Oh My Girl!

♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Ogie has been cross-dressing a lot lately. Maybe it makes some people laugh, but some are not entertained at all. Michael V does not do it any better either, but at least he gets to dive into a totally different character that you would remember for the unique personality he has invented for the role. Unfortunately, Ogie does not have that consistency. He is just Ogie dressed as a woman, and not a very convincing one at that.

Judy Ann does not do much here, in fact she only has two scenes where she reminds us that she can really act. The rest is just a mix of corny jokes and "pa-cute" moments, which she pulls off without being much of an annoyance to the audience. There also is one head-flipping too many in the first few scenes. We get it, you endorse Pantene. At least the product placement is not that blatant, well not as much as Goldilocks.

There are only a few sequences that stand out. One is that scene on the train where Ogie and a few passengers dance (not the ending). It is just pleasing to the eyes, very much like an MTV because of the good blending of colors of the seats and the clothes the dancers are wearing. Another scene that I particularly like is the one where Judy Ann simultaneously laughs and cries upon hearing Ogie's "looks" monologue. Scenes like that are always wacky, but heartfelt, and I think only a few gifted thespians could do that effectively.

The scenes with them as kids are a bit dragging but I acknowledge that they are necessary to establish the relationship between the two lead characters.

The support cast is just okay, with the exception of Carmi Martin. If she is supposed to be funny here then she fails miserably because from the moment she is introduced onscreen something is already off with her character, and members of the audience are not laughing. Oops, I forgot to say that Jon Avila is also here, whose definition of acting is taking his shirt off. At least he mirrors some reality of the biz nowadays.

Roderick is the gay stereotype again, as he always has been. He still manages to make people laugh. He is good at it anyway, though I wish he would tackle more serious roles because he is such a good actor.

There is a scene in the ending where Mother Lily calls the director and says that she wants a dance number ending on the train. The director reasons out that it has just been done in Slumdog Millionaire last year, and then Mother Lily retorts that Regal has been doing dance numbers as movie endings since the 80's. Well, newsflash: It is already 2010 next year, and Regal's style is still stuck in the 80's. Maybe it is time for a change, like more witty dialogues and less slapstick comedies, perhaps?