"The Hopeful Romantic" review

The movie The Hopeful Romantic reminds me of Regal Films comedy movies in the 90s, with the likes of  Rene Requiestas, Andrew E and a few.  Just because the lead man Pepe Herrera has a slight resemblance to deceased comedian Rene Requiestas and they have the same style of comedy and timing.

The Hopeful Romantic movie is a story of Jess who at his age is still a virgin and is looking for the love of his life. Then he met Veronica, played by Ritz Azul,  at the Hotel Bar where he is an employee. That was when the riot begins.


In the Hopeful Romantic, Pepe plays Jess, a 33 year old Valet Parking Attendant at The Manila Hotel, an honest man and most of all, a virgin. He promised himself that he will only give himself when he already found his true love.

Veronica, (played by Ritz), is a kept woman in the high society world. A victim of circumstances, but still a survivor.

However, there is one problem; Veronica has no idea that he is not rich. Afraid that revealing himself will make him lose Veronica, Jess starts to pretend the part. He kept on doing this until his resources spill away. The inevitable happens, and Veronica learns the truth about Jess.

But one thing that The Hopeful Romantic has going for it is that its movie trailer already went  viral gathering 9.6 million views on Facebook in less than three weeks since it was launched.



If anything, the virality of the trailer to organic Facebook users indicates a positive reception from netizens. As of today, the trailer has now reached 108,000 shares, 14,000 positive comments on Good Time Fan Page.

Ritz, who gets to be launched in this film as a leading lady, beams with pride about this project.

“Sobrang proud ako sa pelikulang ito kasi lahat pinaghirapan namin: ng direktor, producers, writers, at syempre co-actors ko na pinagpuyatan.

Firstly, Ritz, who is more comfortable with drama, ventures into comedy in The Hopeful Romantic.

Secondly, she had to lose weight to effectively portray her role as a sexy gold digger.
“Ang mahirap lang for me, physically, dapat medyo mukhang sexy don sa screen, so nag-struggle din ako to lose weight, kasi sobrang lumaki ako for a while before gawin yung movie.

“And then nahirapan ako kasi sobrang kabaligtaran ko ang role sa totoong buhay. Naging kumportable ako sa mga katrabaho ko, kaya napa-swimsuit ako.”

Meantime, Pepe, who is a very talented singer-actor, finally gets to be a lead star in this film.

The versatile actor takes pride in saying that he gets to explore comedy genre through a sexy movie.

Pepe admits that he felt pressured that he would finally be a leading man in this project.
Fortunately, Ritz made his job easier for him.

“Ang masasabi ko po ay lalaki din ako at nakakaramdam ng karupukam. Si Ritz ay very desirable 110%.”

“Kasi kinabahan ako nung una dahil sinasabihan ako, ‘Leading man ka na, kailangan tutukan mo yung panunuyo o kung paano tratuhin ang leading ladies.’ Parang siya [Ritz] pa yung gumagawa non para sa kin. Cowboy si Ritz. Hindi siya tipikal na leading lady.

The Hopeful Romantic opens September 12, 2018 and is directed by Topel Lee.

For more updates, follow Regal Entertainment Inc on Facebook, @RegalFilms on Twitter, @RegalFilms50 on IG and Regal Cinema channel on YouTube.