Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes – Movie – Review

Not LGBT, it’s LGBTQQIP2SAA

‘Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes’ – Synopsis

Judy Ann Santos and Angelica Panganiban play as devoted wives who got cheated on by their husbands who turn out to be gay. With their combined forces, they will make sure their exes don’t get what they took away from them: a happy ending. JC de Vera and Joross Gamboa play as their husbands with Gladys Reyes and Carmi Martin as the crazy women surrounding them.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Alternative titles: The Two Mrs Reyes
Year: 2018
Languages: Filipino
Country: Philippines
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Writer: Jun Lana, Elmer L. Gatchalian
Director: Jun Robles Lana
Cast: Judy Ann Santos, Angelica Panganiban, JC de Vera, Nico Antonio, Joross Gamboa

‘Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes’ – Review

So, I am a little late reviewing ‘Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes’ but I couldn’t just let it pass. To begin with, I am still a novice to the Filipino movie or drama industry but I am so excited by this movie! I have seen the trailer and the movie seemed quirky and funny and after watching the movie it was SO MUCH MORE! Seriously, I can’t even begin to express in words how great this movie was!

The Story

The story is about two women, two men and 3 couples! How? Because the men leave the women to get married together~

Basically, the story revolves around the two women, Lianne Reyes (Judy Ann Santos) and Cindy Reyes (Angelica Panganiban), who have been abandoned by their respective husbands, Felix Reyes (JC de Vera) and Gary Reyes (Joross Gamboa), to get married to each other in Taiwan. When the wives find out, their hunt down each other and concoct a plan to stalk their husbands and stop them from getting married so that they also are unhappy.

The premise of the story does seem overdone and commonplace but the director Jun Robles Lana are genius-ly put the entire story together to come out as fresh, exciting, hilarious and humane at the same time. The movie surely tugs at your heart and also gets you rolling on the floor.

Pros

This is not your typical wronged-wife revenge plot or a typical LGBTQ stereotype. This movie has a lot of levels of depth. All the characters are shown as humans who can make mistakes. Also, the characters are shown reflecting on their actions when they realize that they were not just ‘right’.

This movie, according to me, is not even a pro-queer movie. It is just a movie which shows the vulnerability of a human being and how queer or straight to whatever one identifies with, first of all, you are a human being capable of making mistakes.

Another remarkable part of the movie is that the wives who have been left by their gay husbands are not against them being gay but are just trying to work through and understand what is happening to them with their husbands. The wives just needed some time to understand and accept the realities of their husbands instead of being dumped out of the blue and finding out the next second that without even finalizing a divorce, their husbands are already off to get married. The movie delves deep into the vulnerability of a human being on several levels. Even the gay husbands are not let-off the hook scotch-free but made to reflect on their actions.

The third most important point of the movie is the deployment of humour. It is a strong yet subtle humour which is at times dark and sarcastic but will keep you laughing throughout the movie. Some of the most serious scenes in the movie are flawlessly fitted with a comic ending. Yet, this movie does not have a derogatory punchline which I really appreciated and approved. At times, I feel that through jokes and comedy skits, some serious issues get overlooked to made to look pointless which subconsciously sits in the minds of people and affects their thinking. This is why I feel that jokes targeted at particular stereotypes or malpractices or racial groups or other such humour should not be supported. Jun Lana brings to screen a non-slapstick comedy which reaches far deeper levels than you think is possible in a comedy movie.

Finally, there is the acting which is world class! Every single actor in this movie has played his/her role to perfection! They have thoroughly imbibed their character and brought them to life on the big screen. Now, this is the first time I have seen any of these actors (‘cuz I am a newbie to Filipino movies) but if the Philippines has such amazing actors then I really need to get a lot of Filipino action! My favourite was Judy Ann Santos. She absolutely stunned me with her raw and enigmatic acting skills and witty comebacks delivered in perfect sync.

The music score, scriptwriting and direction were incredible as well. The music was well-timed to fit the feel of the scenes and even though I don’t understand Filipino, the dialogue delivery of the actors was excellent and the English subtitles I read defined impressed me so it must mean that the dialogues were worthy in the first place!

An added bonus to this movie is that it also deals with issues like cyber-bullying, infidelity and human relationships in a very relatable and inspirational manner. Rather than exploiting human weakness, the movie uses it to bring out the humanity of a person. Also, I loved the costumes. I loved each and every outfit worn in the movie and I wanted to own it all.

Cons

Some of the dialogues in the movie do come off as cringe-worthy and extremely read-off-an-inspirational-book type but it does not kill the mojo of the movie. In fact, I think that cringey-ness adds to the humour in some parts.

The second con I would say is the length of the movie. The movie seemed a tad bit too long for me and somewhere in the middle I really wanted the movie to rush a little bit. But it is not unbearably so.

Third con would be that despite trying its best, the movie did end up reflecting some number of stereotypes in the movie, because quite frankly it is very difficult to completely be free of them. Also, I felt that they focused on too many issues and while they got their main plot right, but in the process of sticking to their guns, they couldn’t really elaborate much on the side issues, which I felt was a shame. But, you can’t be perfect! Right?

Verdict

If you seriously need to ask then you have obviously not read my review!

But I will still state my verdict to be that this movie is a must MUST watch! You cannot go wrong with it! At least go watch it to find out what the term (LGBTQQIP2SAA) in the tagline means ^.~

Have you seen ‘Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes’? If yes, then what do you think about it? If not then watch and comment below!