Never Not Love You (2018)

indie rom-com. nice soundtrack. a little dragging in d beginning though

Never Not Love You: Simple yet tasteful.

Now I understand the hype.

It was just this night that I have watched the movie. I never had the chance to watch it on its first day just because... just because. We decided to go for the last full show. I really have high hopes since I am seeing everyone tweeting about how beautiful the movie is and how wonderful Jadine in this film. Surprisingly, is still an ongoing 'thing' on social media.

Never Not Love You did not disappoint.

A person tweeted that this is the Jadine movie that we need. And yes it is true - this is the Jadine movie that we all need. And may I add - the Jadine movie that we have all been waiting for.

As a fan of the tandem, I will always appreciate their previous films. I have watched all of them. But then after Diary ng Panget, I was never contented. Not that I am not pleased but I wanted more from James and Nadine. Diary ng Panget has always been my benchmark of how good James and Nadine. Until this film... Putang ina!

Antonette Jadaone made the ordinary extraordinary. She did not settle for the majestic way of telling a love story. She did it effortlessly classy by not sorting for the usual. It helps that she did not exagerrate everything. Never Not Love You need not a splendid scoring to feel that the characters are in a bliss. Or the actors need to appear in their most outrageous emotions for us to feel that they are in pain. She kept it simple yet tasteful.

She revealed that love in the real world can be known in familiar places. Because of the simplicity of the execution, it made the film more relatable. And because it is relatable it became more real. And by being real, it became extraordinary.

I did not notice that London Bridge was shown. She made me focus more on Gio and Joanne than how lovely London is. It is the story itself and what will happen next. How lovers in the real world will deal with the choice they need to make and how to make it work. The screenplay, the actors, the script - Jadaone made it all work. And whoever is in charge of the musical scoring, marry me!

James Reid leveled-up in this film big time! Unexpectedly, James is this good already. Maybe it is already there in James but it is just now that the right material came to showcase his acting competence. Well done.

Nadine Lustre will always be a powerhouse. She used the same attack with every character she portrayed but she always managed to make it different from each other. Joanne touched me. I have watched the struggles and victories of Joanne - not Eya's not Becca's not Ava's not Leah's not Iris'. You know what I mean. It is not the best effort Ms. Bing, she is just at her best in this film. Impressive.

The ending. It may be frustrating for some. But fairly, I like it. Never Not Love You did not gave me a grandiose ending. Nonetheless, it emphasized that people change through time, including the love that people have. Things will happen. And just because the love is still there, they are choosing to stay, hold on to it to fight for it. You will never give up. With all the uncertainties, you will still grasp for it. Even if it means you are loving in a different way already, as long as you know that it is still there. It may not be the intention of Never Not Love You but that is what I got from it. There is this one thing that saved the ending - flashbacks. It made me feel something. And whatever that feeling is, it demands to be felt.

I will never not love this film.

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My most favorite Jadaone film.