‘The Reunion’ and its attempt to come of age
"The Reunion" is a coming-of-age movie. Think "Breakfast Club" minus the subtleties, plus flashbacks introduced by Eraserheads hits. Think "Across the Universe" minus the musical aspect. Think adventure genre minus the tangible point but not without purpose.
The formula is simple. It's been seven years since six friends graduated from high school, and much to their frustration, things are not what they thought they would be. The first quarter of the movie is flashbacks galore until the friends' high school reunion when one of them realizes what it was that started their "malas." Then they put their heads together to figure out where to start.
It should be mentioned (it's a spoiler, but not really) that between that epiphany is an Earth Mother archetype played by Gina Pareño who explained the philosophy of determinism to these poor kids.
So they set out to begin the journey of their lives together, to find the solution to the problem they can't ask, and to finally try to turn things around only to realize what it is that's really missing.
The '90s and the Eraserheads
The first third of the movie was not totally excruciating save for transitions made in the flashback scenes. Hopefully, it's director Frasco Mortiz's deliberate homage to teen-oriented shows of the '90s. It's hard to tell, though.
The Eraserheads was big in the '90s. And if that Honda City 2003 model Enchong Dee's character drove in the flashback were brand-new when they were in fourth year high school, that means that at most, the "barkada" members were seven years old when the "Circus" album came out.
Thus, the '90s editing device, plus the music of the most influential band of recent time in the country could've worked better if Mortiz paid a more concrete homage to that era by way of production and costume design. Or he could've just dropped the references entirely.
Perhaps the unsettling part of the Eraserheads references would be that they were too literal. The name of their Earth Mother figure is Aleng Nena. Xian Lim's love interest is Toyang (Megan Young), Kean Cipriano's is Shirley (Bangs Garcia), and Enrique Gil's is Ligaya (Julia Montes).
"Overdrive" was playing when they started driving to Laguna, etc.
Streotypes
Perhaps the barkada theme seemed the perfect means to automatically ignite chemistry among Enchong, Xian, Enrique, Kean, Jessy Mendiola and Matt Evans. It was. They were funny, kooky and most of the time barkada-like, except during awkward I'm-waiting-to-say-my-line pauses in-between shots that one can't help but notice.
Characters were half-formed stereotypes. One of them likes girls, another wants to be a rock star, one likes speed, while another likes to (figuratively) stay in one place and wear preppy clothes.
The magic of "The Reunion" is comedy—it's self-deprecating and random (well, mostly). And while everyone's talking about the chase sequence in "Bourne Legacy," Mortiz makes his own, in an honestly enjoyable '90s-beach-ball-movie-meets-Scooby-Doo fashion.
Watch "The Reunion" because there just might be something in it you'd find magical.
