In his previous films Pila-Balde (Fetch a Pail of Water) and Tuhog, Jeffrey Jeturian demonstrated that he has the creative ability to stretch the conventions of a commercial genre and use it for social critique. In his latest film, he takes the sex comedy genre and takes it beyond simple exploitation to produce a meaningful commentary on relationships that resonate far beyond the Philippines.
The luminous Dina Bonnevie leads a superb cast of three women - advertising executives with successful careers but less than satisfying personal lives. Indeed, their search for Mr. Right, always seems to end up all wrong. Bonnevie’s hedonistic history is told comically through brief flashbacks but now that her biological clock is ticking, she settles for Christian Vasquez: a much younger car salesman in the midst of a divorce who uses her to pay for his annulment then dumps her after he gets it.
Pretty Francine Prieto is the liberated one of the trio. She finds herself pregnant but is unsure which of her two boyfriends is the father. She needs to choose between the impoverished artist whom she loves, and the rich man who can provide security but not love.
It is at Prieto’s bridal shower of the film’s title that the overweight (but still good looking) Picache meets macho dancer Alfred Vargas who has been engaged for the occasion. Although Picache has wounded self-esteem she has not yet lost hope (and still searches for the right guy in cyberspace). She wants to hold out for a better man, but perhaps this is the best she can get. These are perhaps the most emotionally touching scenes in the film because each character is surprised by the other.
Jeturian here confirms his mastery of comic cadence, lending a sophisticated touch to a deceptively light comedy of manners that continues his discourse and questioning of the nature of love. And in a typically Filipino way, the event ends with music and the dance of life as an affirmation of love.
Roger Garcia