Paano iibigin ang film na ito?

In all her movies (mostly box-office hits), Regine Velasquez had teamed up with various leading men — from Christopher de Leon to Richard Gomez to Robin Padilla. She, however, seems to be best paired with Piolo Pascual because they have excellent on screen chemistry. We see a lot of that in Paano Kita Iibigin which was graded B by the Cinema Evaluation Board.

Paano Kita Iibigin tells the story of two people who have major issues against the world. Piolo  comes from a rich family and is basically happy with life until his wife (Iya Villania) is killed in an accident he believes he caused himself. Losing the will to live, he throws his life away by refusing to take on responsibilities, getting into trouble and taking part in deadly sports. Regine, on the other hand, is an unwed mother of a sickly boy (Quintin Alianza) and had just been fired from her job at a call center. At a beach resort, the two meet and eventually fall in love after a series of fights and bickering.

Paano Kita Iibigin is jointly produced by Viva Films and Star Cinema. With two giant film outfits behind this project, you know it is a major production — and that shows in the impressive production values.

You are also assured it is a finely-crafted film because it is Joyce Bernal who directs Paano Kita Iibigin. Joyce is  very creative person and as a filmmaker, she is very meticulous when it comes to production details. Again, you see that in this movie and you appreciate how she carefully works at every scene — from the dialogues to camera angling. (Even the music is good).

In the acting department, viewers are also assured of seeing above average performances because, to begin with, Piolo had always been a tried-and-tested actor you can entrust even with the most challenging of acting jobs.

In the case of Regine, I’ve seen her play all sorts of roles in her past films — from a catatonic post office clerk to a con artist. This is her best role so far and it is here where she gives her best performance ever.

With the two leads delivering fine acting jobs, the viewer will already be mesmerized with this film that runs to about an hour and 50 something minutes.

And then you throw in as support the very reliable Eugene Domingo. Playing the resort caretaker, she brings the house down with her wisecracks and over-the-top dialogues. I don’t know what this woman has in her (tons of talent, for sure) because she never fails to make me laugh in all her films and Paano Kita Iibigin is no exception. The best scene in the film, in fact, involves her and Regine in a comedic act that I still relish in my head long after I’ve seen it.

With all the built-in elements that make for an engaging film, there really is no way for Paano Kita Iibigin to fail as a movie (although I’m keeping my fingers crossed the Regine Velasquez-Ogie Alcasid backlash wouldn’t affect its performance at the tills). My only little quarrel with it is its tendency to stick to formula. And so you have comedy (very effective in entertaining the viewers), romance (like I said, Piolo and Regine look good together on screen) and drama, which work except that it went overboard in some parts, particularly toward the end.

Overall, however, it is an entertaining movie with a lot of engrossing moments. Paano Kita Iibigin is not difficult to love as a film.