Chaster (Charice Fan) Review of the movie

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2012)

A Chasters Experience - from a Charice fan perspective
Before anything else, Be warned, Spoilers Ahead!
I've been a fan of Kevin James movie in the past. I've loved him it Hitch and my favorite was Mall cop. HE's the lovable chunky guy. The average guy we know that we all can relate too.. In this movie, Kevin James pretty much played it straight. HE had a lot of funny lines and scenes but he played it straight which was a good move because it made it seem funnier. The comedy was provided by mostly Bas Ruten and Henry Winkler. I give props to those two. Henry Winkler nearly stole the show. And Bas Ruten was an MMA Fighter turned analyst/commentator and he did a great job, you don't even realize he's not an actor. He was genuine and enjoyable. Kevin James did not play this role for laughs, he made his character believable. The fight scenes and moves were all believable. Having recognized some of the actual MMA fighters, there's even an inside joke that most movie viewers wont catch.( I.E> Chael Sonnen Tapping out lol)
Now let's get to Charice. Hold on to your horses as Charice appears close to the very first real scene of the movie.
WE all know by now that she plays Malia , a Filipino student. But I want to give props to Kevin James here for changing this role originally written for a Vietnamese student to being Filipino. I can see why it could be more believable as Vietnamese. But Having Charice play Malia,named after Kevin James real life Filipina wife is a tribute to Filipinos. Charice role is a source of pride for Pinoys. Her character is the embodiment of the Pinoy ideal of studious, talented, smart Filipino that Pinoys would want in their daughters. She's so smart, even her own biology teacher thinks she's smarter than HIM!
She plays a musical genius in the music room too, she can sing, she can play the piano. What else can we ask on how to portray a Filipino.
Now Charice has lots of scenes interspersed throughout the movie. Kevin James and Henry Winkler and Bas Ruten dominate the scenes as well as Salma Hayek. But other than those main characters, it seems Charice has the most important character and number of scenes. She gets to do most everything here. she sings, she plays an instrument, she gets to laugh ... and she even gets to cry ... a dramatic moment. Here she is in that pivotal scene
Now her acting here is so much improved and better than she did in glee. Charice appeared in 3 Glee episodes, roughly 3 hrs, and this movie is a little over half that time but it seems she appeared twice as long than all the Glee scenes combined! I can't see a detriment or anything to pick on , things that people picked up on glee. She held her own , even, in my opinion, during the most dramatic scene of the movie . If you didn't know Charice, you would not know she never acted before in a movie. Her character is very important to the plot and storyline. Kevin James is a teacher who used to be idealistic, involved and passionate of his work. Malia makes him realize that what he says and thinks affects these kids directly and he really does influence their hopes and dreams. It helps develop his growth and transformation and reignites his passion for teaching and caring.
*BIG SPOILER HERE* The most dramatic and important scene other than a scene at Henry Winkler's house with Kevin James, is a scene where Charice goes through major problem with her life and cries. She is asked to give up Music AND school which both are very important to her. Here she shows the difficulties an immigrant Filipino in having to learn a second language and how important music and studies are for her as a Filipino. Kevin James gets hit hard when he tries to help and encourage her to pursue her dreams when she reminds him he himself said, what they learned in school didn't matter. This is very pivotal, as Kevin James realizes he makes a big impact on this kids. that him not caring is no longer an option. This is where you believe his character has made the commitment and realization, he has to change and start caring.
Charice gets to appear in more scenes specially and the big finale fight in the UFC for Kevin James. Her singing Holy Holly gave me the chills , although I wished to have seen more of her instead of Kevin James (but this is about Kevin James after all ). One of the highlights of the film which I can't wait to buy the soundtrack for a full version of the song.
All in all, this is a very enjoyable and uplifting movie. There's RomCom's (Romantic Comedy) so I would call this more of a Dramedy. There's drama with lots of comedy. I think this has a potential to be a sleeper hit and with being showing on OCT 12, it definitely has staying power to stick around till Thanksgiving weekend and even Christmas holidays.
Charice really did make Pinoys proud in this film. She showed Pinoys are studious and hard working, talented and smart, beautiful, caring and helpful. If pinoys can't be proud of her for that, I have no idea what will.