‘Rainbow’s Sunset’ review: Skeletons in the closet

Oggs Cruz

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‘Rainbow’s Sunset’ review: Skeletons in the closet
'Rainbow’s Sunset' is lousy in both crafting and concept

Rainbow’s Sunset is brimming with earnestness.

Sadly, not even the purest and sincerest earnestness can save Joel Lamangan’s latest film from being hopelessly and torturously problematic. The film crawls like an old man. Its impressions on the pertinent topic it focuses on are antiquated. Simply put, it just isn’t a very good film. It is more gloomily dull than it is daring.

Fun times with Fredo

The film opens with a speech by former senator Ramon Estrella (Eddie Garcia), who along with his daughter Georgina (Aiko Melendez), the current mayor of their town is an honoree of their high school.

He fondly recalls the fun times he had with Fredo (Tony Mabesa) frolicking and taking a bath alongside carabaos in a nearby stream before attending class. In the audience are Ramon’s family – his wife Sylvia (Gloria Romero), only son Emman (Tirso Cruz III) and youngest daughter Marife (Sunshine Dizon). After hearing Ramon complete his speech which is mostly about his treasured friendship with Fredo, each of his family gives vague and disapproving looks. The following day, Ramon leaves home to be alongside Fredo who is dying from cancer.

Ramon’s decision irks his family, starting with Georgina who thinks that the rumors sprouting from Ramon’s closeness to Fredo will result in a scandal that might taint her political career. Emman gets involved in a different kind of scandal when a video of him having sex with his intern. On the other hand, Marife, who is working for an advocacy group, is struggling with her romance with a much younger co-worker (Albie Casiño). Sylvia, who has been aware of Ramon’s relationship with Fredo, struggles to keep her family together while Ramon takes care of terminally ill Fredo.

 

MORE THAN FRIENDS. Ramon (Eddie Garcia) spends time with his good friend Fredo (Tony Mabesa), who is ill.

All over the place

The meandering screenplay written by Eric Ramos is just all over the place.

Instead of simply focusing on the romance between Ramon and Fredo which has been delayed by the former’s political career and family life, the story recklessly scatters itself towards so many subplots that do not really cohere logically or emotionally. Its impressions on love and gender are echoed from motherhood statements that are mouthed by the characters in the most unwieldy of fashion. Rainbow’s Sunset is really just a very lazy film, with its very simplistic points bluntly and carelessly brandished to the point of exhaustion.

The most unfortunate thing about Rainbow’s Sunset is that it wastes the skills and experience of legendary performers Garcia, Mabesa and Romero. Instead of giving them characters who grapple with complex emotions given their very peculiar circumstance, the film has them settle with the most elementary of emotions and motives, with their respective characters limited to the usual tropes of melodrama.

The film has an awful lot of weeping, screaming and heated arguing, but none of the scenes have the depth to really render any of the characters truly human.

 

Crafting and concept

Rainbow’s Sunset is lousy in both crafting and concept.

It is content with its clumsy storytelling and thinly conceived characters, relying staunchly on earnestness to make all of its wrongs right. The film is just too impaired to fix. – Rappler.com

 

 Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.



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