Ada Apa dengan Cinta?

Rather than use "What's Up with Love?" as the English translation to the title, I would have used "What is it about Love?". Certainly, the plot is basically about two teenagers experiencing those roller-coaster emotions that come with the first yearnings of love/mutual attraction. They find themselves behaving quite unlike their usual selves, and it makes them stop and ask the question "What is it about love?". (Of course, it ties in nicely that the female protagonist's name is Cinta, which is "love" in Indonesian).

The plot is universal enough for anyone to relate to. So the real attraction of this movie lies in the strong script, the good shots used and the ability of the young actors to interact with each other on-screen. They don't seem camera-conscious and they aren't given awful lines or skimpy clothes that seem to be standard stuff in teen movies.

I'm jaded when it comes to watching teen movies (in fact I hardly bother with them now that I'm not a teen) but this one I really liked. Cinta's school friends certainly remind me of the friends I had in school, so it was pretty realistic to me.

What ties it all together is the clever use of an awesome soundtrack with all original songs written by the brilliant Melly Goeslaw. The music itself can tell the story, and that says a lot for it.

There are weak moments, as there are in most movies. But nothing I've cringed at, or anything I care to remember. I cannot understand much of the Indonesian language and yet the movie spoke to me, so I give it my thumbs up.

I just watched this film last week as part of the Indonesian Film

Festival in Melbourne - I'm studying Bahasa Indonesia at school

and am doing a project on kebudayaan remaja - youth culture.

Kids, this is a great movie. It's better than any teen flick churned

out by Hollywood in recent memory (it is, I would say, in the 10

Things I Hate About You league). It's not great for a 'foreign' movie

or whatever - it's great in it's own right.

It combines the age-old appeal of teenage romance with enviable

friendship, humour and the poignant sadness of Alya's situation.

Cinta is the kind of character girls aspire to - pretty, smart, gutsy as

all hell - and Rangga is, well, let's face it, he's hot as all get out.

There's some serious messages in this film, about friendship,

about honesty, about violence and trust, but luckily it steers from

being preachy. Maybe it's because the Indo film industry is less

jaded than that of Hollywood, but this movie gets right what so

many Hollywood teen flicks have gotten wrong.

Watch this movie. Fall in love with it. Trust me.

Ada Apa Dengan Cinta is the best Indonesian teen movie ever made. It has great casting especially the two main star; Dian Sastrowardoyo as Cinta and Nicholas Saputra as Rangga. They both are new actors and they really focus on their character. Titi Kamal, Adinia Wirasti, Sissy Priscillia and Ladya Cheryl are also star in the movie and they look gorgeous in the movie. The storyline of the movie was pretty good. It was a very simple love story between a girl teenager (Cinta) who uses to hang out with her friends and very clever. All the sudden when Cinta lost the poetry competition. The winner was a lonely boy Rangga. They both came from a different world but as the story progresses with lots of conflict and comedy,they find that they were in love each other. The movie was basically about being friends. And definitely about love and all the consequences. Director Rudi Suedjarwo was very good in directing the movie. He gave a little bit of action, drama, romance and comedy for the movie. It is basically a teen movie and most of Indo-teen loved this type of flick. Most of the setting was in high school and it was nice to look back at the Indonesian school. The soundtrack that were given in this movie were perfect for teen! I really recommend this movie to all of you especially when you have a stress and this movie is basically for us to enjoy and have fun! I think this movie had been promoted to Melbourne, Australia this year but only for limited time. The Video CD had also been released and they were mostly sold out. At the first week, 110,000 vcds had been sold out. Remember don't take this movie seriously, it's just for fun! I am looking forward to see all of the casting in this movie at another movie!

Watching this movie makes you want to go back to the time where you were a high school. A movie that reflects our lives as a teenager with all the problems and excitement within. High school memories never be the unforgettable ones.

Taking from Cinta's point of view, friendship and love can't mixed very well together. She sees that she must choose one of them. To get both of them means that she has to lie about it. But after all, it's no friendship at all if friends can't understand the problem faced by the others. That's a friend for, to share and to cheer up each other. Love is another thing, in a different side of one's life, but love is understandable.

Generally, this movie is enjoyable to watch. Not too dramatic, picturing in a very ordinary way, but yet, it touches the soul of the story. And the most endearing of this movie is the ending. An ending that makes people want to see it again and again.

It's a local champ, and can be a very entertaining teen flick worldwide. Real characters fill this high-school love movie. The script smoothly runs the story, and strongly constructs the whole first love theme. The love-and-hate chemistry between the main characters works very well too. Actually, the scene where Rangga (the guy, Nicholas Saputra) dropped his precious book in Cinta (the girl, Dian Sastro) is too much of a coincidence... and simply the easiest way to move the story forward. Still acceptable, though. Supporting actress Ladya Cheryll (as Alya, Cinta's friend) delivers a very natural screen-stealing performance. Good music, good faces, good ending too. Overall, this is the kind of movie for a date, for a lazy Sunday afternoon, and for all time.