Coming-of-age stories are my favorite genre. So much to my delight, the creators of Bar Boys and I’m Drunk, I Love You uploaded the full movies on YouTube for our enjoyment!
One does not have to agree with the characters’ worldviews and behaviors for a film to be considered good art. A piece of work is considered artistic when it communicates truths that resonate with us. Many Pinoy movies are trashy because the plots are contrived. They feel fake because of the poorly developed story worlds and characterizations. Bar Boys and I’m Drunk, I Love You are good with both. Hence, they capture many realities about post-college life that are relatable to many.
Ever thought of going to law school? Watch this movie to get a glimpse of what life is like for law students! Lawyers who vlog on YouTube have commented that Bar Boys’ portrayal of law school is overall a good depiction, although some aspects of it have been altered for full dramatic effect. For me, the movie was effective at recreating law school’s pressure-cooker environment, from the terrifying recitations to the mountains of cases that students have to read and memorize within a short time span.
Bar Boys has fully fleshed characters too. Thus, it was able to portray a male friendship that feels authentic. Erik, Torran, Chris, and Josh were constantly insulting and one-upping each other. Yet they also did everything possible to support one another. I feel though that the characterizations used tropes that have been overused in fiction (e.g., Erik is a low-income student who struggles through it all to achieve his dream). Having better character development could have helped the movie avoid a few plot holes. On the other hand, the writers probably went down that route to pave the way for a good portrayal of the story world.
Although it barely showed any event that took place after graduation, I’m Drunk, I Love You depicted the fears of two graduating college students about what lies beyond the university. This TBA Studios film also has some of the best character developments that I’ve watched in Filipino movies. Even if the creators used the old trope about a boy-girl friendship in which one party harbors secret romantic feelings for the other, the realistic characterizations drove the plot to a unique and fun direction. Dio, the male lead, is a film student who decides to go to law school because he feels that he can no longer keep up with his successful batchmates in showbiz. His female best friend Carson is a musician-slash-social work major. She has been secretly in love with Dio for seven years, which is the amount of time they’ve spent in college. Is it because they failed their subjects? Nope! They prolonged their stay because they wanted to avoid adult responsibilities --- while fully funded by wealthy Boomer parents. How millennial is that!
So will these two friends end up together? Or will their relationship finally reach its MRR?
A character doesn’t have to be likable for us to root for him. He just needs to have relatable weaknesses and aspirations. When he experiences the consequences of his actions, he becomes a fun character that teaches us a lot about ourselves.
(Photo from Canva)
Comentarios