Para sa Broken Hearted (For the Broken Hearted): Movie Review

As an anthology on love, "Para sa Broken Hearted" felt extremely lacking and under-baked. The cinematography may be beautiful but disappointingly, this film is skin mostly and equating it all, pointless.

Three connected tales of finding love, of being broken hearted, and the courage to move on from one's past regrets and aches and finally love again.

The film could have worked with just one of the three tales of love that it touts are interweaving. Trying to sound smart probably but it was a total flop. The biggest issue for the film is that the first two stories (of Jackie and Kath respectively) felt unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Jackie's (played Shy Carlos) story is the perfect scapegoat for what made this film felt lacking. Her story revolves around a girl who loves so much that the guy eventually breaks up with her. Their are several wonderfully-shot and acted montages on dating, going steady, becoming partners and that's about it. We never really find out how their relationship sours - the guy just suddenly becomes a total jerk. The second story develops and paces better but has the same issues of visuals over narrative. The film fails to make anything feel substantial on its first hour until its final act on the story of Alex (played Sam Concepcion) and Shalee (played Yassi Pressman) so much so that this particular tale could have been developed onto its own film. Unfortunately, all the great acting and chemistry from its cast goes to waste just because it had a very shallow take on love.

Rating: 1 and a half reels






Why you should watch it:
- the third act had some meat and could have worked as a standalone film
- the cinematography was actually outstanding

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the first act and second act felt rushed and actually unnecessary