Review: English Only, Please (2014) ~ My Feeling Heart

Tere: "Hoy babaeng sinungaling! Walang hiya kang malandi kang haliparot ka. Wag kang magpapakita sa kanto namin dahil papagripuhan talaga kita. Ngayon lang ako nagmahal ng ganito. Ngayon lang! Tapos ganito ang gagawin mo sa akin? Hindi mo alam kung paano gumanti ang pusong nasugatan nang ganito. Hindi mo alam!"

Tere (Jennylyn Mercado) is a top-notch Filipina teacher who does tutorial services for Korean and Filipino students alike. Julian (Derek Ramsay) is a Fil-Am guy on the look for a teacher/tutor who would help translate a letter for him. Following a series of interviews, these two gets the chance to work together. And as they did, they got to learn about each other more. Along the way they learned to share experiences of love and heartbreak to one another, seeking advice, becoming friends, until eventually they fell in love. But can this be really the start of a new found love for them both when the very reason Julian hired Tere is to deliver this angst-ridden letter of him (in Filipino) with the slightest hopes of getting back with his ex-girlfriend?

Image via IMDb.

Before anything else, let me just get this out: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Okay. That felt get good. :P watching English Only, Please? Felt even better! And that's saying something for someone quite bitter these past few days, like someone in a post mortem break-up state. Hah. Come to think of it, I never really expected I'd be able to relate to the movie this much, especially that Tere is far different in the game with a user boyfriend (which I did not have) and Julian, just the same, with an ex-girlfriend who left him for... for... I don't know.

But yeah, what got me hooked to English Only, Please more than the heartbreaks and the angst (and no, there aren't many) was Jennylyn Mercado's close to reality portrayal of Tere Madlansacay. Indeed, she was the heart and soul of EOP. No wonder she brought home that elusive MMFF Best Actress Award (finally, after not getting it for Rosario!). Her comedic timing was gold, and she was very good at keeping a serious face no matter how funny the line she's delivering is (which, ironically, makes the scene even funnier). Derek Ramsay was good as Julian too, but still, Jennylyn tops the bill for me. And Cai Cortez! I love that bff Cai Cortez!

Barker: “Baka meron diyang mag-isa lang. Walang boyfriend! Walang asawa!

Walang kamag-anak! Isa na lang, lalarga na!”

Tere: “Oo na! Ako na! Ako na ang mag-isa!”

I also love writer/director Antoinette Jadaone's almost fresh take on this movie. Her writing style of keeping everything simple, relatable and realistically straight to the heart is what has really drawn viewers to the film. Julian and Tere's connection never felt rushed due to all of those meet-ups they had, and I love that they've both been fleshed out character-wise, which in turn made the romance not feel forced. Add to that the honest to goodness humor the film incorporates (which, by the way, does not stem from crazy antics but was evident through clever writing and delivery), what we get is a genuine treasure that is sure to last for a very long time... especially as far as Filipino romcom movies are concerned.

Yet if there are hypes, there sure is gonna be a couple of gripes too. Tere and Julian's connection may not have felt rushed, but how the movie ended with our two leads reconciling at the bus station felt more like it. Like... "that's it?! Bummer!" I think it could have been better had the movie went further in exploring Tere and Julian's journey together, rather than focusing on a problem that could've been solved had the two just talked. Because you know, ending everything in that last "Yes, I love you" frame was more like meh compared to the excellence the movie's first half was able to show.

That aside, English Only, Please is a pretty good movie to invest time into and will definitely be keeping a spot in my most favorite/to rewatch movies of all time.