“Idol The April Boy Regino Story”: Docudrama as tearjerker

Most people in the biz in a huddle and press briefs address Water Plus Productions’ “Idol The April Boy Regino Story” biopic or filmbio.

It is a docudrama as well.

It is eponymously, posthumously a fictional narrative based on real events loosely weaved together unfolds as the life and times of one of Original Pilipino Music (OPM)’s icons of mushy ditties as “Umiiyak ang Puso,” “Di ko kayang Tanggapin” etc.

The slices of historical fiction onscreen are selectively arranged in dropping out unconsciously incidents siblings Dennis, Vingo and Jimmy, collectively named April Boys’ guesting in Boy Villasanta’s radio show  “XQs Me” over DZXQ or the boys’ mom Lucy with now singular April Boy in tow frequently visiting, bringing food greasing and bottles of beer drinking to that in exchange for camaraderie if not promo with the late entertainment journalist Gil E. Villasana’s house in Cubao with hangers on reporters in the early nineties in favor of a time constrained, a one sequence representational summary scene of the trio in a stage show.

Cyrus Khan’s art and design pays off with meticulous close-ups of the 70s bell-bottomed pants and mumu dresses to the 80s DWKC FM or Vicor or Viva backdrop signage to allude to April Boy’s recurrent major recording companies’ rejections of cuts or his final inclusion with Ivory Records in the local Tin Pan Alley.

Wanting too much to be desired, the whole exercise is simplicity of attack that makes the movie your traditional mass appealing viewing fare.

Melodrama best describes director Efren Reyes, Jr.’s tentpole that elicits pain, sadness and nostalgia among viewers, especially, April Boy’s fans.

It is a very simple, entertaining and didactic piece of a movie. Boy Villasanta