My Cactus Heart, Movie Review and Trailer

My Cactus Heart is the pre-valentine offer of Star Cinema for the young and young-at-heart who want to feel the spirit of love and romance even before Cupid starts shooting arrows. 

The film is top billed by real-life sweethearts Maja Salvador and Matteo Guidicelli, introducing Xiam Lim, in his firm moving outing fresh from his My Binondo Girl success. It premiered Jan. 25, 2012.

Synopsis

Push.com reveals that the story's plot “revolves around the life of Sandy, a culinary student whose real passion in life is illustrating. Sandy grew up watching her mother (played by Rosanna Roces) pine after her father (Ricky Davao) who decided to separate from their family when she was still a little girl. Jaded by love, Sandy vowed to never let anyone hurt her heart like that again and she ends up continually turning down every guy who tries to court her, thus earning her the moniker, 'Cactus Heart.' That is until she meets the hardworking Carlo who applies for a job at her mom’s catering business as a waiter. Sparks immediately fly but Sandy tries to continually resist feeling anything for Carlo, who is also a singer in a band trying to make ends meet despite his father’s penchant for betting on horse races. Xian Lim comes into the story as the dashing Bene, Sandy’s boss at the production company she applies for in order to pursue her dream of continuing her passion for illustrating.”

Cast

The film stars Maja Salvador, Matteo Guidicelli, and Xian Lim, who proved there versatility in acting. My Cactus Heart also stars Ricky Davao Bettina Carlos, Ramon Christopher, Joy Viado, Lemuel Pelayo, Pinky Amador, and Rosanna Roces, with cameo performances of Karylle, JM De Guzman and Pinoy Big Brother season 1 alumni Franzen Fajardo. My Cactus Heart is directed by Enrico Santos for Star Cinema and Skylight films.

Enjoy the film's Trailer!

Critical Response

Oggs Cruz of TwitFilm.com wrote, that Maja Salvador (who played the role of an “uninteresting, unconvincing, and unromantic” lady) “attempts to add color to the hopelessly color-less character by giving an authentically earnest performance, which only does so much,” However, he noted that the role was “lazily written,” citing issues with extreme triteness which resulted to “romance too dry to really matter.”

As for the Maja-Matteo tandem, Cruz panned their “unbalanced romantic team,” which called “more awkward than awe-inspiring.” Nevertheless, Starmometer find the couple to portray “their role as if they’re not acting.”

RealAdvice.net praised the movie for two factors that set it apart from the average romantic comedies. First, “the narrative style made the movie more interesting than it should be.” Second, “the pairing of Matteo and Maja just simply works flawlessly.” Matteo himself was noticed for his versatility, as well as for his improved fluency in Tagalog.

Philbert Ortiz Dy of ClicktheCity.com summed: “My Cactus Heart feels like a collection of gimmicks wrapped around a pretty conventional love story. One can easily see the potential there, but the approach is backwards. If the studio is willing to experiment, they might be better served just telling unconventional stories: ones unfettered by the demands of formula. This film tries to project the image of being youthful and edgy, but its core is as stodgy and creaky as it’s ever been. You can put an old man in skinny jeans and a hip t-shirt, and it’ll be funny for a while. It probably isn’t going to cure his arthritis.”