The customary onslaught of promotional materials reassuring a tear-jerker movie continues to thrive in Philippine movie industry. Even if the line-up of cast is imposing enough to grab one’s curiosity, this overdramatic strategy keeps on resurfacing inordinately just to pull off the box office bottomline. No wonder this pitch has been deeply inveterate in Filipino psyches that often spawns disjointed expectation to drama films with excessive crying and bawling.
“Meet, Greet, & Bye” is the latest film joining the endless list of “weepie films”. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana, it features Maricel Soriano, Piolo Pascual, Belle Mariano, Joshua Garcia, Juan Karlos, Kaila Estrada, and Matet de Leon. Interestingly, it was Netflix that provided international access to watch this film in February.
The line-up of actors in this film have etched their respective names in the world of teleseryes. Soriano, dubbed as “Diamond Star”, is an award winning actress whose acting achievements in film and television spans six decades. Pascual, Mariano, Garcia, Estrada, and de Leon are products of long-running drama series. Garcia-Sampana holds the distinction of directing box-office hits like “Hello Love Again” and “Hello, Love, Goodbye”.
“Meet, Greet & Bye” chronicles the Facundo family highlighting the cancer-stricken mother, Baby, played by Soriano. The story revolves around the reciprocity of emotions among four children – Tupe (Pascual), Brad (Garcia), Leo (Karlos), and Geri (Mariano) in reaction to their mother’s medical condition. Each grapple with the tragic truth; thus, all they could collectively achieve is fulfill their mother’s last wish of meeting her Korean idol.
Though the story was straightforward, the film opted a muddled treatment choking with loads of repressed conflict among the siblings. Each scene squeezed constant ripostes alternating with either a cold treatment, sarcasm, or derision. It is unsettling to speculate about Mariano and Garcia with a bath towel hanging on their shoulders whenever a family confrontation arises. Soriano and de Leon stood out among the rest, while Mariano, Pascual, and Garcia lacked consistency, subtlety, and depth, disconcertingly stuck with their hard-stoned faces that could not easily transition in between light moments.
Not surprisingly, there was a previous film shown in 2017 with the same premise: “Seven Sundays” with Ronaldo Valdez, Dingdong Dantes, Aga Muhlach, Cristine Reyes, and Enrique Gil, directed by the same director, Cathy Garcia-Sampana. Just like “Meet, Greet, & Bye,” there were four siblings: one woman and three men. The father, Valdez, also has cancer, and siblings confronted the same pattern of unresolved issues.
Both films highlighted the grievances between siblings that wrestled a lot of subservience and sacrifice until bitterness and vilification explodes.
Comparatively, Dingdong is Piolo who went abroad and apparently became ‘rich’; Aga is Joshua who stayed with the parent but struggled; Cristine is Belle who was emotionally unstable; and Enrique is Juan with unfixed direction in life. With similar storyline and characters, the viewer was bound to discern who performed better.
A terminally ill parent was infused in both films that became symptomatic of a lackadaisical approach on the motif of dying. The roles of these equally dramatic actors only served as feeble backdrop to the dying parent. All four children, no matter how ‘concerned’ they wanted to be, appeared to be disconnected to their parent’s inner struggles. The griping was more about each sibling being absorbed with self-interest and self-pity.
“Meet, Greet, & Bye” was a film of debacle in acting. Pascual’s performance was insipid. Garcia’s portrayal was antithetical. Mariano elicited monotonous emotions. Karlos projected an erratic dimwitted persona.
Indeed, it was a setback that this systemic pattern of recycling a storyline did not provide gratification for movie audiences who fairly expected fresh story ideas from among thousands of rife anecdotes constantly happening in Philippine environs. A recycled script did not impart credibility to all the hard work they claimed to provide.
There are numerous films that weave the sickness theme thoughtfully throughout the film. With “Terms of Endearment”, the movie focused more on family support with a touch of humour and fun. It did not exploit melodramatization, bawling, and lambasting between family members. There was a natural contrast between happiness and sadness. living and dying, and loving and leaving. With its raw treatment, “Terms of Endearment” won five major Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actress, and Best Lead Actor.
Viewers may have wept and satiated their expectation after watching “Meet, Greet, & Bye”, but it became another hackneyed movie that piggybacked on another weepie film. What difference would it make if the same storyline undertook the same stale direction? Despite the film’s intention to impart an important lesson about family relationships, the treatment overshadowed the same purpose of strengthening the family’s resolve in a graceful and classic manner.
With the temerity of filmmakers who continue to enrich themselves via this route, it necessitates an incessant appeal from viewers that these recycled materials ought to rest. Viewers deserve better. There should be no more consideration whatsoever for further resuscitation of storylines.
For filmmakers, the world of creativity is infinite that rehashing the same story is almost unreal. Bringing fresh ideas in cinema should be the norm, not an alternative. Perchance, this might shift the attention and motivate those who went adrift to go back to cinema and watch movies outside the comforts of their home. ####
