I Will Always Love You (2006)

Two people learn what real love is all about. They both learn about making a long-term commitment, and giving each other dignity and respect. This story offers hope, positivity, and the ... See full summary »

Director:

Mac Alejandre (as Mac C. Alejandre)

Writers:

Roselle Y. Monteverde (story) (as Roselle Monteverde-Teo), RJ Nuevas (story) (as Robert Joseph Nuevas)

Stars:

Richard Gutierrez, Angel Locsin, Bearwin Meily

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gutierrez	...	Justin
Angel Locsin	...	Cecille
Bearwin Meily	...	Ogie
Tuesday Vargas	...	Frida
James Blanco	...	Andrew
Bianca King	...	Donna
Amy Austria	...	Encar
Jean Garcia	...	Adelle
Lloyd Samartino	...	Edward
Karen delos Reyes	...	Tessa
Ehra Madrigal	...	Mitch
Suzette Ranillo	...	Emma
Miriam Pantig	...	Ms. Rivera
Louis Alejandro	...	Peping
Encar Benedicto	...	Andrew's Mother

Storyline

Two people learn what real love is all about. They both learn about making a long-term commitment, and giving each other dignity and respect. This story offers hope, positivity, and the kind of escapism that renders pleasant dreams and something to reach for. Bring your hankie. It's a tear jerker, but it will make you leap in tears of joy. Philippine Filipino movie.

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Plot Keywords:

title based on song | 

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Taglines:

Now that love has begun, can they make love last forever?

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Genres:

Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

GMA Films Regal Films

Country:

Philippines

Language:

Filipino Tagalog

Release Date:

8 February 2006 (Philippines)

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

GMA Films, Regal Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

I Will Always Love You
Performed by Nina
Warner Music Phils.

User Reviews

Strictly for fans only

Over in Hollywood, they've been complaining of how much remakes have dominated the current movie industry and that it's partly to blame for the dwindling box office receipts. Here in the Philippines, while film remakes have been as common as penguins roaming the streets of Manila, we're basically faced with the same dilemma - almost every local film nowadays uses the same formula over and over and over again regardless of the film outfit.

I mean, name a recent mainstream Filipino film that isn't about the clichéd plot of romance, with no big-name young stars (often the hottest love team of the moment and are also starring in their own TV shows) in the lead, and without a title culled from a line of a love song (most probably a ballad from the '70s and '80s).

A lot of local films further back up the idea that too many actors are on the fringe yet not enough fresh ideas are available for mainstream consumption. Yes, there are digital films but would fans of stars watch movies featuring their idols NOT falling in love with each other? Would they REALLY want to watch a film if it goes out of the formula? The question of whose fault why the local film industry is dying (the producers or the audience?) thus becomes tantamount to asking which came first: the chicken or the egg? "I Will Always Love You" is exactly the kind of movie I'm talking about. It's an almost two-hour cliché and I know I'm gonna sound a big cynic, but it's almost the same as watching a remake.

Justin (Richard Gutierrez) is a spoiled rich boy who meets the love of his life in Cecile (Angel Locsin) - a hardworking smart girl. The problem is she's poor (wow, how new!) and Justin's mother (Jean Garcia), who rivals Cinderella's mother for the most one-dimensional cruel villain just for the sake of being mean, doesn't want her for him. Like, that's so afternoon soap opera, if you ask me.

Anyway, evil mom then sends his son to US to study and so the producers will have a relatively fresh twist to a stale story. But Justin, ever the hopeless lover-boy, secretly brings Cecile along and works small-paying jobs to fund his girlfriend's studies. Yeah, at this point you can figure out the rest of the story yourself.

Not only is it suffering from tired formula, but the ludicrous plot has the whole film drowning itself in a sea of problematic premises. It runs close to two hours although there have been lots of stretches that could've been edited out. Director Mac Alejandre does fair handling some scenes although most of the times, the pacing becomes uneven.

Locsin and Gutierrez have that on-screen chemistry and Garcia is still effective as the mean mother, and all those are given. They can do this movie in their sleep. That doesn't change the fact that "I Will Always Love You" is a stereotype of fairy tale movies that have flooded local cinemas nowadays. Instead of portraying itself as, say, a satire to the genre it walks on, it takes itself seriously and expects us to swallow the bitter pill it forcibly feeds us.

Although I may have sounded as to make it a terrible movie, it is not. Certainly there are worse movies out there. Fans of the leads and desperately hopeless romantics will be willing to overlook the lame and cheesy details that are far less believable than the rhetoric of most politicians and might enjoy this, but it won't set a landmark for those outside the targeted demography.