Bride for rent (2014) - Review

After watching Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo, I immediately wanted to see Kim Chiu and Xiam Lim again in a movie. So I was happy to see that they were paired again – apparently in Philippines it is very common for successful pairings to be paired more than once, which is fine by me. Although it is not as comedic as their previous collaboration, it is still an enjoyable romantic comedy.

What is this about:

Rocky (Kim Chiu) is an aspiring young actress – not that talented – who goes from audition to audition in the hope of landing a role and helping her family. Rocco (Xiam Lim), on the other hand, is a rich boy who is eagerly waiting to get his trust fund. But there is a catch – he has to be married. So, after his friend’s idea, he holds an audition to find a fake wife. Guess who he meets there.

My review:

Another successful pairing between Kim Chiu and Xiam Lim. I am really enjoying this practice to pair movie couples more that once – I think they are called “love teams”, not sure though. Of course I want to see various combinations between the actors, but when something works so well it is nice to repeat it, and in a funny movie like this, even better. 

Kim Chiu as Rocky is a pure joy. She is funny, charming, has a sense of humor and loves her family very much. She brings most of the hilarity in her scenes. That girl has the comedic chops. Xiam Lim as Rocco is again a guy who doesn’t believe in love, but through his interactions with Rocky starts to change. Again, he is not a bad person, just spoiled by his grandmother.

Rocco’s grandmother, Lala, is perhaps the best character in the movie, after Rocky. She is clever and understood immediately her grandson’s plan, she is not someone you can fool easily. She wants what’s best for Rocco and, if forced, she will take drastic measures. And has so many one liners, I think she has the best dialogues in the movie.

I love her sarcasm and sense of humor.

The main theme of this movie is commitment forever. Obviously, we have Rocco who fears commitment like it is the plague and slowly changes. Nothing groundbreaking here. What I loved are certain lines from Lala, which were cheesy but they had truth and sincerity in them. Then again, I love Lala.

Another highlight for me is this old couple. They appear for, maybe, two minutes, but they were so sweet and make you wish you had what they have.

Why you should you watch:

• It is an enjoyable romantic comedy, that has both romance and comedy.
• The chemistry between the leads is amazing.
• Funny side characters.
• It has a main theme and it sticks to it throughout the movie.
• Nice music.

Why not to watch:

• If you don’t like rom coms.
• It is not as fresh as their first collaboration.
• Again, we have mostly one dimensional characters.

Final verdict:

7/10. A nicely executed, enjoyable romantic comedy. What it lacks in freshness, it has it in chemistry and side characters. I certainly recommended it.