Everything About Her Review

At first, Everything About Her seemed to be a pathetic attempt of Star Cinema to make a local version of The Devil Wear’s Prada. The familiar premise and the fact that it had Xian Lim were already screaming red flags and yet, a Vilma Santos movie with Angel Locsin in it seemed too irresistible to pass and so I gave this one a go.

The plot is pretty straightforward and was quick in establishing Vivian Rabaya (Vilma Santos) as this cold-hearted business mogul who was made to realize that she’s just as human as everyone else when she was diagnosed with cancer. Jaica Domingo (Angel Locsin) was then hastily brought into the story as Vivian’s passionate yet candid private nurse to attend to her needs. Little did Jaica know that she will be involved not just with her patient’s health, but also with Vivian’s fragile relationship with her son Albert (Xian Lim).

Everything About Her Trailer

In spite of the predictability brought by Star Cinema’s overused formula for comedy-drama films, Everything About Her still manages to hit the right spot in making you teary-eyed. The Vilmanians who surrounded me in the cinema were all sniffing and wiping off tears, and it took me some effort to keep myself from joining in on the chorus of sobs. To be fair, the film was a real tear-jerker, and Joyce Bernal was able to make the central characters say the right things at the right moments to make your eyes well-up.

Relatability is definitely there, and this has been the primary element that made it easier for the film to reach out to the audience. After all, nothing is more relatable than filial and romantic love.  These two were carefully balanced among the characters in a such a way that one does not upstage the other, and in spite of the peculiarity of the situation that they are in, you won’t find it hard to relate yourself with Vivian, or Jaica, or even with Albert.

Speaking of Albert, Xian Lim’s character was the central source of drama in the movie. The scenes of Vivian and Jaica were mostly comedic and amusing, but it was the introduction of Albert that brought more heart to the plot.  Albert’s character is what drives the conflict  - with Vivian struggling to re-establish ties with her son, and how Jaica’s job seemed to get more complicated with her feelings for Albert.

Xian was definitely revelatory in this film, and my initial doubts of having him as the leading man faded with my impression that he’s only good for rom-coms. Surprisingly, he had great chemistry with Vilma Santos an Angel Locsin, and he was able to add more dimension to his otherwise uptight character by being emotional when needed. This and the fact that he had similarities with the features of Vilma Santos made it hard for me to think of anybody else more perfect for the role.

Vilma Santos still has her charm and her performance was nothing short of remarkable. She was able to fuse the two sides of Vivian seamlessly together – one was this terror business magnate who’d go out of her way and ride a chopper to Tagaytay just so she could fire someone personally, and the other was this loving mother who longs for the forgiveness and embrace of her son. The role allowed her to once again showcase her versatility as an actress, and the heart and dedication that she gives out to every scene transcends effortlessly to the audience.

Angel’s role was what brought comic relief and lightness to the story. She no doubt demonstrated her flexibility as an actress in the film however, there were several unnecessary comical moments from her character. Jaica’s pleasing personality would have been enough to keep the film from falling under the heavy drama category, and yet they stepped it up several notches higher by making her too kalog it’s sometimes cartoonish.

Much more than anything else, it was the chemistry of the three characters and the actors who portrayed them that brought life to this movie. Joyce Bernal effectively utilized this chemistry, and brought what was needed from the central cast, especially with Xian Lim’s case who showed much more potential and maturity as an actor in this film.

It’s nice to know that Star Cinema brings out gems like these every once in a while.