STAR CINEMA

Actors: Angelica Panganiban, Coco Martin, Dante Rivero, Gelli de Belen, Matet de Leon, Teresa Loyzaga, Ketchup Eusebio, Cai Cortez

Genre: Romcom

Premise: A diligent man crosses paths with a woman living a double-life in Dubai. They fall in love, but the latter’s refusal to commit to love makes whatever bonds them, impossible to endure.

Watch it on: KTX.PH, iWantTFC, SkyCable, and Cignal IPTV

Why You Should See It:

There is an overwhelming honesty that motivates the proceedings in ‘Love or Money,’ that keeps the film afloat, enough for audiences to stay smitten with the inherent chemistry Coco Martin and Angelica Panganiban create.

Like most Filipino films shot overseas, OFW stories again take center stage in this Mae Cruz-Alviar-helmed film. While it struggles until the end to come up with a well-woven narrative, Love or Money has some beautiful merits to rely on, including the brilliant performances of its leads who remained in their element to make their thinly-written characters work.

In the film, Leon (Coco Martin) is a typical OFW trying to make ends meet in Dubai. He juggles a number of jobs just so he could earn enough money to send back to his family, in the Philippines. He crosses paths with Angel (Angelica Panganiban) one night, in a serendipitous moment that ultimately leads them to fall in love with each other.

With the picturesque Dubai as a majestic backdrop, Love or Money is seemingly groomed with a glamorous cover. Nevertheless, it’s hard to miss the film’s glaring shortcomings, which keep dimming such a silver lining, until the end. Rich stories have often complemented powerful settings in previous OFW-themed features, like Dubai (2005), Milan (2004), Caregiver (2008), and Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019), but this film, deals with the much challenging convoluted plot, as its biggest problem. That is not to say Love or Money has no interesting plot to offer, but the overfamiliarity of audiences to the themes it tackled, is something the film fails to address. The film persistently brings its titular question to the narrative, and while it usually starts the discussion soundly, it rarely provides a satisfying argument. The problem ultimately lies in the film’s apparent refusal to address its issues, as it consistently moves from one point to another, without resolving the last.

That being said, like most Star Cinema films, Love or Money, tries to compensate for where it lacks, with beautiful performances. No one can argue that Martin and Panganiban are playing strong characters here, to exercise their artistic dexterity, but they nonetheless performed, well-beyond what Leon and Angel require, and to their credit, it massively works, as they transform the two characters into something the audiences can easily relate with.

This is not the first time a story like this is shed light upon, and the central question is neither new. The strong and believable performances, however, make  Love or Money, a wonderful and worthwhile experience. And while it generally fails to pull-off its skin-deep discourse on people’s choices in love, and our countrymen’s struggles in the foreign shores, the tangible sincerity and earnestness in bringing this kind of discussions back to the table—that and Martin and Panganiban’s cute chemistry—are somewhat enough to give this ‘pandemic’ feature, a shot.

5 – Excellent

4 – Very Good

3 – Good

2 – Tolerable

1 – Terrible

Love or Money is now worldwide on KTX.ph, iWant TFC, TFC IPTV, and Sky Cable PPV! Watch the official trailer below: