Single Lady (2015)

A Gem Discovered

I've been telling myself it's my life movie. The name of the character, Bright, drew me in. It was unusual. Her narration in the beginning was on point. Her remarks were timely for the career-oriented and single women. Making her friend end up with the guy in the bar was just cute. The wedding came and this guy was teasing her and I'm hooked. Something about this enemy to lovers trope had me at gun point.

It just gets even funnier with the fortuneteller and the unfortunate events. Meeting her old flames was fun to see and I just knew this movie was doing something different. I just kept watching--all the while laughing and smiling at the adventures of closures. It has all the tropes of relationships not working out--moving away, family disapproves, cheating, uncertainties, unfulfilled promises, flings, and games/bets. This has shown the protagonist what made her a single but a strong woman of today. There were some regrets and how she was the "lesson" in her exes' life. Crazy how she almost got married twice! Somehow, this guy Khem (who gave an impression of a playboy at first with all his teasing) was also roped into helping her fix her exes' love lives. He was so down bad for her that he went through a lot especially with the gay ex, Pauly. Oh, that was hilarious. As my friend put it, "I feared for his life."

Khem was just on the sides most of the time, seeing Bright go through plans and conversations with her ex-loves. He didn't make a move which I found annoying all throughout. I kept controlling myself not to say, "With all those looks...gah, kiss her already!"

Needless to say, he has maintained his manner hands while accompanying Bright and it was just so endearing when they have meaningful conversations. Most of it were inaudible but the chemistry was just there. They looked meant to be.

The last ex, Tune, with his daughter moved me. It was the turning point for me. I was touched that Bright and the girl were exchanging dialogues as if they were the same age. And when Tune sang that song for Bright again, it was like he was passing the baton to Khem to pursue Bright. That's what's amazing here, this move of an ex to say: make the woman he loved happier.

When I repeated the movie, I noticed that the yacht scene was a parallel to this. The guys fell into the water and Khem said to Ken to do what he needed to do. It's what Tune said to Khem when he called him on stage to sing.

The kid approved of Khem and was teasing Bright about it. It wasn't the first time they were teased, the grandmother asked them when they will be married. It just made me laugh at how Asian this was all was. Their glances after being asked made me smile so much.

All in all, everything worked out and here was Bright telling Khem about this over a meal. They knew there were sparks flying between them but they didn't dare say it. They found out they were parting ways. It wasn't meant to be. Walking in the park where they accidentally met, I thought Khem was finally going to say, "I love/like you." He didn't and I was floored at the revelation. In Filipino, we have a word "torpe" and he was that. He didn't pursue her because he was too afraid of the repercussions. Fate finally dealt its final blow and he couldn't escape it. This man, Khem, had been there all along. He has seen Bright's love stories unfold and he couldn't do anything. She didn't know he existed and she was shocked.

It made me ponder why he did help her. He went through a lot and while she was single, he was haunted by it. When he asked her, "Do you know who suffers the most because of you?" It was him. HIM.

When he replied to her annoyed question at the park before, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, maybe?" He was! He couldn't escape his fate. When she also replied this by the seaside, "Waiting for you, maybe?" She was!

However, she's reminded of her status as a single lady icon when her fans asked for pictures. She rejected Khem but she couldn't move on from him. She saw that picture as a proof of him just staring at her by the sidelines while she fell in love. Was it meant to be? She reminisced and checked that polaroid picture being focused all throughout the movie. It contained the message "You look better with a smile" and she knew, she could be happy but love will make her happier.

Her speech was just confusing to many and it was a sign of a lovesick woman. She almost ate her fabulous single philosophy but she made it clear in the end. She went away and wanted to change flights, forgetting her purse (almost!) and her luggages.

To her surprise, Khem was around and they bantered again like the lovers they're meant to be. It just gave all the feels, the kilig of it all. She was in the arms of her soulmate (Khem thought it was a fairy tale only at the wedding), the man who was fated to be with her all this time.

No kiss, just a hug but the conclusion of the story was: she was a single lady no more.
Despite her previous stance of enjoying the single life, anyone can be like her...a "hypocrite" in the face of true love.

What a movie.

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I loved about 99% of it

This movie was so entertaining. There were a few moments that (in my opinion) were taken a bit too far.... but it was made light by the characters. I thought the music and casting was great. I loved it up until about 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Spoilers:

I loved that the main character was flawed. I love that she wanted her revenge and could be a total bitch but was able to grow and come around. It made her so much more human, somebody I can relate to a lot more than the average Asian drama female lead.
I was actually shocked when we found out the male lead had been there the whole time, and it was so adorable and made me fall in love with him. He also wasn't afraid to pull his punches with her and I think that's a good thing, especially in a budding relationship that has long term potential.

But c'mon, that ending? Where she tells all of the women they need a man to be happy? For a second when she ran back to the mic to "clarify" and said that men aren't important but love is I thought they were gonna save it.... but no. I'm super disappointed that after all of that positive "single woman" energy she just goes on to tell them to find mr. perfect, and of course all of the women in the crowd instantly pull out there phones. Up until that point I was ready to give the movie a 10.

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