a lot more than just her inherent sweetness and appeal. On moments where the narrative is most heartbreaking, Sarah’s character is there, taking the spotlight in breathtakingly painful confrontations, delivering words that are not just piercing and tangible, but most importantly, genuine and honest.
Perfection, isn’t one thing this film can claim, but sincerity is.
This may be just another retread of a familiar love story, or more appropriately, a cover of a break-up song, rendered with new twists and breaks in its melody, but it is also with such over-familiarity that the film finds its most endearing assets, relaying the same haunting message of love’s emotional disasters and tragedies, that would definitely strike a chord with anyone.
On its quest to finding its own form and tune, this new film surely stumbles and falls, falling flat and sharp on some instances, only to bounce back to its genuine tone, once Sarah and Piolo, and the rest of equally capable ensemble of supports, pull off their roles and keep the beautifully crafted and well-knitted story, going.
Through the course of its run, “The Breakup Playlist” sheds light on joys and sadness of relationships. It keeps the questions “Paano ba ang Magmahal” in seemingly eternal loop, but never provides an exact and clear answer, maybe because in the first place, love isn’t something we do, but something we go through.
On its most searingly heartbreaking moments, the film suggests that maybe all love ever does is to break hearts, burn dreams, and end relationships, but it also gives us the hint that maybe love is here always waiting begin, and unless we tap that play button, we can never learn to move on.
RATING: 9/10. (JE)
