As expected, Enteng ng Ina Mo became the top-grosser at the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival.
Drawing on the box office appeals of Vic Sotto (as Enteng Kabisote) and Ai Ai delas Alas (as Ina Montecillo), the film, which releases in the UAE on Thursday, left the rest of the movies in the filmfest biting the dust at the box office.
Since it was a collaboration of sorts between two of the best comic actors in Philippine showbusiness, one would expect a bit more from Enteng ng Ina Mo. Sadly, the film was a bit overdone. In this case, the sum wasn't as great as the parts. Sotto and delas Alas were not fluid or natural in their scenes, no thanks to a script that was probably just a hodge podge of lines taken from a comic performing in front of an empty audience in a comedy bar.
The story places Enteng Kabisote on the verge of retirement as the hero of Engkantasya, the parallel world where he and his fairy family come from. After years of battling demons and devils, Enteng wants to have a normal life with his family without the magical elements. Meanwhile, Ina Montecillo is on her endless quest to have the right partner to be with her for the rest of her life. One day, Enteng is placed under a spell by an evil fairy called Satana, who dooms Enteng to fall in love with another woman - Ina.
Enteng's misadventures trying to be the father of Ina's kids would have been a nice set up for many funny antics. However, many of the scenes were a bit forced and unfortunately showed Sotto and delas Alas in perhaps their worst performances on the big screen. Sotto had his usual laid-back way, but his punchlines were off. delas Alas shouts and screams in the movie, many times quite unnecessarily.
It didn't help that in many of their scenes together Sotto and delas Alas were made to act as if they were two teenagers in love. They were just too old for the antics to resonate with the audience.
The movie's only saving grace was Eugene Domingo, who perhaps showed why she is the hottest comic in town; and the reason why the movie was, nonetheless, a big hit. She was spot on with her lines, and her scenes, especially the one where she was crying at the Baywalk after hearing the news that her favorite PSG, played by Piolo Pascual in the last movie, was killed in Afghanistan - a bit overdone, but about one of the few funny moments of the movie.
Vincent Anthon Garcia covers Filipino entertainment in his Tsismis page, every Monday in tabloid!
