Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? What is wrong with love? that's a good question after having seen this movie. The movie never really becomes interesting for the intelligent audience. It is a story about love yes, but nothing special when you compare it to all the awful cinetron's (local soaps) that haunts the Indonesian television stations. "Ada apa dengan cinta" is just a soap for the cinema, and it does atract mostly teenagers. Well, it is actually about teenage love, and most teens who watch this movie think it is a movie in western style, different from the local Indonesian blockbusters. The actors however are really acting like amateurs, the story never gets really exiting, although the screams of some teenagers during the movie make you think you are watching a drama like "Shakespeare in love". Indonesian teenagers scream at any movie... For me it was very boring, although the picture and sound quality are much better than most Indonesian movies I have seen so far. I am not going to say that you should not see it, you have to judge for yourself, like you have to do with every movie. But if you expect something special from Indonesia that will perform well on the international filmfestivals, you've got it wrong. For that, Indonesian actors will need more training (especially their way of talking is overdramatic), and the Indonesian filmindustry will need more funds. Maybe the succes of movies like "Jelangkung" and "Ada apa dengan cinta?" will bring financial resources to make something more beautyfull?
Review of What's Up with Cinta?
