The Hows of Us – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Director(s)		Cathy Garcia-Molina
Screenplay By		Carmi G. Raymundo, Gillian Ebreo, Cathy Garcia-Molina, Juan Manuel F. Zubiri
Date Released (US)		9/7/2018
Genre(s)		Romance, Drama
Good If You Like		Will They Or Won’t They Romance Dramas. Romantic films in which there isn’t some big betrayal or anything like that. Just people being immature, arrogant even, and needing to grow up apart. Romance films which have kissing but no sex, violence, or skin beyond what shorts and a shirt you’d sleep in would show – so it’s fine to take your kids to.
Noted Cast
George	Kathryn Bernardo
Primo	Daniel Padilla
Yohan	Darren Espanto

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Summary

Since high school, George and Primo dated 7 years. He was there when George’s grandmother died, basically integrated into her life, and he was one of her closest friends and she admired his passion. However, sometime around year 7, his passion for music, which never went anywhere, became part of why she came to fall out of love with him. For while she is studying to become a doctor, perhaps earn money here and there, Primo isn’t doing anything but trying to secure gigs – which he fails at. To the point band members start leaving. And it gets so bad that Primo and George have a huge fight and she tells him to leave, which he does, for 2 years.

But then he comes back a different man. However, she is also a different woman and there is the question of whether these different people can find the same love they once had. Especially as George sells the house they inherited from her grandmother for her little brother, Yohan has the kind of diabetes which will make him go blind. So between that, trying to get her life back together, after mourning her relationship, and hoping to help Yohan meet their estranged father, she needs to sell the house. Giving Primo weeks, maybe a month or two, to try everything he can to win back the girl he so foolishly lost.

Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments

• The whole conversation from the end credits was a serious WORD. I haven’t wanted to hit the record button on my phone in a movie so much thus far in life.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Did most of Primo’s family migrate to central Europe from the Philippines?

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

“Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and presence puts the heart in danger.”

“Why do you have to put a period when it can be a comma or ellipsis?”

Highlights

While Corny At Times, It Does Have A Noteworthy Romance

I won’t pretend that The Hows of Us doesn’t have a rather basic love story, which, if it was a novel, seems like it would be found at a grocery checkout aisle. However, there is something about the highs of these two young lovers hitting the low where Primo was forced to leave that hits hard—Especially since it takes note of how Primo’s youth and arrogance caused the demise of their relationship.

Yet, even with him disappearing off to central Europe to be with his father’s people and then returning two years later, you still see that spell. One which Mikko, George’s gay best friend, tries to sway her from since she put aside her life so that Primo could try to be successful, but that chemistry. That chemistry will be the main thing that you’ll take note of and what enhances this story. For the way Padilla looks at Bernardo will lead you to believe, with this being their second movie together, they truly enjoy playing off one another. To the point, it gives you Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks vibes – just younger and Filipino.

And what really will get you in your feelings is seeing Primo acknowledge his mistakes, try to make things better, and yet George not forgive him easily. With that, you are left wondering if she may or may not forgive him, on top of, if she does forgive him, can they continue or start over? And with a 2-hour time length, believe me when I say you’ll be going back and forth from relaxing, seat back, to leaning forward, excited, thinking, “This is it!”

On The Fence

The Writing Is Very ABC Family & Performances Are FreeForm

Let me break that down; when it comes to the writing, as noted, it is corny. The problem is, it is so corny that it does sometimes come off a little cringey. Especially moments that are supposed to be jokes or when Primo simply tries too hard to win over George.

Yet, thanks to the performers, they take those cringey lines and make it so George, Primo, and the rest just come off as normal people. Awkward, weird because they are comfortable with one another, normal people.

Be it Yohan and how he reacts to his mother keeping up this façade of his and George’s father being dead, and not even making them discoverable to him; us watching George split the house in half, 50/50, by tape, since Primo doesn’t agree to immediately sell; or Yohan’s consistent attempts at pushing George and Primo together. Oh! On top of 70% of any and all scenes Mikko and Awee are in, especially after the two-year time jump when Mikko goes from a weird dude to a hating-ass gay best friend.

Overall

Positive (Worth Seeing)

I’m a sucker for a cute romance film, and with this one not going overboard, not even having a full-on “Please forgive me” grand gesture, I have to say I like this film. Granted, the writing is basic, and if it wasn’t for the actors playing off one another well, this could have been trash. Yet, because of Bernardo and Padilla and the long game played by Primo to win back the love of his life, you’ll find yourself swooning from time to time, chuckling, and worrying this may end amicable, but not with the result you have been led to desire.

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