My Amnesia Girl (2010) Review

My Amnesia Girl, the romantic comedy from Star Cinema starring John Lloyd Cruz and Toni Gonzaga is the It Movie of late 2010. It is the kind of film expected to bring in box office revenue and even non-Jejemons to the cinema because of its wide appeal to the general public of any demographic. Even I, who haven't watched a local film in ages wanted to watch it on the big screen when it first came out. But I didn't get the chance to do so, hence, the YouTube segmented viewing I did just before writing this review.

In this self-proclaimed movie critic's opinion, My Amnesia Girl is a romantic drama with a barrage of comic pick-up lines and a dash of cheesiness, a stark contradictory to its trailer, poster and over-all packaging of being a full pledged comedy with half a plot and no depth whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised to find more tears rolling than laughter. (I'm not sure if that's what the writer and director is aiming for but it's a good thing in my book.)

Both lead actors delivered convincingly throughout the film, although I think Toni Gonzaga perfectly nailed it in some parts. There is this 10-minutes scene with John Lloyd where her acting prowess just shines through effortlessly. Honestly it's refreshing to watch a local 'comedy' and see some serious acting going on, unlike the usual fluff and wackiness that normally transpires during films of the same genre.

Before its release, there was this controversy that the movie is a copycat of previously released motion pictures like 50 First Dates and the likes, but anybody who have seen, at least, the first 30 minutes of the movie will know that those are just premature comments from the misleading trailer. And poster. And official theme song.

Although it was promoted to the consumer audience as mindless fluff with funny/cheesy pick-up lines from a song originally sung by two Love Radio DJs, I'm happy to find out that it has an unbelievably moving backstory and more heart than it cared to initially show through teasers. In short, it is so much more than what it appeared to be at first glance.

And just like what Apollo had said in the movie, "Naniniwala ka ba sa love at first sight? Eh at second sight? Pwede!"