Heto na! Heto na! Heto na, waaaaaahhhh!!! So I was finally able to catch Studio 5 and Unitel’s hit movie musical, I Do Bidoo Bidoo and, I must say, I’m quite impressed! More akin to Mama Mia, I Do Bidoo Bidoo is a funny, light-hearted rom-com musical built around the songs created by OPM pioneers the Apo Hiking Society (or simply APO) made of Jim Parades, Boboy Garvollio, and Danny Javier.
The movie revolves around Sam Concepcion as simple-living, hard-working college kid Rock Polotan and Tippy Dos Santos as the uber-rich and always-sophisticated Tracey Fuentabella. The story opens up after these two young lovebirds suddenly create an unplanned third – impacting the lives of their families as well. With an untimely marriage on the loom, we are shown how both families cope with the situation as it escalates into a rushed marriage.
On the Polotan side of town, Ogie Alcasid plays Pol, the one-hit wonder music composer trying to earn a living by giving guitar lessons to kids in the neighborhood while waiting for royalty payments and inspiration to finally come up with a new hit. Eugene Domingo plays Rosie, the haggard and always-flustered mom who’s usually accompanied by her two friends, Vicky (Sweet Plantado) and Lilibeth (Frenchie Dy). Summing up the household are siblings Jazzy (Kiray Celis) and Raprap (Gerald Pesigan) – hence Rock, Jazz, and Rap, a musical family. :p
On the Fuentabella house, we have Gary V as the strict, always-business father, Nick,and Zsa Zsa Padilla as the emotionally-longing yet overly sophisticated wife, as Elaine who also plays queen bee to a host of maidservants, all named Inday, who would glide and dance every time they’re on the scene. Rounding up Casa Fuentabella is retired army general, Gen. Julio Fuentebella (Jaime Fabregas), and siblings Austin (Ishmael Aldefat) and Blake (Jm Ibanez).
Penned and directed by Chris Martinez (Kimmy Dora, Temptation Island, 100), this movie musical is enjoying its 3nd week in the box office, and rightly so. Although not the first Pinoy movie musical to come out in years, this is probably the most successful iteration to date. With new arrangements that simply updated the original, the film makers were very respectful of APO’s contribution to the Philippine music scene. Punchier bass lines, more trumpets and okay at some point there were Skrillex-type wub wub sounds thrown made these classics appealing again for modern viewers. Take this MTV by Ogie Alcasid as an example:
The best thing about I Do Bidoo Bidoo is that it was written clearly in Musical Theater fashion. The pacing, timing and delivery of story and music is well balanced that it doesn’t seem too awkward for people to start bursting into song, a hard feat in movie musicals. In fact, the funny thing about this film is, it wasn’t a movie adaptation of a stage musical and yet it seems like you’re watching something off a stage. The magic of musical theater is clearly observed along with the subtle technicalities that movie can bring. The simple usage of camera tricks and moving split-screen to evoke one harmonious conversation between mother-son and father-daughter in the end of Act 1’s Batang Bata Ka Palang is pretty ingenious.
Don’t get me wrong, the movie is far from perfect. There are little hiccups here and there particularly by suddenly resolving all conflicts during the latter of half of Act 2 (with the way it was penned, it seemed that the movie was written as a 2-Act play). The quick turnaround of Gary V’s character towards Zsa Zsa Padilla towards the end of the film and the underutilization of Jaime Fabregas saddens me greatly.
Still, even with these bumps on the road, I Do Bidoo Bidoo is an enjoyable romp and something that the whole family should see. A t the end of the day it’s really the music that shines through than the story arc which makes I Do Bidoo Bidoo extremely fun and memorable. It’s the kind of film that you’d want to watch and re-watch again and again.
Unbox Score: 3.75/5
