Every Breath U Take (Every Breath You Take): Movie Review

We have to admit, "Every Breath U Take" had an interesting premise with its focus on true love being destined and being accomplished by "signs coming from the heavens". It's actually different to say the least but it is also one of the many things that completely destroys the movie. With its many side plots and side characters that are haphazardly weaved together, the film feels implausible and impossible. If love is achieving the implausible (by any means whatsoever), this is the perfect movie to represent that. Unfortunately, real life does not work that way and at the end of the day, laughter is the only emotion you can muster while watching "Every Breath U Take".

Majoy (Angelica Panganiban) has just gotten news from her doctor that her "clock is ticking" in terms of her getting pregnant and having children. In short, she must find her true love as soon as possible if she wants to have a family of her own. Unfortunately, Majoy is superstitious when it comes to love. She believes that four signs must be accomplished (namely, she must receive roses, she must hear bells, she must hear angels singing and it must rain) before she can truly say that she has found the man meant for her. When she meets Leopoldo Gatdula (Piolo Pascual) on a botched Valentine's Day date, all signs occur at the same time. Majoy believes she has found her husband but Leo, a playboy and career-driven, thinks otherwise.

The most shocking thing for "Every Breath U Take" is the lack of chemistry between its two lead actors with Piolo Pascual and Angelica Panganiban. The person at fault is the latter in our opinion while the former doing everything she can to salvage the film from ruins. Piolo just didn't feel natural with his role as Leo and it shows with how the movie turns out eventually. There's no real and deep connection on how Leo eventually folds and falls in love with Majoy. It's as if one day he doesn't think of her much but the next he is madly and desperately in love with her. It could also be a factor that the film has various side stories and characters that only hinder the film's effectiveness - there's Majoy's Korean lover who thinks Leo is an a-hole, there's Leo's arch-enemy at the office Mario and Leo's friend Dianne who's crazy enough that she thinks they are getting married and her brothers trying to have a literal shotgun wedding happen. All of these didn't have proper time to develop on their own - most of them appearing from time to time and disappearing for long stretches. It may add to the hilarious sequences but their "interconnected-ness" at the end only makes this film more implausible. We wished more scenes focused on Leo's and Majoy's relationship but obviously they lacked focus on this integral part. When you feel that there was no relationship or love in a romance-comedy film then what the hell happened? This is what we felt with "Every Breath U Take" - romance takes a break and comedy reigns king the whole time.

Rating: 2 reels





Why you should watch it:
- Angelica Panganiban gives life and character to this film and actually makes it watchable
- the premise feels fresh even though the way it was interpreted on the big screen was limiting to the film's success

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the numerous side plots and characters only muddle the film further
- the lack of chemistry between Piolo and Angelica is shocking
- the movie never establishes the love between Leo and Majoy.