One More Chance And The Three Month Rule

Okay, I finally succumbed to watching this movie after two weeks.

Everyone had been telling me to go and see it kasi nga maganda daw. But I was disappointed with the last Tagalog movie I saw so I really hemmed and hawed this time around. I didn't want to waste two hours inside a cinema watching another badly-made movie. But there we were last Sunday, being entertained by John Lloyd Cruz (Popoy), he of the beautiful, dreamy doe-eyes and Bea Alonzo (Basha), now all sexy, stylish and buff, trying to sort out their romantic feelings for each other.



Yes, I agree, it was a good movie. Sappy in certain areas but over-all entertaining. Loved Maja Salvador, her scene breaking up with John Lloyd was the only one that almost made me cry. It's always so hard to let go of someone you love. She's really the young actress to watch out for. So much depth and range! John Lloyd was very good as well! Damang-dama ko ang angst niya. At guapo pa rin siya kahit umiiyak. Bea, on the other hand was so gorgeous in this movie! I loved the hair! So much that in a moment of insanity, I wanted so much to lop off my own. And the body! Wow.

The thing that struck me the most about the film though was the dialogue -- very witty for the most part, corny in some. The memorable line for me was the line about the "three-month rule" that John Lloyd threw at Bea after seeing her with the hunk-to-die-for Derek Ramsay. "Hindi mo ba alam ang three-month rule Basha? Bakit hindi mo sinunod? Bakit?" he yells at her over a chance encounter at Bellini's (my favorite Italian restaurant). The three-month rule apparently is a 90-day grace period that one must give oneself after a break-up. In other words, it's not advisable to date, all the more fall in love and recommit after a break-up unless 90-days or three months have passed.

The reason? Well, I guess because you are most vulnerable after a break-up especially if it did not end well. And in the movie, theirs didn't. Hmmmm. Ganun pala yun. I said to myself. Should have known that rule 23 years ago. I would have probably saved myself a lot of heartache. I could not help but smile at the recollection. Movies have a way of triggering past memories.

Twenty-three years ago I broke the cardinal three-month rule when I entered into a relationship with the guy who would be my second boyfriend. Smarting from a bad break-up with my first boyfriend, number two was only more than willing to be the shoulder to cry on for my then super vulnerable 19 year old heart. Hay naku. At dahil I did not know better at that time, it was to be the biggest mistake of my life. Ironically, that relationship lasted a little over two years. And just like Basha in the movie, I should've left on the first year but couldn't find the courage to do so. But hey, no mistakes right, only lessons learned. That relationship taught me a lot of things and made me learn many things about myself. Okay, let's not get into the gory details. Past is past. Don't want to do a Pops Fernandez here. Baka mabasa pa niya ito and we've made our peace.

The whole point of my personal anecdote is, whoever thought of putting that three-month rule into the dialogue was clever. Siguro the writer went through something similar as well. Yes, it's true, I can attest to it and highly recommend the three month rule. Under three months, your brain is fuzzy and your heart is very vulnerable, thus, you can't think straight or make a good decision. So, observe the 90-day grace period, six months would even be better, and save yourself a lot of heartache. I guess the rule should really be, the longer the duration of the relationship you are coming from, the more time you need to give yourself to heal.

So when the second break-up happenned (nastier than the first with matching sigawan, sulutan, iyakan) I grew wiser and steered away from love for a long time. And then, from out of nowhere, it came knocking again, big time, one rainy day. Ah, ibang pelikula naman yun. More like, "The Object Of My Affection". Ta-daaaah! My life is like a movie. Hanggang sa love-life, showbiz ako.