I'd be lying if I told you I didn't expect much. I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't think I'd title this review "I Wanna Get Out Of Here!". I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't approach this movie without bias, that, in spite of myself, I'd approach local films on an even perspective, where I would discuss their merits or lack thereof, instead of having negative expectations by default, so as to be surprised (oh alright, "happy" then), if it achieves any semblance of a coherent story, or some measure of believability, or, frankly, anything worthwhile whatsoever.
But then, what can I say? At the end of the movie, we were recalling scenes from it, laughing, smiling, and feeling good, which incidentally, is reason to smile even more, since that is exactly what the movie was supposed to do - make us feel good.
I Wanna Be Happy is a story of three generations of a typical Filipino family, trying to adjust to the earth-shaking news that their eldest members, played wonderfully by The Great Eddie Garcia and Gloria Romero, have decided to call it quits, months away from a 50 year anniversary. Throughout, the three siblings Jun, Rory and Tish, played by Joey Marquez, Cherry Pie Picache and Diana Zubiri, deal with personal issues of their own.
The ones with the most to deal with is Cherry Pie, who has a philandering husband in George (Christian Vasquez). As such, Cherry Pie delivers a terrific performance, second in impact only to Eddie Garcia, whose "Manoy" acting style is timeless and invariably hilarious.
