Salon

I have seen the future... and it starts here. Ha ha, I know, what the hell am I saying huh? I'll elaborate on that 'future' thing at the end of this review. Let's start with the movie itself. I saw this movie twice. And I believe this movie will, despite all the dodgy acting and dialogue, hold a special place in Malaysian cinema. Why? Well, I told you I saw this twice, right?

The most fascinating thing about this movie is that it works on 2 levels - as a straightforward rom-com & as a parody of a straightforward rom-com and a kind of social commentary. Here's why, when I first saw it I really did think it was sweet, funny and romantic. But I also thought that the movie's kind of odd, cynical and disturbing, in both the way the characters are written and the way they're acted. Of course when I saw it the second time, everything makes perfect sense.

The story (spoilers ahead!!!): We follow 2 characters, Luna and Ezra, who live separate lives and don't know each other, but unknowingly bump into each other almost every day. Luna's getting married to Zyhan soon, but will soon let herself be sweet-talked into an affair by Danial (with a little encouragement from her HOTTTTTTT cousin played by Jojo Struys). Meanwhile, Ezra, who's been obsessing about his 100% perfect girl whom he once saw in a cafe (which he occasionally visits, in case the 100% perfect girl turns up again), embarked on his own adventure by asking Emma, a colleague, out. Guess what, he calls Emma his 99% perfect girl. Why? Because nobody's perfect, he said. Err, what about your 100% perfect girl? Haha. Anyway, fate does have its own funny way of bringing people together. In case of Luna and Ezra, it's through the fact that Luna will need to place a large and urgent order for bottles from the company where Ezra is working in.

So, the 2 main characters meet. Of course they'll hate each other at first.And you'll know from the very first time you see Ezra and Luna bump into each other unknowingly early on in the movie that they'll be together in the end, and that the 100% perfect girl in the cafe is Luna. And you'll also know where things are going way before it happens. It's a formula. It's a tried and tested one. And if correctly followed, will fill your heart with joy. And the writers followed it to a T, correctly I must say. Why? Because I've yet to see a Malaysian film that faithfully, perfectly and correctly follow any sort of formula. We've had local action films before, but they can't even follow the correct formula, maybe even unaware of the correct formula, which ultimately makes them what they are - rubbish action movies. We've had rom-coms before, yes, but they still failed to adhere to any sort of formula. And no, they're not and have never been in any way attempts to be original, they're just lazy and incompetent. So imagine my delight to finally see a formulaic script done right. The dialogue can be pretty dodgy at times, the acting even more so, but I will not take away the fact that this is a carefully structured script. And also the fact that, despite the occasional bad dialogue, the 2 main characters are still endearing and the happiness they feel at the end of the movie, which by proxy is also ours for living 2 hours of our life with them, is legitimately, respectfully and honorably earned. The soundtrack, filled with soaring, and some beautifully written Indo-Pop knock off songs, helps matters considerably. All I can say is, as a straightforward rom-com, to be experienced by leaving any kind of cynicism totally out the door, this movie will make your heart fly. It's as simple as that.

Now, if you have a cynical soul, you'll take a lot of pleasure in the fact that, as I said before, this movie can also work as a kind of parody of a straightforward rom-com and a kind of social commentary. Am I kidding, you ask? Well, read my plot synopsis above, get yourself familiar with the characters' names and the basic plot, and now consider the facts I'm presenting to you now. Luna is an innocent enough girl, who's absolutely aware of the fact that she's engaged. Yet, she allows Danial to convince her to go out on a date. You'll have to see Danial for yourself, brilliantly played by Zach Ubu (formerly of the boyband X-Factor), who I think is the best character you'll ever see in a local movie this year. You see, Danial is a singer-songwriter in a band. And, being in the same position myself, I can personally tell you that girls just love to ask guys like him (and me) to write songs for them and serenade them. Danial, maybe foolishly, maybe consciously (because he knows what the girls want), proceeded to do exactly that with Luna. He's either full of himself, or is just another one of those honest, artistic sensitive souls. Either way, he's funny as hell to watch!! Just wait for the scene where he serenades Luna and tells her about the 10 songs he wrote for her for the 10 days they've been together. It's a gem!!! And Luna, surprise surprise, fell for it. And don't even get me started about the lines that Danial delivered. I laughed so hard the second time I saw the movie, I had tears in my eyes!!

I saw the movie for the second time with 3 girlfriends, all of whom complained about Danial's creepiness and Luna's stupidity to fall for Danial's sweet talking. You know the oft-quoted phrase (usually by dorky guys with a crush on a beautiful girl) that says: "Why is it that all these perfect and beautiful girls always have assholes for a boyfriend?". My 3 girlfriends said that the movie is unrealistic because in real life a girl like Luna will never fall for the lines that a guy like Danial spouts in the movie. But you know what, I KNOW people like Danial and Luna. And they're real. I know guys who think they're so good looking and cool, and are so confident of themselves that they think they can say and do anything to a girl and she'd still fall for them. I also know girls who easily fall for the kind of things that Danial says or does. I've also encountered girls who practically asked me outright to write songs for them or sing songs to them, even if they are not, by any stretch of the imagination, my girlfriend. So I totally understand why Danial did what he did and why Luna fell for it.

Speaking of laughs, wait till you see Zyhan, Luna's fiance. My 3 girlfriends practically cringed in unison and marvelled at how ugly they think he was (my sincere apologies to the guy playing Zyhan). Again, they said it's not realistic, because Luna is so young, rich and beautiful. Lest we all forget, Zyhan is rich. And how many beautiful, successful and rich young girls have we seen marry relatively older, ugly but rich men?

Add to that the fact that the movie constantly slip in reminders about reality. Lines like, "This is reality Ezra, you know that it can't always be okay", or "Life is sad, isn't it?", constantly crop up to interrupt the sweet, fairy-tale like tone of the movie. Also the touching and sad sub-plot involving Emma being "the other woman" in her boss' life. Also consider the fact that this movie is the maiden project for Alternate Studio, a division of Grand Brilliance Sdn Bhd, which is kind of like the Classics division of major Hollywood studios, like Sony Pictures Classics, Paramount Classics and Warner Independent Pictures, whose purpose is to release indie-minded features with some sort of commercial appeal. In the case of Alternate Studio, I read that the budget is capped at RM500,000.00, to minimise risk of losses (I presume). So, what do you do when you want to launch something that aspires to be different yet at the same time keep the money men happy? You make sure your first picture has a sure-fire commercial appeal, of course. So we have Salon, a teen rom-com, with an Indo-Pop knock off soundtrack to pull in the kids who can't get enough of Indonesian teen movies, and you're basically set.

But, how to make it different? Or give it your personal touch? Now that's where my theory of this movie being a kind of parody of a rom-com and some sort of social commentary suddenly doesn't seem so far fetched. And the beauty is that it works both ways. You can be the most primitive country bumpkin (with a sweet heart, of course) and like it. And you can be a postmodern cynical I've-seen-it-all moviegoer, and still like it.

Yes, it's not perfect. But what a way to start! So, to close this review, let me say this again. I have seen the future. And it's called Alternate Studio. And it starts here...