Miss You Like Crazy

Filipinos have prided themselves in giving clever names to their businesses. If only that wit was shared by local mainstream filmmakers. Or at least by their works' titles. John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo -- along with rom-com go-to director Cathy Garcia-Molina -- in essence return from where they left off in Miss You Like Crazy, the latest project together of the two bankable stars that provides nothing you haven't seen on screen before. Except maybe Kuala Lumpur. Cruz stars as Allen, a young man who thought he's prevented Mia (Alonzo), an overseas worker who's on a break from Malaysia, from jumping off a ferry plying the Pasig River after a chance meeting. Turns out she wasn't suicidal and -- cue meet-cute -- they hit it off right away. The problem is, Allen is engaged to a socialite (Maricar Reyes) and his career hinges on his impending marriage with her. Gasp, what's a guy with two loves to do? Bembol Roco as Mia's paralyzed father amusingly typifies the comatose status this latest glossy schtick turns out to be, with a script that doles out love insights as profound as a fortune cookie quote. For some reason, the Malaysian capital features in some scenes, though, the underused locale is mostly focused on the Petronas Towers and arbitrarily chosen scenes that could have been shot anywhere else. Of course, all Cruz and Alonzo really need to do is play sweet, get mad at each other, and make up. The two are basically playing the prequel of their last cinematic pairing, One More Chance. Like that movie, Miss You Like Crazy is under the guise that it wants to be different but is ultimately undone by the need to pander to intended audiences.