TV & Film
Based on its trailer, Dondon Santos’ G! looks enough like a standard coming-of-age film on the brevity of life, one that compels viewers to live theirs to the fullest. Some may argue that although there are already too many movies of the sort, a little formula won’t hurt when done with a twist. But in spite of its obvious attempts to deviate from the typical barkada movie, G! is still very much lacking in plot development and nuanced performances.
The film revolves around the magic four of Sutton Borough High School’s football league: Team Captain Sam (McCoy de Leon) and his best friends Dom (Jameson Blake), Wacks (Mark Oblea) and Bryan (Paulo Angeles), all brimming with charm and potential—that is, until Sam collapses in the middle of a crucial match and is later diagnosed with stage 3 gall bladder cancer. His friends then make it their mission to help him tick items off his bucket list. This leads to a spontaneous road trip with an agenda ranging from skinny dipping in broad daylight to Sam losing his virginity.
Viewers are naturally drawn to root for this earnest cast—Sam for his pragmatic approach to his circumstances and his friends for their fierce loyalty. Yet, it was difficult to feel anything for characters that lacked development. These ambitious teenagers were reduced to mere stereotypical athletes who gush over pretty girls and go on impromptu adventures even in the face of sickness and adversity. Meanwhile, the actors tasked to bring them to life only ever showed two sides of the otherwise complex emotional spectrum: Blank facial expressions or yelling with exaggerated hand gestures—save for De Leon, who managed to pull a few heartstrings in the film’s tender moments.
Those moments are rare when the supposedly picture-perfect group adventure spirals into one of several disastrous consequences—with a whirlwind romance, unique family dynamics, and even a mystery interspersed at breakneck speed. Had the screenwriters followed the classic “show, don’t tell” rule of writing, or attacked these plot twists with a certain degree of complexity, the movie would have actually made for a good tearjerker. Sadly, all the audience got were rushed scenes paired with inconsistent camera work and choppy editing, so that the effect is a mishmash of videos imported from someone’s camera roll.
For a movie that got a kick out of presenting problem after problem, G! hardly exerts effort to resolve any of them and failed to make for a satisfying ending. Viewers are likely to leave the theater in frustration—scratching their heads and wondering why they bothered saying “G!” to watching this well-meaning film in the first place.
Photo sourced from Spring Films Inc. via Cosmopolitan Philippines
