Vic and Bea: A team-up that has been waiting to happen

MANILA, Philippines - It’s a first that everybody has been waiting for — the first team-up of Vic Sotto and Bea Alonzo which is finally coming true in Star Cinema’s Pak! Pak! My Dr. Kwak!

For Vic, Pak! Pak! is like a homecoming to the company for which he has done some films, among them Hindi Pa Tapos Ang Labada, Darling with his ex-wife Dina Bonnevie, which was such a hit that it was followed by a sequel.

Directed by Tony Reyes, Vic’s favorite director (who is behind all of Vic’s comic box-office smasheroos, some if not all of them Metro Filmfest top-grossers), Pak! Pak! is the perfect welcome distraction in times like this when all that we see on the front pages and in the newscasts are heart-breaking stories of disasters, man-made or natural, and wars in every corner of the world.

“We need to laugh,” Vic has been saying all along.

Known for her romantic-comedy movie starrers and TV dramas, Bea welcomes this rare chance to go comic with the Comedy Master himself as co-star and guide.

“I’m honored,” said Bea.

Pak! Pak! My Dr. Kwak! also stars Zaijian Jaranilla, the sensational star of the top-rater soap May Bukas Pa and Noah.

...which also stars (from left) Pokwang, Wally Bayola and Jose Manalo

In the story, Zaijian plays mischievous angel Angelito who is sent to earth from heaven with a special mission: To convince Vic as Angelo, a “fake” healer, to change his crooked ways. The problem is that Angelito hates human beings because he feels that they are not “innately good.”

Bea as Cielo, an intern doctor, hates Angelo because the family-owned pharmacy has gone bankrupt since Angelo started his “faith” healing business.

With his miraculous powers, Angelito unwittingly helps Angelo in his “faith” healing business, prompting Cielo to exert more effort in unveiling Angelo’s fakery.

The twist is that in the process, Cielo discovers the good side of Angelo and soon falls for him, much to Angelito’s joy. As to be expected, love turns the “fake” healer into a good person.

The plot is right along Vic’s alley.

Noted for being a ladies’ man, can Vic falls for his leading lady the way his Angelo character does in the story — and vice-versa?

Vic is fancy-free after his break-up with Pia Guanio but the little problem is that Bea is going steady with Zanjoe Marudo.

But then, life can imitate art, right?

Also featuring Pokwang, Wally Bayola and Jose Manalo.

Pak! Pak! My Dr. Kwak! opens on April 23 in more than 100 theaters nationwide.