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I Wanna Be Happy (2006)

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Starring: Cherry Pie Picache, Eddie Garcia, Gloria Romero
Directed by: Jose Javier Reyes
Genre: Comedy
Language: Filipino
Special Feature: English Subtitle
Rating: Unrated

Review Rating:

Synopsis
The last straw that makes Mameng (Gloria Romero) decide to leave her husband Ely (Eddie Garcia) of almost 50 years two years short of their golden wedding anniversary is a disagreement over some domestic matter. Tired of their constant bickering, she goes to stay with a widow friend Melly (Marissa Delgado) This upsets the couples' children: widower Jun (Joey Marquez) a dentist; Rory (Cherry Pie Pichache) married to George (Christian Vasquez) who appears to be involved with another woman; and Tisha (Diana Zubiri) who is living-in with a photographer Ken (Alfred Vargas). As the three try to help their parents to return to each other, Rory and Tish have their own problems with George and Ken to contend with.

I Wanna Be Happy is well put together as a story, combining comic and dramatic elements involving an ensemble cast. The acting is more than adequate, having expert veterans like Eddie Garcia and Gloria Romero, the talented Cherrie Pie Picache, and emerging talents like Diana Zubiri and Alfred Vargas. The script and the directing are the product of Jose Javier Reyes a popular writer and director. The story touches on true-to-life-marriages that become dysfunctional.

The movie presents dysfunctional characters in difficult situations and how they react to them. Mameng, after so long with Ely, finally gives up on him and experiences a certain freedom which she never had: re-creating herself with a new look and enjoying going out malling, the use of a cell phone, etc. When her husband finds out her new lifestyle, he develops one of his own: a regular night-life in bars and discos from where he brings home Cristy (Keanna Reeves) to stay with him. Rory has known all along that husband George is being unfaithful. When she hears about it, or sees it with her own eyes, she turns or walks away, refusing to admit it: she is in denial. The last straw comes in a grocery store, where she creates a terrible scene, confronting him and the woman. She then goes home to her father's house. She reveals to her charismatic prayer group about being happy after being able to do what she did. (Once, she questioned her young son having a condom on him. She objected to it, but George did not agree with her. The mother and father left it at that, without returning to the boy). The estrangement of her parents also affects Tish. In what way does Ken's acceptance to work in Singapore concern her? He does not say. Thus, she is not sure about his feelings for her, even when he asks her to marry him. Although I Wanna Be Happy has a positive ending, it still leaves many questions unanswered about family relations and sex outside marriage. The movie has comic moments that are really funny. It also has serious situations and issues that need to be reflected on, like the true image of a husband, a father (grandfather included) what to "truly love someone" means, to "love someone inspite of" and "to forgive".

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