My Partner

There’s a bit of rivalry between the indigenous young men of Hawai’i and those of Philipino heritage whom they think cavalier about the natural resources of their pristine islands. That hostility extends into school where “Pili” (Kaipo Dudoit) and his older lads like to pick on “Edmar” (Jayson Munoz) and his pals. Things look set to come to an head when a teacher decides to pair these two on a project to select and prepare their favourite food for presentation to their fellow students. Of course, this doesn’t seem like the best of ideas as the two men see eye to eye on virtually nothing, but gradually they both realise that there is something akin to the magnetic drawing them together and after an altercation with some beach-slobs, old enmities begin to evaporate and new opportunities present themselves. To be honest, though this is quite a good looking film, there isn’t very much by way of innovation about it. The plot is fairly predictable and there’s nothing especially memorable about the dialogue. What is quite remarkable is the presentation of proud and ancient cultures unencumbered by many of the Victorian values surrounding sexuality and attraction, and with the two engaging efforts from Munoz and Dudoit is maybe the most memorable element of a film that showcases the fact that love is about people and not about proscription. It’s an effortless watch that allows us an observation of an emerging love amidst a civilisation that cares about it’s environment and it’s happiness in equal measure.

This was the typical enemies-to-lovers trope, but set against a Hawaiian backdrop with half of the cast being from the Philippines. The good, the story flowed smoothly and the romance developed casually over the course of the story and it flowed through to the end when everything finally came together in a peaceful way and no one seemed to question it. The problem I had is that the story is set in their junior year of high school, making the characters about 17 years old. One of the main actors was almost 30 when he filmed this. It was a total disconnect trying to see him as a teenager, he looked older than the person playing their teacher. Now don't get me wrong, the actor did an excellent job and was believable in the role, but with his love interest looking about 19, his casting would have worked better if this was a student-teacher thing and not them supposed to be peers. I'm not one to get hung up on age of the actors, and if the cast all looks similar that is farmore believable. This story started out a little rough around the edges, but it does conclude with a happy ending and you do get a fairly good story along the way.