‘Unexpectedly Yours’ review: Old but still adorable

Cathy Garcia-Molina’s Unexpectedly Yours doesn’t really break new grounds, but who cares? It’s mostly a pleasant ride.

Way past their prime

The film opens with Patty (Sharon Cuneta), whose marriage to her husband (John Estrada) was recently annulled, celebrating her 50th birthday with her high school friends. Her night ends up with her passed out inside the hotel room of a complete stranger, who turns out to be Cocoy (Robin Padilla), Patty’s high school batchmate and biggest admirer. He also happens to be her new next door neighbor. It is hardly unexpected that the two, amidst conflicts that are but perfunctory to the genre, will fall in love.

The film’s most apparent novelty – that it is headlined by characters way past their prime – isn’t really unique.

That it is stubbornly committed to all the expected movements of its overused genre even if its leads aren’t exactly the type who would go swooning over concepts of everlasting love and happily-ever-afters is exactly what makes it adorable in a comical way. The film’s funniest bits happen when Patty and Cocoy engage in courtship rituals that should be beneath their position.

Hardly innovative but still delightful

Garcia-Molina isn’t exactly gunning for innovation.

The grooves of the plot are familiar, making its twists and turns predictable. What is really fascinating is how despite the film’s lack of surprises, it still manages to be consistently delightful, with only very few stretches that feel false and forced. It helps that the film is focused on Patty and Cocoy’s relationship, and only skips to show the blossoming romance of Patty’s daughter (Julia Barretto) and Cocoy’s nephew (Joshua Garcia) for a sliver of youthful flavor.

Unexpectedly Yours owes its many charms to the tested chemistry of Cuneta and Padilla. Cathy-Garcia’s film borrows the conceit of Joyce Bernal’s Pagdating ng Panahon (2001) where Padilla’s rough but suave charisma is pitted against Cuneta’s strict sense of propriety. With the added weight of desperation as a result of growing old and lonely, Cuneta and Padilla’s portrayals of their characters here feel a tad more human in the sense that the faults of their respective characters aren’t entirely imagined all for the sake of thrills and giggles. (READ: Sharon Cuneta, Robin Padilla on reunion movie ‘Unexpectedly Yours’)

The film’s lovely finale is truly affecting, not because it summarizes just another tale of two strangers finally achieving their goal of winning at love but because it proposes that romance, even in its seemingly most shallow form, is oblivious to age and stature in life. (Rappler Talk Entertainment: Robin Padilla, Joshua Garcia)

Fine entertainment

All in all, Unexpectedly Yours is fine entertainment. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.