For a film with a plot as thin as a thread and a cast led by two very attractive starlets (Christian Vasquez and Angel Jacob) who perform as if they're still acting in commercials, Jay Abello's Namets! (which means "delicious" in Ilonggo) managed to come across as a charming comic confection. How so? Well, Abello's consistent use of a lightweight, angst-free tone contributes part of the movie's charm, as does director Peque Gallaga's effective acting turn as a gibberish-speaking local kingpin. And as someone born and bred in Manila, the movie's location--Bacolod City--and Ilonggo dialogue (with English subtitles) completely engaged me.
But what I like most about Namets! is that it introduces the audience to Negrosanon cuisine; call it Negrosanon Cuisine 101, if you will. The late, great PDI food critic and Silay City native Doreen G. Fernandez would've approved of the effort, I'm sure. But at some point I felt it remained just that: an introduction. It never really satisfied my hunger to know more about this particular cuisine: the contrasting textures, the different flavors, the culture behind it. In other words, what makes it special, unique? The uproarious vignettes spread throughout the film (the best features the wonderful Ronnie Lazaro as a meat-starved farmer), though enlightening to some extent, helped very, very little in this regard.
In a way, I wish I had watched this movie first; it's the perfect, pleasant appetizer for most of the Cinemalaya full-length entries this year that had served as the main course.
UP NEXT: Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil's Boses.
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