Film review: American Adobo; Delicious even if slightly overcooked

After the phenomenal success of Tanging Yaman, a film that garnered critical raves and boffo box office figures, a lot of us are wondering what next to expect from director Laurice Guillen. Well, the answer comes to your theaters soon, sent by registered mail from the USA (Johnny Air Cargo, to be exact, if memory of the film serves me right). It’s a precious treat of a film entitled American Adobo, a Star Cinema production.

The film is ostensibly about the experiences of Filipinos living in the United States, specifically in New York. These are all upwardly mobile professionals, eking out a living in Manhattan. One recurring theme that runs through the film is how you can take the Filipino out of the Philippines, but you can never take the Philippines out of the Filipino. No matter where he/she is on the planet, there will always be the essential Filipino left in him/her. One may try to assimilate and blend; but the tribal imperative of the immigrant experience will have him or her seeking solace and comfort among his or her kababayan.

Thematically, this is not uncharted territory. The Joy Luck Club, The Wedding Banquet, Tortilla Soup, Once Upon a Time in America, and several other notable films have examined this experience as seen through various nationalities. In fact, given the long standing totemic power of the American Dream for Filipinos, it’s surprising that only now do we get Batang West Side and American Adobo within months of each other.

Someone half-jokingly asked me if the film was "Tanging Yaman Goes to America," riffing on the character played by Dina Bonnevie, who lived with her family in San Francisco, now moving location to New York and bringing in a circle of friends to complete the cast. The presence of Gloria Romero and Cherry Pie Picache added fuel to this speculation. Well, thankfully it is not.

While the strong pull of the family saga element of Tanging Yaman is evident – albeit given a twist through the extended family of Filipinos sharing the common experience of living abroad – there is an entirely different canvas and palette that director Laurice is working with. To extend the analogy, while there are hues and shades that resonate from our memory of the earlier film, the deft touch and masterful handling of an ensemble cast, there is much that is fresh and enjoyable in this film.

And the wonderful thing is that while it plays practically as an English film, the fact that the American Dream is still shared by Filipinos of various income levels, means the film will strike a chord whether running in the Makati theaters or out in the provinces.

The cast, as you can well imagine, was probably a dream to work with. Christopher de Leon, Ricky Davao, Dina Bonnevie, Paolo Montalban, Cherry Pie Picache and Gloria Romero take on the major roles. Sandy Andolong, Susan Valdez, other Filipinos, and a number of American actors provide strong, able support.

The plot unravels on several fronts as we see the main characters getting together on a regular basis and follow their individual lives. These plotlines bisect, intersect, diverge and what have you as the film progresses, and rather than spoil surprises along the way, I’ll let you experience the sheer joy of storytelling that we’ve come to expect from Laurice.

The characterizations are all fully realized. Dina is perfect as the "consumer victim" Filipina, more concerned with heart strings than purse strings. Cherry is everybody’s best friend and always the dependable one, forced to mask her deep-rooted dissatisfaction with her own personal circumstances.

Christopher is the comfortable (thanks to his wife’s inheritance) activist, reduced to a bystander in his family’s affairs. Ricky is the archetype Mama’s Boy, finding himself abroad and having to hide his true persona from his mother. Paolo essays his role as "The Portrait of the Fil-American as a Young Stud," expertly reminding us how shallow and foolish a role model this is.

The recurring element of letters sent and received is Laurice at her most whimsical. I cannot imagine any Filipino audience not erupting into laughter when she uses this device and when it’s employed to also bring in pathos and sadness or longing. I’m sure Laurice fully knows just how susceptible Filipinos are to this sort of thing.

If I have slight reservations about the film, they mainly have to do with the storyline and screenplay. There is just a tad too many coincidences in the end to tie things up according to the writer’s wishes. When Filipinos get together, too much pontificating and speech-making go on, making the dialogue somewhat artificial. I know how there will always be people with verbal diarrhea; but to have so many of them in one room (including one who claims he isn’t, then proceeds to spout as well) strains credulity and the natural flow of conversation.

We never get to see the characters in the workplace. We hear about their professions, but the interesting element of seeing them interact with Americans as a group in the workplace, and not as individuals to date or mate, is never developed. I don’t fully understand the device of having a letter sent to Gloria Romero’s character by the American friend of Ricky Davao’s character. The hospital scene would have worked as well without this twist. For me, it could compromise the integrity of that character for some viewers, with no real purpose.

It’s in this sense that I refer to the film as slightly overcooked. A little less deus ex machina and some brisker editing could have improved the film. But given the range of characters and the recognition that while they’re all Filipinos, each one has his or her individual "take" on what American means to them is excellent. It’s gratifying to see Laurice clearly drive home the point that while Filipinos may be strangers in a strange land and gravitate to each other, each has his or her own story to tell. At the risk of sounding like some conundrum, while no man is an island, each is his own island as well. And that is what living abroad can feel like.