Four Sisters and a Wedding

♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Four sisters decide to get together and hatch a plan to prevent their youngest sibling CJ (Enchong Dee) from getting married. Eldest sister Teddie (Toni Gonzaga) returns from Spain, taking a break from her life as a maid/waitress despite her family knowing that she is there as a teacher. Second in line is Bobbie (Bea Alonzo) who comes back from New York with her boyfriend TJ (Sam Milby) and his daughter who does not like her. Manila-based Alex (Angel Locsin) is a struggling production assistant doing indie movies. The youngest sister, Gabby (Shaina Magdayao), is dubbed as the old maid and puts her life on hold to take care of their mother. Thinking that their only brother is making a big mistake, the four resort to every form of sabotage, but not without drama because each sister has her own personal dilemma to face.

In terms of acting, there really is nothing to complain about. Toni Gonzaga and Bea Alonzo both benefit from good characterization. With roles that are well-written, they are able to maximize their acting to play their parts well and give a little something extra. Gonzaga as the big sister jealous of her younger sister's success shuttles back and forth from comedy to drama with relative ease, and it is this fluid and quick change between moods that sets her apart from the rest. Alonzo, on the contrary, relies heavily on drama as her forte and leaves most of the comedy scenes to her sisters. These two dominate the movie's climax, which is the family confrontation scene, with strong backup from Coney Reyes as their mother.

Angel Locsin suffers from being relegated to a role that requires less. The attempt to expand her character's clout is evident, as she is pitted several times against Alonzo in several emotionally charged scenes. While she is able to hold her own and prove that she is of the same caliber, her role does not really permit her to go any further, as most of the interesting twists have already been given to the other two.

It is Shaina Magdayao who suffers the most for a role so irrelevant it could have been scrapped and nobody would have cared. Perhaps it is one of he truths of having a large family, one would turn out to be the sibling with the least drama, hence having the least interesting story. But that is real life, and this is a movie. Fail to make a mark and you are quickly forgotten by the audience. In fairness to Magdayao, however, you see her giving her all, but the role just would not allow her to go beyond what is necessary, and what is needed is not much. In the end, the attention given to her character, albeit scarce, could have just been used to make Locsin's character at least on par with that of Gonzaga and Alonzo.

The support cast is okay. Carmi Martin steals every scene that she is in without much effort. Enchong Dee is also good in one confrontation scene. Coney Reyes' presence alone is reason enough for you to root for the mom who wants nothing else but harmony in the household. It is all good, and because the movie gets to tackle both comedy and drama, the product is a good family movie that will make you rethink your relationship with your own kin. This movie should have been screened on Christmas Day!