BLISS RATING: ★★★
“Learn to take a risk……the truth will set us free.” – quote from You’re My Star
Another labor of love. Sure, it has a ton of production issues. And the story is a bit lame, but the effort is still there. Its sincerity is real.
Axl (Rod Grande Corpez) and Saver (Niel DanielMarquez) have been roommates for some time, and it is apparent that Saver is in love with Axl. Axl knows it but instead chooses to not want to know it. One day as Axl’s two friends, Paul (Ren Coruejo) and Ronnie (Cris Ray Cabides), carry him home drunk, they notice the connection between the two of them seems cherished somehow. They later confront Axl about it which causes him a lot of internal conflict as he does not want to admit or acknowledge what he knows is really going on. Therefore, he tries to cut him off and deny Saver from himself. But Saver realizes that he is deliberately avoiding him, which becomes particularly more painful now that it is near Christmas.
Meanwhile, Ronnie and Paul, who are supposedly straight, begin to question their own leanings when a mutual friend of their Mikee (JM Salem) befriends them. Mikee is one of those easily approachable, young men who exudes joy and effervescence. Paul becomes most enamored with him.
Saver has two trans friends that can see that he is going through a difficult time. Rochelle (Edz Bonggaster) and Aira (Aaron Gerodias) try to tell Saver he needs to be more upfront and truthful with his own feelings and what he wants out of life; otherwise, he will remain in a constant state of despondency and depression.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? There is surely nothing deep about this series and the acting is quite stilted and one dimensional. They are all in desperate need of acting coaches to create a greater range of emotions for all of them as they seem to be relying on their past experiences to get through this series. Admittedly, Niel Daniel Marquez as Saver has a slightly greater range of emotions than most of the others and his level of sincerity seems genuine. He also has a face that is most sympathetic. He can simply frown and look forlorn and be believable. That is an asset that he has yet to learn to master skillfully but it is there. There is also something about Ren Coruejo as Paul that is intriguing to me. While awkward and certainly not deep, there is just something about his face and movements that are captivating to watch, and he too has potential.
Perhaps I am overrating this series a bit. And admittedly I have a soft spot for productions that operate on a shoe-string budget as this one does. Parts of this series have some well written dialogue in them as well. But also admittedly, this schtick of theirs is wearing thin even for me. The production is simply awful. Editing, sound, and cinematography need a lot of work. And investment needs to be made in acting coaches for all of them to deepen their ranges.
Sincerity and good story telling can go only so far; now you need greater technical skills. It might be better to save money for one big production with a good story and intensive acting classes and better production equipment and better-quality acting than all of these little productions that only highlight what is wrong and not what is right.
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