This film is not devoid of delicate restraint and other heartwarming surprises, albeit it strictly adhered to the formula.
Star Cinema
Actors: Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano, Jeremiah Lisbo, Angelina Cruz, Hyubz Azarcon, Ariel Rivera, John Lapuz, Donna Cariaga, Arabella Davao, Esnyr Ranollo, Mika Pajares, Amanda Zamora, Eula Valdez, Lloyd Samartino, Ryan Bang
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Premise: A free-spirited young lady helps her high school best friend navigate from an accident that took away his mom and the colors in his vision, while also nursing her heart that has long harbored a deep feeling for him.
Running Time: 115 minutes
Director: John Leo D. Garcia
Watch it on: KTX.ph, GigaPlay
Why You Should See It:
It feels as if streaming will never replicate the magic of seeing a film on the big screen. This film, however, has brought back something most of us have not been feeling in a while. Love. Magic. Chemistry. Love is Color Blind comes months after the last Star Cinema film, reviving that fantastic feeling of witnessing romance bloom on the big screen; although it’s worth noting that even though we’re seeing it mostly on our smart TVs and phones, the extra-ordinary feeling of being sent to a frenzy of kilig is all the same.
Love is Color Blind follows high school best friends, Cara Arevalo (Mariano) and Ino Urbano (Pangilinan). From the very beginning, it’s clear that it is the former who is more romantically inclined towards the other than the other way around. Cara, a carefree and free-spirited young lady who has harbored her deep feelings for her best friend for a very long time. She has thrown a thousand teases to send hints that she has fallen in love with him, while he has remained clueless about what she feels. Or has he?
In the film, Ino is a colorblind painter trying to move on from a tragic past, which took away his mom and gave him the rare eye condition, achromatopsia. The condition rendered his vision colorless and he’s been trying to get the colors back, ever since. It’s easy to understand that it is Cara who is destined to help him get them back. There is an electrifying connection between the two, from their meet-cute moment until those heartbreaking confrontations that have most likely dug well of tears in the eyes of the viewers.
Like most female leads in past Star Cinema films, Cara is a flawed character with a beautiful heart, has an attractive personality, and contagious energy. She is that ‘live-in-the-spectacular-now’ girl who knows how to cloak an inner turmoil with a vivid, colorful facade. Mariano, as an able actress that she is, does not all surprised, when she made the character soar and turned it into someone we probably won’t get off our heads until the next romcom of this beauty arrives. There is a breathtaking charm exuded by her personality, and she radiates with it unsurprisingly.
Making his sophomore appearance in a Star Cinema feature, Lisbo flexes his already known potential, but it’s clearer now he is meant for bigger things. The actor whose first starring film comes out in two weeks is no longer a revelation, but here he is a delightful presence that gives a fuzzy warmth. Pangilinan, given Ino’s indifferent demeanors, has less sentimental moments than Cara, but in his [own] moments of breakdown, he shines by pulling off a warmhearted, outstanding performance.
It is interesting to note that Love is Color Blind is merely a return to formula, one that Star Cinema has practically perfected after years of offering the local moviegoers one blockbuster romcom after another. It won’t surprise if that disappoints many, although it is amusing to think that more people are delighted to feel that same magical feeling again, when we watch our favorite loveteams share the same frame, again. Here is a lovely film about best friends who fell in love with each other and went through the same romantic journey that has served as a template for almost every romcom we’ve seen, in the last couple of years. There’s this broken family, third wheels, and supportive friends. It’s nothing we have not seen before.
But what an affectionate movie this is. It’s a deeply affecting film that completely responds to the viewers’ need to indulge again in the spectral cloud nine of ‘kilig’, the same one we lose ourselves to when we became drop-dead-smitten with our favorite onscreen couples before the pandemic suspended our right to be so.
5 – Excellent
4 – Very Good
3 – Good
2 – Tolerable
1 – Terrible
Stream Love is Color Blind now via via iWantTFC, KTX.ph, Smart GigaPlay, Cignal Pay Per View, SKYcable PPV, and TFC. Watch the official full trailer below:
