Reelive the Classics | Don't Give Up on Us (Restored Version)

Of all the actors Judy Ann Santos has worked with as a love team partner, Piolo Pascual is perhaps one of the most memorable. The Piolo-Judy Ann love team lasted four feature films (five if you count  when they were together in Esperanza: The Movie (1999)), with a few other cameos here and there. Their last film together, Joyce Bernal's Don't Give Up On Us, takes the form of a road trip from Manila to Baguio all the way to Sagada. Sound familiar?

Abby (Santos) is a career-minded individual. To say she's a serious person is an understatement; I think I haven't seen a more type A personality in local cinema. When her potential future sister in law Sab (Cheska Garcia) balks on her wedding, Abby vows to track her down, eventually leading her to Vince (Pascual), a happy go lucky musician with a carefree existence, the most type B personality in this movie.

The first half of the movie consists of the road trip, where the compelling factors are: what the heck happened to Sab, and will this unlikely pairing of Vince and Abby work out? Thanks to the wonderful chemistry between Judy Ann and Piolo, the romance more or less works out, as the characters begin to find themselves in the course of trying to find rogue brides. There's a bit of cheese involved, but that's pretty par for the course for Star Cinema rom coms.

And the film tries to tackle several themes as Vince and Abby have their respective catharses. It upholds a certain romantic ideal, with characters paired up with people who they don't exactly love. Those characters, in turn, gravitate towards their "true" loves over the course of the film, eventually leading them to leave caution to the wind and sacrifice everything for the sake of true love. It's an ideal that has since been deconstructed with films like Sana Dati (2013). Nevertheless, it's interesting to see it in its pure form here. The film promotes a certain compromise when taking into account Vince and Abby's personalities - a life that has a purpose, but one that isn't afraid to stop and look around once in a while.

The film's last act, which deals with the end of the road trip and the aftermath, is a bit rougher compared to the first part of the film. To its credit, the story does not dwell on easy happy endings (at least at first) but when the happy ending does come, it comes abruptly, and the effect is rather jarring. In addition, the film's age shines through with some weird aesthetic choices at the end (an album cover with a half naked Piolo Pascual on it is so early 2000's).

The restoration job is good; upscaled and in HD, Charlie Peralta's DP work shines, especially with wide shots of Baguio, Banaue and Sagada in all their glory. For a decade old film it still looks pretty impressive.

Ultimately, despite a few hiccups here and there, Don't Give Up On Us is very entertaining. It was fun seeing Piolo and Judy Ann interact with each other once again on the big screen, and it's a little sad knowing this was their last film together. Could another on screen pairing with them be possible? One can dream.

Don't Give Up On Us is part of ABS CBN's Reelive the Classics festival, showing at Powerplant Cinema 1 from November 8-14. Schedules and additional information are available on the official ABS CBN film restoration Facebook Page.