Everyday I Love You

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it was really interesting. I imagined choosing between the established love team and a new love team. There would be fangirls pulling each others' hair in malls nationwide. Facebook and Twitter would be full of snark and passive-aggressiveness supporting one team or the other. Blood-stained banners of "Team Quen" or "Team Gerald" would have been flapping in the breeze. It would make for some competition, generate some buzz in the film and draw more viewers. The inevitable choice would be made, fans would either approve and/or disapprove, then a few months down the line Star Cinema could release a DVD with an alternate ending. With this scenario, everyone's happy, and that's money in the bank right there.

However, when I actually saw the film, I saw something completely different. This film's central dilemma is as much a choice as "Death or Exile" in The Dark Knight Rises. The 'magic' is in the manipulation by the makers of the film to make us believe we had one. It's not subtle, and further reviews of the film will show that I wasn't the only one who saw the false choice.

The film pretends to be a love triangle between TV Director Ethan, plucky tour guide Audrey and her comatose boyfriend Tristan. Audrey needs to support her boyfriend, so she agrees to work for Ethan's TV show. Sparks fly, of course. You'd think this would be a prime source of conflict, and in a way, it is. But one very pivotal sequence shows that Tristan isn't all he's cracked up to be. In fact, he comes off as kind of a douche. For all intents and purposes, one could make a better love team with Ethan, Audrey and Ethan's gay production assistant than what we are given.

There are a lot of reasons why people stay with their significant others even though their significant other is far from ideal. There's genuine love, shame, guilt, sometimes even a need to see their partner reciprocate their feelings. Tristan is manipulative and wants to mold Audrey in his own image. The film could have explored that since its central theme is to be always true to yourself, but it feels content to merely skirt the idea and wallow in escapism. In an ironic way, the film pushing its central love team on you is no different than Tristan telling Audrey to conform to his expectations, not to eat, dress or act in a certain way.

But if it's escapism you want, it delivers. I have to say, if you ignore the film's flimsy love triangle and concentrate on the love team being pushed on you, it's relatively entertaining. These people have been refining the art of making kilig for at least 15-20 years, so these guys are pros. it also helps that Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano are a decent love team. Soberano in particular delivers a relatively good performance, and I wish she could step out of these star vehicles, get out of her comfort zone and act in something different.

This movie had the potential to be something interesting, but Everyday I Love You seems content in playing it safe. It's like walking down a road with many paths, then have someone put large neon signs on where you're supposed to go. Unlike its spunky scooter girl protagonist with wanderlust and dreams of making it big, the movie ends up being the kind of movie that stays with its safe and secure boyfriend of predictability, safety, and convention, and that's a shame.

Also, it goes without saying that it's supposed to be "Every Day I Love You." With the space*.

* Unless they mean (an) everyday I love you, meant in such contexts as "my video messages to you are an everyday I love you," which is a weird way of saying it, but it works in a hipster kind of way. It's obvious I've been thinking about this too much.