Dreamboy by Gilbert Perez

Dreamboy dares to take a risk and be

The network war has spilled over to the big screen with ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema and Channel 7’s GMA Films each fielding a pre-Valentine’s Day presentation that both opened in Metro Manila theaters yesterday.

Star Cinema’s pre-Valentine offering is Dreamboy, a Gilbert Perez film that has for a leading lady, Bea Alonzo. Bea plays a Price Smart sales clerk under the care of her doting grandmother (Nova Villa). Bea’s life is pretty normal until she catches the fancy of Philip Ong (Piolo Pascual), the son of the owner of Price Smart. On their first meeting, Philip immediately takes her out to lunch and pulls out all the stops – the most impeccable of table settings, the finest foods, the works. But somehow you notice that for all his money, Philip wears an ill-fitting coat.

Next he picks her up in a stretch limo and they spend an entire day in the lap of luxury in Subic – which they close to the public for their private use. Again, you notice that with all his wealth, Philip is unable to buy correct and proper diction. And then, the viewer starts wondering: Is this really Piolo Pascual I am watching on the screen? He is bad and looks so uncomfortable.
You then begin weighing things. You can’t blame the guy, given the mushy dialogues and the horrible scenes he has to play. But surely, if he is a good actor, he should be able to rise above such preposterous material. Too bad, he doesn’t and sinks miserably along with the atrocious script. At this point, you want to write the various local award-giving bodies to start taking back his grand-slam win in 2002 for Dekada ’70.
The viewer also begins to wonder what has become of Star Cinema. Lousy screenplay, inconsistent actor – why, even the production design is bad. In one scene where the rich boy Philip goes home, his bedroom – from the floor (fake wood parquet!) to the fixtures – is unimpressive.

So far, the only saving grace is Bea Alonzo, a young actress I began to admire for her acting talent in Now that I Have You. In Dreamboy, only she and Nova Villa give decent performances in that part of the movie.
Bea is particularly effective in the party sequence where Philip’s wealthy aunt (Lui Manansala) in the traditional Pinoy soap opera looks at her from head to toe and questions her intentions for going out with the rich boy. Hurt, she expectedly banishes Philip from her life.

Enter a new character named Eboy who looks exactly like Philip. They even have the same mole on the temple, except that the mole is covered by a piece of plaster. It is easy to justify that plaster strip because Eboy is the rugged and athletic type who must be getting into a lot of little accidents as he engages in various physical activities (cycling, running, rock climbing, etc.)

To the viewer’s relief, Piolo as Eboy looks more at ease now. At last, Piolo, the good actor we’ve always known him to be, is back. Bea Alonzo is still consistent with her performance. Someday, I’m sure she’ll also start reaping acting trophies in the various awards derbies.Even the movie is starting to shape up at this point and the viewer is starting to enjoy it.

Confusion, however, sets in again when a third Piolo look-alike appears – along with the mole on the temple (or is it just near the temple?). The character’s name this time is Jaime, a restaurant employee.
The viewer now gets annoyed. Even Bea Alonzo is annoyed. Then – wham! – the big revelation. We finally see what the movie is all about and why Piolo Pascual plays three characters. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the film’s big secret because that will spoil the viewing pleasure of the others who have yet to see Dreamboy. But it ties everything together – cleverly. Everything begins to make sense.

All of a sudden, you understand why Piolo is acting badly (it’s intentional and on purpose) and oh so hopelessly stiff in his role as the rich Philip Ong (I’m glad he didn’t lose his acting talent, after all – he really is such an acting genius) and why such atrocious scenes had to be staged in the early part of Dreamboy. Even the erroneous production design I pointed out earlier is explained. I take back what I said. The production design is brilliant and Piolo Pascual is great – he’s really deserving of his grand slam win.

Director Gilbert Perez rises up to the challenge of the very difficult material. Whew! It’s not such a bad film after all. In fact, I appreciate all the hard work that went into the film, especially the creativity.
Actually, I am not sure how this big surprise will be received by most other viewers. Some may say wow, what a surprise! – and start applauding. Others though may feel like they’ve been had.
In my case, I salute the people behind it for the very novel concept. At least it veers away from the usual style of local filmmaking and dares to take a risk and be different. Of course, it has loopholes in some parts, but you just convince yourself to overlook this lapses because the structure is really quite complex.

Although it takes a while to recover from those irritating early moments, at least it will keep the audience’s blood pressure from rising when they see the big surprise near the end. And all throughout, it holds on to the viewer’s interest – yes, even in the annoying parts because it still draws emotions from the audience. In the end you will marvel at the films’ very novel and wonderful concept (Dreamboy is graded B by the Cinema Evaluation Board).

Dreamboy’s most entertaining moment, however, is the closing credits – so don’t leave the theater yet (the last cameo appearance will bring the house down, I swear). An important word of advice: See this film from the beginning or you’ll never appreciate it.