What went wrong with the Lim biopic

This being an election year, we had already braced ourselves for a preponderance of thinly disguised election propaganda in the media, most of all on television and in the movies. When it was announced that a digital film billed Alfredo S. Lim: The Untold Story would be showing, we prepared ourselves for the worst.

Actually, we had absolutely no interest in watching this movie at the outset. What made us give it a go-see was the fact that Cesar Montano was directing and acting as Lim, and it had a brilliant cast of Noni Buencamino, Tirso Cruz III, Alessandra de Rossi, Rez Cortez, Alvin Anson, Marc Abaya, Gloria Romero, Gina Pareño, Alwyn Uytingco, Ara Mina, Carlos Morales, Jackielou Blanco, Richard Quan, Rommel Montano, Jeffrey Tam, Raquel Pareño, Migs Cuaderno, Isabel Granada and Krista Miller in big and small roles. We gave our driver notice, however, not to leave the parking as we expected to be bored after 30 minutes.

…Dado Lomibao directs Must be... Love, his first full-length movie

We finished the movie, and not only that, we liked it a lot. Our only quarrel is the title that actually gives it the propaganda coloring. Alfredo S. Lim: The Untold Story is absolutely bland. We prefer the suggestion of a blogger to call this fourth biopic of Lim The Untold Story of Dirty Harry (as he is known), or to use its international title The Turning Cradle, referring to his being left as a child on the turning cradle of the Hospicio de San Jose orphanage.

Cesar, who started working on the film last November, says, “When you watch the movie, we hope you will see what we saw — an extraordinary individual, a hero in his own right.” We liked in particular the manner in which Cesar wove the various chapters in the life of Lim — childhood at the orphanage, life as a no-nonsense policeman, responsibilities of a married man — in a manner that had funny moments, sad flashbacks, but always drew the picture of a man of the law you could trust. As an action drama, this could well be the best of Cesar. We do hope it performs better at the box-office, and not too many are turned off as we were by the impression it gives of being campaign material. Otherwise, we are certain that as ­ The Turning Cradle, this would be just the kind of film foreign festivals would recognize and love to screen.

Daniel in the den of lions

Unlike Alfredo S. Lim: The Untold Story, the coming-of-age love drama starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla faces a different challenge as it opens March 13 nationwide. Dubbed Must Be... Love, from Star Cinema directed by Dado Lomibao with possibly the most popular teen pairing of the current generation tagged “Kathniel,” the film will test the strength of so-called fan power which is plentiful if one is to go by the shrieks that follow them everywhere they go.

It is to their advantage, however, that both Kathryn and Daniel have their feet on the ground, conditioned through exposure on television’s Princess and I that showed the built-in chemistry of the two until Princess reached the 40 percent stature, second only to the phenomenal Walang Hanggan.

It is no secret that Daniel carries the burden of the team-up. His debut album Daniel Padilla sold more than 10,000 copies in less than a week; his fans in mall shows call him “The King of Mall Shows”; Boy Abunda is said to predict Daniel to reach his peak in five years. At age 17 today (Kathryn is 16), this means Daniel will be a King at 22. Amazing!

But what this also means is that he will be under enormous pressure together with Kathryn in ensuring the success of Must be…Love. Star Cinema seems to be confident in launching the pair in their first film, with no visibly strong support, and also choosing Dado to direct it as his first full-length film.

We ask direk Dado if he doesn’t feel the stress. Of course, he does, he confesses. With Kathryn and Daniel carrying the brunt of the film’s success, the director automatically shares this responsibility. “We all should double our efforts,” he adds. At the same time, we share his enthusiasm that ABS-CBN and Star Cinema have their reasons for throwing them into the lion’s den. This can only mean that they exhibit characteristics that make for success.

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