Flicks and reruns: Unofficially Yours

While waiting for my volkswagen bug to be repaired at the neighborhood talyer, I went to a newly-opened   burger joint  (Backyard Burger) which was just a few blocks away then hied off to the neighborhood mall (SM Davao) to escape the searing saturday noontime weather.  So I bought a movie ticket so where I can eat my ordered burgers. Out of the six movies I picked Cathy Garcia Molina's Unofficially Yours

The plot revolves around Mackie played by John Lloyd Cruz, a dentist who engages in a one-night stand with hot sexy chick played by Angel Locsin. Just as the dawn breaks in, the girl is gone and Mackie goes on with his life. He then tries to start a fling with his first passion which is writing and applies gets accepted at Manila Bulletin where he is assigned to the lifestyle section and there he gets to meet again his beach fling.

The movie tells the story of two people brought together by an unconventional relationship that of being f*ck buddies, f*cking friends or FWB (friends with benefits) and the problem commences when one of the partners falls in love despite the other's unflinching stand that the partnership is just all sexual and nothing more.

Since this is a story about essentially two f*ck buddies, this is perhaps Cathy Garcia Molina known for syrupy rom-coms most risque film to date. And fortunately or unfortunately (for hot-blooded males) this is not any film company where you could have numerous scenes of graphic sex. This is produced by the generally wholesome Star Cinema and this film is intended for the biggest chain of wholesome cinema houses in the country SM. There were passionate love scenes alright but none as to merit a censors x rating classification.

Basically the plot revolves around a person's innate need for commitment which no amount of carnal pleasure can satisfy. Unofficially Yours take you right smack into that roller-coaster ride of an unconventional steamy relationship leading past to the expected but poignant finale.

The movie like Star Cinema movies are technically competent, well-acted. But more than that film actually exudes an indie charm into it evident during the first half of the film before the film descends into a flurry of pathos. Angel and JLC along with the rest of the cast played a little more relaxed and at ease in some scenes you'll feel that they were not acting at all particularly JLC's friends played by Panying, Boom Labrusca and Edgar Allan Guzman who starred in an well-reviewed indie film about unofficial relationships Ligo Na U Lapit na Me.

On a sidelight some budding journalists or students can get a few pointers about the workings of the newspaper industry as about 70% of the film is shot in the workplaces of Manila Bulletin. In the story I can relate to Mackie's effort to get his story published in the highly competitive world of  a national daily. As a government newswriter I attended a workshop on how our stories can get publish in national dailies. And was ecstatic when one of my stories landed in the regional pages of Manila Bulletin.