No Other Woman

“A story about love and marriage, a test of trust and fidelity”

I saw the movie trailer on TV and what really caught my attention were the stars who played the roles on this movie. Sharmaine Escaler, played by Cristine Reyes, is a simple yet amazingly beautiful housewife married to an equally handsome husband,
Derek Ramsey as Ram Escaler. Ram who wanted to overpower his father and impress Sharmaine’s dad built his career and eventually met the seductive heiress, Cara Zalderiaga (Anne Curtis), on a business deal that later turned into an adulterous act.

My best friend and I talked about the movie days before its release and we excitedly placed our bets on the two lead actresses as to who could act better. I on Cristine Reyes and she on Anne Curtis. She admired the actress since high school and she liked the whole ‘mistress, 3^rd party, or other woman’ idea (because she could relate?? haha).

The movie turned out to be a blockbuster in Philippine cinemas since its first release. This is an adult romantic Filipino movie but it was Rated-13. Luckily, I got in even though my friend made me look like a grade school student guilty of watching an adult film. I had fun watching the movie. The script was a blast which really showed the Romanticism of Filipinos (and I mean Romanticism, not at all romantic).

I was really amused by Carmi Martin’s role as Christine’s mother.  She actually gave the viewers a boost with her wittily-delivered pieces of advice.

Some of my favorites were:

 “Ang mundo ay isang malaking Quiapo, maraming snatcher. Maagawan ka. Lumaban ka!” (I really like this one in particular!)

“I-pack mo na yang Lucy Torres mo. Ilabas mo na diyan si Gretchen Barretto. Ako na ang bahala sa red stilettos mo!" (This brought laughter to the viewers.)

And with a conversation with Cristine:

Cristine: Ano bang mas mahirap kalaban? ‘Yung putang mahirap o putang mayaman?

Carmi: Pare parehong puta lang ‘yon! Kaibahan lang yung mayaman bumibili ng hermes sa mall, ang mahirap Greenhills.

These are also my favorite lines from Cristine and Anne.

Cristine: Mamaya makita mo pang nilalagyan ko ng lason ang pagkain mo. Joke lang. Off ang humor ko ngayon.

Cristine: Sabi nga nila the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Pero sa ganda mong ‘yan, marami ka sigurong alam na shortcut.

Anne: I don’t need to read your research report to know the market. I know all about the market because I am the market.

But what really amused the viewers were Cristine and Anne’s reiterations:

Cristine: Salamat sa pagkuha mo sa asawa ko.

Anne: I’m sorry.

Cristine: Bilang supplier ng resort nyo.

Cristine: Ano nga ba ang tawag sa mga katulad nyo? Ahas. Bikini mo ba ‘yan o balat mo?

Anne: You can call me whatever you want. Snake, bitch or other woman… But I promise you,
I will never be a pathetic and boring housewife.

It has the mood of a cinema and the appeal of a soap opera that creates a charm to make you want to repeat the lines over and over again, the makings of a true-blue Filipino film. It actually reminds me of movies from the 1980s like: Cherie Gil’s “You’re nothing but a second rate, trying hard copycat.” in the movie Bituing Walang Ningning
; Hilda Koronel’s “Once, twice, thrice? Gaano ba kadalas ang minsan?” in Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan; and Vilma Santos’ “Para kang karenderiang bukas sa lahat ng gustong kumain.” in Palimos ng Pag-ibig. This is probably because the story was written by Keiko Aquino, Jay Fernando and Kris Gazmen backed with a power cast of script consultants from Viva Films.  

Derek Ramsey’s acting was okay but the two lead actresses embraced their characters and welled with emotions that some of the viewers actually laughed and cried by the scenes that they gave out some side comments while watching the movie. They even hated Anne Curtis for her role as a mistress and empathized with Cristine Reyes.

These were some of the scenes that proved to be tear-jerkers:  

Upon learning from Cara that her husband cheats on her, Sharmaine ran to her room and cried her heart out. Ram was trying to comfort her but to no avail. She was crying in pain, hatred and disgust. You can really tell from the way she acted on that scene. She was screaming, pulling her hair, scratching her skin, clenching her fists, gritting her teeth saying, “Alam ko! Alam ko naman eh!  Ang sakit sakit lang nung marinig ko! Hindi ko dapat ginagawa ‘to pero ginagawa ko dahil mahal na mahal kita!”

When you truly love someone, it really can’t be avoided that you feel pain along the course of your relationship.  You might probably agree that pain is love’s twin. As what Cara said, “I’m not going to give up Ram without putting up a goddamn fight.” Love would make you do things beyond measure and Cara did what she thought was right. She fought for her love even though she knew that it was wrong from the start. She begged Ram not to leave and love her back in return. She was almost on her knees begging for his love which was contradictory to what she said before “no emotional attachment”. She went through denial before she finally realized that she’s really a mistress.

Added to that is the scene where Ram was in the hospital and Sharmaine was on her side tightly holding his hand with Juris’ song “Now That You’re Gone” playing in the background.  His wife was in tears and by the time he opened his eyes, you could actually feel that forgiveness, love and understanding took place.

Although the movie was somewhat stereotypical and predictable, it gave smiles and tears to its viewers and all of us went home satisfied. But my friend was still crazed over the movie that she actually posted Anne Curtis’ photo as her profile picture! In reply, I have Cristine Reyes on my profile.  hahaha

Note: All lines are from the movie "No Other Woman" by Star Cinema and Viva Films;  Ricky Lee's Trip to Quiapo: Scriptwriting Manual