The Debut

The Good: This is the first step in hopefully many of Filipino-American movies. It showed the culture in a positive light, with the highs and lows of being a Filipino teen growing up in the states and trying to mesh the two cultures together. We get to see the son who is choosing to break tradition of doing exactly what is expected of a son and instead trying to find his own independent path.

The pacing of this movie was also very solid if not a little predictable. The jokes where also a lot of fun, but mostly if you are Filipino, otherwise they may need a little bit of explanation.

The Bad: I did see things as being a bit glossed over in this movie. I don't think I know of any Filipino family where going against the grain gets accepted as easily as this movie did. Every character except Ben Mercado is a very one-dimensional character. There is the (generic) cute pinay, who's friendly and timid, the (generic) hood-rat pinoy and his two lackeys, and the (generic) FOB, who's accent is way over done, I thought he was from Manila, but he sounded like more like an un-educated peasant. I also thought the ball game between Ben and his sister was getting a little too friendly for a sibling game. This movie is also limiting itself to a very hardcore Filipino crowd, rather than maybe trying to aim it towards a broader audience trying to make others understand the `whys' of the Filipino culture. This movie also adapted a little heavily from your standard American Teenie-Bopper flicks, primarily `Somekind of Wonderful' where you have Eric Stoltz deciding to go to art school against his father's wishes.

The Ugly: I understand that this is a small step in showing the culture, but I think a lot of things got denied in this movie, how many younger Filipino parties have we all gone too and ONLY three thugs showed up, they also made it seem like every teen got along with one another and ignored the cliques that are so common during any party. Why did the Auntie with the white husband also have to have the screwed up kid? Why was Ben, the only one with white friends also the only one who chose to go a different path then what his parents wanted? He's also the only one, it seems like, who didn't get the nice ride from the family, instead we see him getting rides from his friends (and if you say he wasn't the only one, take another look at the parking lot scene and give me a ratio count of cars to teens). Why, when the racer bragged about his Integra, did he just get the speech about how everyone is trying to keep down the pinoy, rather than, something more along the lines of just saying he's spoiled and should maybe try and earn his own?

And the Close: Even though my review may not seem like it, I did enjoy the movie, I just have high demands on any movie showing any culture, I believe movies like this should address issues rather than breeze past them just because they are complicated situations. I don't believe a movie should get high praises just because it shows `Pinoy Pride' any movie including this movie, needs depth too. 6/10

question? comments? complaints? villagemember@lycos.com

I must say I did enjoy this movie. Not so much that it had Filipinos such as myself in it , but more because it was about Filipino youth growing up here in the USA dealing with their own ideas vs their parents. Why the medical field all the time?

Yes, it did generalize the different types of Filipinos that I come across but the story was deep enough to for even my parents to enjoy. Being born and raised in a normal west suburb of Chicago I did sense the conflict that Ben, the lead, had in this movie. However, I never found it to be a stuggle in life due to my heritage. Also, this movie will give my relatives in the Philippines a view of my world that they never really see.

No, this movie is not Oscar calibur but I give it a thumbs up for effort and conviction...

Thank goodness for indie films! Are you are sick and tired of stupid formulaic, cookie-cutter hollywood movies? Then this is a film you want to watch. If you're Fil-Am or have friends who are, you'll going to enjoy this immensely. It captures so many little facets of the Fil-Am culture clash/identity crisis that so many of us go through. I've read & heard about the great amount of difficulty it took to make this film (my daughter attended a Union City, CA screening where the director was present) and I'm not at all surprised that Hollywood displayed no interest in producing or distributing a film about `minorities'-not enough white faces in the film to attract a mainstream audience, right?

Thank you, Gene Cajayon, for making this film, and I wish you the best in your career as a director. Robert Rodriguez and Spike Lee started out doing small films, so I really hope this catches the eye of the industry. Maybe a screening at the Sundance? Perhaps the best thing this film will do is kindle interest in young Fil-Ams about their heritage, culture and history.

Do did you know that:

• before the Vietnam War, there was the Philippine `insurrection' that claimed 100,000 Filipino lives

• the .45 was developed specifically to kill the Filipino `insurgent'

• the slang term `boonies' or `boondocks' used to describe a place located way out in the countryside originates from the Tagalog word `bundok', meaning `mountain'

Filipinos are bit more interwoven in the American social fabric than we realize, and with this film, we're a little bit less invisible.

I went to see the Filipino-American "The Debut" because I make a point of seeing any ethnic coming-of-age movie, as I'm curious to see how they compare to the Jewish experience in movies, including last year's Asian Indian-American films "ABCD," and "American Chai," the Greek-American "Astoria," and one of my all time faves from a few years ago the Korean-Canadian "Double Happiness."

Like all movies in this genre (usually for semi-autobiographical reasons), the conflicted lead wants to be an artist rather than what his parents plan for him.

A particularly original angle is that the main character is younger than usual, a high school student way immersed in MTV culture, from comic books, heavy metal and hip hop language, and, of course, embarrassed by his family's cooking and other traditions. The titular event is his sister's coming-out party, which becomes an evening of ethnic discovery for him.

Unlike the older generation of immigrant vs young artist movies like "The Jazz Singer," the ethnic culture here is not all retrograde but is lovingly shown in class and generational diversity and warmth, while showing the conflicts the parents face as well. The political debate among the teens as to whether the lead is a "coconut" is a bit forced but interesting.

The variety of dance scenes leave the realism a bit as they are as choreographed as in the cheerleader satire "Bring It On" but they are fun. The naturalness of the actors in supporting roles makes up for some of the amateurishness in their performances, and the leads are charming.

I asked director Gene Cajayon, who was at my showing, how could it be that such a gathering would attract kids from across class lines. He explained that such Filipino family events bring together a large slice of the community as friends of the family, as here the dad works in the post office and the uncle is a doctor.

The closing credits are open-hearted-- amusingly and passionately thanking the myriad people with the explanations of what they did to help.

Don't go into "The Debut" with the thought that it will be a thought-provoking film on Filipino life in the United States. Rather, go with the mentality that it's somewhat like "Save the Last Dance" with an Asian twist, and you won't be disappointed.

With "Save the Last Dance" the writers used high schoolers to slightly touch on issues of racism and fitting in, while at the same time incorporating dance `contests.' You'll find a little bit of this in some parts of The Debut, but with more of a Filipino flare. Overall I liked the film and looked at it as a teeny-bopper/pop film that slightly skimmed aspects of Filipino culture. But hopefully "The Debut" is only a prelude to a future flood of more mature, deep, and thoughtful Filipino American films.

I watched the film with my mom and my aunt, who are Filipinas. But before we entered the theatre, Auntie Melly commented, `It's about time they made more movies about Filipinos here in America.'

Co-writers John Castro and Gene Cajayon, also the director, give a glimpse into one Filipino family's life in the United States. "The Debut" takes place within a 24-hour period, revolving around Ben Mercado, played by Dante Basco, who was also nominated for a best actor Ammy award for this performance.

A talented sketch artist, Ben is torn between his artistic aspirations and his father's expectations that he become a doctor. Ben also struggles with his `other' life with his white friends, from whom he hides his Filipino heritage.

"The Debut" touches on the struggles that some young Filipino Americans face, including racism, fitting in, and how they may (or may not) live up to the expectations of their parents who are trying to find the `American dream' and pass it along to their children. But I left the film not knowing whether or not Ben's father truly approved of Ben's personal dream of becoming an artist rather than a doctor. And if his father does approve at the end of the film, I wasn't completely convinced.

Maybe we're not supposed to find out the answer in those 94 minutes. But the writers could have given more of a history into the father-son relationships throughout this film since that seemed to be one of the major conflicts of the film.

However, the first half of the film was energizing, with thoughtful and humorous dialogue, especially among the older relatives and Ben's white friends who slowly learned about Filipino culture.

I was especially impressed with Tirso Cruz III's performance as Ben's father, Roland, who is a complicated character - a tough and authoritative father with a soft-heart for his family. Cruz, who normally plays alongside Filipina singer/actress Nora Aunor, gave a passionate performance in "The Debut" and didn't hold anything back with this character.

Roland's relationship with his own father, Lolo Carlos, is even more complicated. Veteran actor Eddie Garcia plays Lolo Carlos. Despite Garcia's numerous awards (including five FAMAs, which are similar to the Oscar awards) I found his performance in The Debut forced and uncomfortable, unlike Cruz' performance. But I appreciated the filmmaker's decision to include such famous Filipino actors as Cruz and Garcia.

Even with a good beginning, the last half of the film disappointed me because of the slow and predictable ending, quickly losing energy and humor. Castro and Cajayon should have sat back in their chairs and thought about how they could develop more dialogue between the father and son, especially at the end, since I'm left wondering what happened between the two. And I embrace Cruz' performance, so seeing more of him, especially at the end would have strengthened the ending of this film.