Ikay and Uly’s love story is “uniquely mysterious” in many ways, especially to those who may end up confused about how it progresses till the end.
In this film, JP Habac showed how brilliant he can play around with his two lead characters and throw them into a “complex” relationship. Between the two stars, Carlo Aquino who played Eulogio or Uly–never failed to shine through in all his scenes. Eisel Serrano, as Ikay, Uly’s object of affection, on the other hand, was no match to the actor’s performance. Sadly, all her scenes lacked the power to convince me that she was a creative writer in the first place.
There were moments when the tandem had to be in a ‘kilig’ state as they were flirting–I couldn’t feel it from her. She may have attempted many times, but she always fell short of evoking such emotions. I’m not surprised that she didn’t get the nod from the selection committee for her to be included in the nominees’ list for best actress. Serrano is a classic example of a beautiful face but does not paint the necessary emotions required in certain scenes. It was a disservice to Aquino’s mettle as an actor. The production could have gotten another female star to be the leading lady.
Apart from Aquino, perhaps the saving graces in the film–the actors, in particular, were Ana Abad Santos, who played Ikay’s aunt. Wherever the script had her in some scenes–she managed to make such marks. I loved how Santos read aloud the life statement she shared with Ikay. Her scene with Aquino at the hospital even moved me to tears. That’s when I lobbied for her to win the best supporting actress award.
The romance film Love You Long Time tells the love story of Eulogio and Ikay. After six years as a couple–their relationship went stale. Ikay outwardly rejected Eulogio’s marriage proposal.
When they broke up, Ikay decided to go to Baguio. On her way to Baguio, Ikay mysteriously met a new guy Uli through an old push-to-talk phone. Their friendship turned to love, but [of course] not without complications since Uli seems to be from the past.
Despite their varying timelines, they tried to figure out how to hurdle and finally meet in person. A revelation occurred–that what seems to be a brand new love is something they have experienced before but have forgotten. What [really] happened was that on her way to Baguio, Ikay met an almost fatal accident, and everything the moviegoers have witnessed is from Ikay’s unfinished script that Eulogio has been reading to Ikay as she lies in a coma.
Because of that device in telling a story, the film deserves to be the second-best picture for this first-ever Metro Manila Film Festival Summer Edition.
