Mommy Dionesia: A Knock-out Fave Among Mommies

Last Wednesday, my mom invited us to watch "Ang Tanging Pamilya," the debut movie of Dionesia Pacquiao, the famous mother of boxing champ Manny Pacquiao. For the past couple of years, my mom thought of excuses whenever we dragged her into going to the cinemas. Not even Vilma Santos' flick convinced her into joining us. It had to take the Pacmom for her to initiate a movie date, on the opening day at that!

Since the trailer looked fun, I looked forward to seeing how Mommy Dionesia, as the Pacmom is fondly called, would fare in the silver screen. After watching Ai-ai delas Alas hit comedy flicks in the past and the tandem of Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby on "My Big Love," I mistakenly set high expectations on this movie.

The story was nearing the middle when I was still awaiting the moment that would get me laughing off my seat. Sadly, things were slow and the punchlines were weak.  It was only until Mommy Dionesia came into the picture that the theater started roaring in laughter.

[caption id="attachment_1576" align="alignright" width="263" caption="Presscon Pic of Dionesia Pacquiao From StarCinema.com.ph.. Why is her left hand holding on to that? Naughty Mommy Dionesia! Naughty!"][/caption]

It was difficult to assess the thespic prowess of Mommy D because there was not much acting involved. She just had to be herself to get the viewers laughing with her wacky antics. While the Comedy Queen Ai-ai delas Alas was being her usual funny self, it was Mommy Dionesia who stole the show. Her dance showdown and exchange of sarcasm  with Ai-ai were among the highlights.

Former President Erap Estrada showed no traces of the Best Actor awardee in him and lacked the comedic mettle which made me wish it was Dolphy or Vic Sotto who essayed his role. Sam Milby played the eye candy while Toni Gonzaga reminded me of her wacko days as a "Wazzup Wazzup" news anchor.

Throughout the movie, I was observing how the eye makeups of Toni Gonzaga were done. Her small eyes were made rounder and bigger using a dark liner applied to the outer 1/3 of the lower lash line. If you can't appreciate the story, at least her makeups are worth analyzing.

As to Mommy Dionesia, although she was made to look funny in the movie, her makeup here was better than the one she wore during the Presscon, where her foundation was a lot lighter than her skin tone and her eyes were packed with shimmery white stuff as though butterflies were trapped in her eyes and started fluttering their way out when she blinked.

[caption id="attachment_1596" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Credits to StarCinema.com.ph"][/caption]

This was a typical  Director Wenn Deramas movie, but I think better than the alienating black comedy "Apat Dapat." Still, "Ang Tanging Pamilya" was obviously produced to make a killing at the tills and not to raise the standards of Philippine Movies, so not much can be expected.

While I went out of the cinema unsure of how I felt towards the movie, I overheard someone in the CR saying that her jaws ached from laughing, which I could hardly relate to. I guess it wasn't my type of humor. Since my Mom came for Mommy D, she couldn't care less how the story went, so long as she got a good laugh from watching the Pacmom. She and her friends who watched the movie separately are apparently closet fans of Dionesia Pacquiao. They wouldn't admit it but the magazines featuring Aling Dionesia lying around their houses or manufactured homes speak otherwise.

My overall rating for the movie?  Let's put it this way,  I'm just glad that we got in for free using Citibank's free movie passes at SM Cinemas. And with the smile it painted on my Mom's face, that should scrape my ranting to a minimum.  One thing's for sure, fan favorite Mommy Dionesia will have more movies to come. I heard the next one would be a remake of the Hollywood flick JUMANJI. It will be topbilled by (JU)nesia, (MAN)ny and (JI)nkee Pacquiao. Alright, kidding on that one.