I was invited to the bloggers’ night / advance screening of Trophy Wife last July 27 at the My Cinema of Greenbelt 3. Together with other bloggers, we watch the advance screening of the movie which will be showing in Philippine cinemas starting this July 30, 2014.
To start my review, please watch this trailer:
Trailer
The trailer itself revealed a great plot and story. I actually questioned why one of the twists of the movie was included in the last part of the trailer. It looked like a spoiler already! However, after watching the movie, I understood that it’s actually part of Viva Films’ ploy to make the movie more interesting to prospective viewers.
Eye Candy
With the eye candy casting of Cristine Reyes, Derek Ramsay, Heart Evangelista and John Estrada, it’s definitely a pleasure to the senses to watch these beautiful faces and bodies. The movie is rated R-13 uncut by the MTRCB.
The great cinematography as well with its “glossy” feel added to pleasure of my viewing experience. I love the colors that seems quite bright for a “dark” film like this. One of my favorite shots was the hangar scene where the mix of indoor lighting hitting the plane and outdoor light blend into a cocktail of visual pleasure of photography.
The sensual scenes of Cristine Reyes and Derek Ramsay were just right not too seedy. Just enough to establish the scene and tease the audience. Definitely not a Sex Trip (ST) film. Christine’s character transformation with her outfits will definitely engage the male audience without being too trashy. Very classy treatment with the scenes of Heart Evangelista’s showing her beauty and sexiness discretely.
Engaging Plot
What sets this movie are plots in the story. The plots progressed connected without too much loopholes in the story. The twists makes the movie more exciting. The script definitely with its drama and bit of mystery will definitely engaged the viewers. Smart lines with a punch abounds in the movie making it memorable. The story of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” of Cristine Reyes character Lani was a sophisticated plot.
I also love some of the funny moments in the movie.
There were two scenes that I didn’t like the execution but they are forgivable. One was Cristine’s and Derek’s scene where a soundtrack was inserted to soon. Another was a later scene where Heart was involved that seems too easy to be true. No spoilers from me.
Another criticism was the unclear establishing of G Tongi’s role as wife of John Estrada’s character earlier in the movie. It was only established clearly later without a doubt. I though earlier that she was the widow of John’s and Derek’s characters father.
Acting
The casts did very well under the direction of Direk Andoy Ranay. Of course, Cristine tops the rest with her execution of the central character of the story. John Estrada’s role of the protective brother, was 2nd for me. Derek’s portrayal of the happy go lucky playboy match the casting and did great on his role. Heart’s role of the new love interest of Derek and the co-plotter in the revenge was quite impressive as well. Great casting and definitely great acting above par with the standard in Filipino movies.
Credits to G Tongi and Jackielou Blanco as well for their roles.
My Rating
I definitely enjoyed watching the movie. The great acting, eye candy casting and great “glossy” cinematography makes it a viewing pleasure. The great plots of the story line and the twist that makes this movie really engaging and watchable. I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars but would have easily been a 3.5 to 4 stars without those two things that I mentioned above.
I was not much into Filipino movies before but watching movies done like this one restores my faith on how much potential the Pinoy commercial movies have.
A memorable movie that I definitely would recommend you to see.
Trophy Wife will be showing from July 30 in Philippine cinemas nationwide.
