User reviews

Until last week, four local movies have been released this year after the Metro Manila Film Fest, and three of them are love stories that seem more of promotional tools for their lead stars than genuine attempts at film-making (granted, I honestly liked "Close to You"), with the exception of the low-budget "Mga Batang Bangketa," which was obviously doomed even before it hit the theaters. Mario Cornejo's "Big Time" went mainstream sometime in late January, but technically it was released last year during the Cinemalaya Film Festival so it doesn't count. And now, there's a film that begs to differ.

Gabby Fernandez' "Nasaan Si Francis?" is an attempt by local filmmakers to inject variation to an otherwise monotonous local movie scene. It's a story of two men - Boy (Paolo Contis) and Sonny (Rivermaya front man Rico Blanco) - who are desperate for money and turn to drug-dealer Francis (Jeffrey Quizon) for help. Francis is about to give them ecstasy worth fifty thousand pesos to sell, but unfortunately conks out while in the middle of their conversation. Needing money to get his girlfriend (Tanya Garcia) out of a brothel, Boy prods Sonny into searching for that drug all over Francis' house, all the while going to great lengths hiding from people whom Francis is connected, and hiding Francis' body as well. It is based on the Ilonggo play "Diin Na Si Francis?" written by Fernandez himself.

It should be obvious by now that it's a one-joke formula stretched to a feature-length film. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The thing is, I didn't find the main characters as always as interesting as they should be, more so with the improbability of their schemes, so it's very hard to care about them the way the filmmakers probably wanted us to and the jokes tend to repeat a lot that the film loses steam midway. Fernandez does experiment a lot with the material to keep it alive, employing split screens, animation, and cameras placed in unusual angles, which find their way nicely to the subject. Sadly, style can only say so much.

The special participation of Christopher De Leon is in itself interesting, although the situations he's put in here has mixed results. Sometimes he's funny, but sometimes... what the heck? He really does seem to enjoy what he's doing, though. Ricky Davao, Rita Avila, Angel Aquino, Julia Clarete, Michael De Mesa, and Karl Roy complete the cast but most of them aren't on the screen for too long and don't require much on their part. Save for Roy who's funny as he plays a perpetually sleeping stoner, none has really much to do.

Looking back at the trailers, I think the filmmakers intended for it to go somewhere within the level of last year's "Pinoy Blonde" that when done correctly can be fun to watch. But like that film of Peque Gallaga, it isn't. Both felt distant, which could or couldn't have been the point. I honestly wanted to give "Nasaan Si Francis?" a more positive comment and a higher rating. Its creative approach to the medium and noble intentions to provide freshness to the local film industry is enough to warrant it a shot and there are those willing to suspend their disbelief for the movie's worth. But personally, I think the film's emotional thrust has evaded me just as its title character did those who seek him and there weren't enough laughs to save the movie as a whole.

In the story of Jack & the Beanstalk, Jack had to sell their cow because they were poor, but what happened later on was that he did sell the cow, but all he got were "magic beans". In the movie "NASAAN SI FRANCIS?" Boy & Sonny were broke and they needed money; Boy needed to save her girlfriend from a prostitution ring and Sonny needed money for his tuition fees. So they went to their old friend, Francis, who was a wealthy drug junkie, along with their carabao, which they are bent to sell to Francis. But all Francis could offer them is 50 pieces of Ecstasy pills worth a thousand pesos each. The only problem is that later on, Francis dies of a drug overdoes and he hasn't given them those ecstasy pills yet before he falls dead. Their situation later is complicated by the fact that they'd have to pull off an homage to "Weekend at Bernie's" and pretend that Francis was still alive so that they could find those ecstasy pills that Francis promised them.

Okay, I guess it would be advisable that if you really abhor drugs to the point that you can find no humor in people making complete fools of themselves while being intoxicated or "high", it's utterly obvious that this movie is not for you. NASAAN SI FRANCIS is an irreverent movie about druggies getting themselves in a complicated situation that can get them killed. In the long run, one can justify with logical "smart-ass" reasoning that if some of the characters of the movie have gotten themselves in trouble or dead, it is because they were using drugs, therefore, one can say that this is an anti-drug movie. It is also educational (to the naive) because this may perhaps be the only movie where you REALLY SEE what marijuana, shabu, and ecstasy looks like. Sure, many of you may have studied Drugs Education in high school, but it isn't till much later in life that some of you would really get to see what marijuana & shabu crystals look like. This movie shows them to you. Now you know, STAY AWAY FROM THEM. They're illegal. In addition, shabu & ecstasy destroys your brain.

"NASAAN SI FRANCIS?" is distributed by UNITEL Pictures which stands out as one of the growing film companies in the local film industry and whose reputation promises to bring forth that much-needed change in the local film industry, that which might possibly destroy the bad reputation of Tagalog movies. With its track record of top-quality films that include "Crying Ladies", "Santa Santita" and "La Visa Loca", "Nasaan si Francis?" is Unitel's new rocketship of comedy to kick off the year. This film was supposed to be released during last December's Metro Manila Film Festival, too bad it wasn't. In my opinion, all the entries of last December's MMFF were really ugly movies. And yes, I think the people of last December's MMFF had really bad taste.

This movie is based on the stage play "Diin si Francis?" and is directed by first-time director Gabby Fernandez. This movie is actually an indie project in which Epy Quizon and Christopher De Leon are investors in, and was later released via Unitel Pictures, which covered the expenses for prints, advertising and distribution to support not just direk Gabby but the first-time filmmakers involved in the project. Topbilling the main characters are Paolo Contis and (Rivermaya frontman) Rico Blanco, and Epy Quizon as Francis, whose acting in this movie is very convincingly dead. But the one who stands out in this movie as its giggle generator is P.O.T.(rock bands) and Kapatid frontman Karl Roy who plays a junkie who sleeps all day. The film also stars Christopher De Leon who, in many recent interviews expresses his great respect and support for indie filmmakers, Rio Locsin, who plays a vicious pimp, and there's also Rita Avila, who still looks spicy gorgeous for her age and still extremely shaggable, in addition to the yummy spice, here's Tanya Garcia and Julie Clarete (wow). And last but not the least, is Angel Aquino (my golden goddess. hehehe).

For a dark comedy, this film is very very high. Outrageously funny and inventive without ever crossing into the line of the typical Tagalog slapstick comedy clichés. Although the typical Tagalog moviegoer may be shocked with its content, "NASAAN SI FRANCIS?" is groundbreaking and electrifyingly fresh. In its indie style lies the discipline of quality movie-making. NASAAN SI FRANCIS is a MUST-SEE! (But not for the naïve).