Great Film overall

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

American Adobo is a serviceable attempt at creating an insightful food- themed film in the tradition of Eat Drink Man Woman and other successful Asian food movies.The movie is a comedy, but no Filipino flick is complete without anyone shedding a tear or going hysterical. So expect hefty servings of good old Pinoy-style melodrama.Overall, American Adobo is not without its flaws. But it definitely has a lot of heart.Read more here: https://manilafoodcrawl.com/2017/01/19/pinoy-food- movie-of-the-week-american-adobo-2001/

This movie centers on a group of Philippine-Americans who meet for dinner (adobo-style cooking). Each in the group is having relationship problems and the film follows them as they each come to a turning point in their love lives.I have reviewed something like a bazillion movies on IMDb and I noticed a long time ago that I tend to rate films a little harsher than average. Because of this, I tend to get much more than my fair share of "not helpful" votes. Despite this, I continue being a somewhat harsh critic since I don't review films to make friends. However, this film is a rare case where all the reviews are far harsher and the overall rating far lower than I'd give the film. It makes me start to wonder if I was wrong in liking this film....well, no it doesn't.Now I could understand someone not liking this movie for a few reasons. First, this movie starts off very slowly and it's hard to like it during the first half hour or so. Heck, I considered turning it off--mostly because so many of the characters are unlikable and this is a SERIOUS problem for this style of film. Second, there is an awful lot of nudity, very strong language and adult content--again, some of this (particularly the language) seemed inappropriate for this type of movie.When I say "this type of movie", I mean an ethnic slice of life film--much like EAT, DRINK, MAN, WOMAN or DOUBLE HAPPINESS or BOLLYWOOD/Hollywood. The sort of movies that may make excellent date films or family films. However, I really couldn't see showing this to my kids even though they are teens--it's just got too many boobs and the dreaded F-word by the scores.Now if you can look past the harshness of the film, it does get a lot better and fortunately some of the less likable characters do improve as the film continues. However, I do agree with one of the reviews that felt a couple of the better subplots alone might have made a better film. The story of the spinster and the gay man were very compelling and touching. The rest, unfortunately, are harder to enjoy since the characters are pretty selfish.However, I am a sucker for films like this because they emphasize story and people. Now I can't accurately know what the Filipino experience is like--so how close they actually got to realistic characters is a bit of a mystery to me. But I liked the writing and story and for the life of me I cannot understand why it's rated THAT low. Oh well, to each his or her own.

Before I'd go on with anything I have to say, I would like to comment on the title of the movie. There could've been a better one used instead of being it called "American Adobo." That's the worst thing to have refer it as while the "American Pie" series were so immensely huge and popular during the course of the time. A catchy title (minus the "American" to start off on the title) could've been such an improvement. So when one hears of "American Adobo", he or she would say, "That's a copycat of American Pie." The title should've been called: "Life Like A Good Tasting Lumpia" or "Appetizer, Main Course,& Dessert." Regarding the storyline itself, it seems to stick itself well on the individuals living their own ways of the filipino-american life in America. There are the joys and the pains. Here's an insight to the characters and what they are facing:(1)Tere (Cherry Ann Picache)is a 40 something year old accountant yearning for love, feeling insecure at times when she is trying hard to find that. (2) Mike (Christopher DeLeon):is another 40 year old, but is a news editor who seems to have problems coping with his wife and his daughter (as his son out of the three, respects him). (3) Gerry (Ricky Davao)is a homosexual who is facing a struggle to tell his mom the truth about himself and the love of his life - a man named Chris. (4) Marissa (Dina Bonnevie)is the loquacious socialite who would talk about anyone and anything, but is very insecure when it comes to her boyfriend falling in love with other women. (5) And lastly, is Raul (Paolo Montalban) -- the total filipino-american "pimp daddy and player" who somehow finds a way to score big with beautiful, gorgeous women but has no true feelings for them. Interesting aren't they? Each one will face the sudden changes, struggles, and pains affecting their lives during the course of one year in New York. The characters are all unique and provides depth on each situation at hand. Though they face the uncertainties, there's always the joy that follows them, especially when they go eat together and reflect deeply allowing themselves to be courageous and speak out on their dilemmas. I can't speak furthermore on the movie itself so rent/purchase the video today! It's really worth it. Add the food with the movie and it's a fair blend altogether. There's so much to learn from this movie in all different perspectives and point of views. Some can call this 'O.A.' (filipinos would say 'OVER ACTING'), not real, or weak. It's just a movie, folks. If you wanna watch it, then go for it. If you hate it, then don't watch it. But it'll be one of many that will soon be as iconic (along with another fil-am movie "The Debut") in the near future for it's filipino-american themes. American Adobo provides a fair mix of comedy and drama all in itself thanks in largely to the characters and the filipino food served right in front of them. It makes you want to have dinner with them, too. I'm sure you all will agree.

SPOILER AHEAD----------SPOILER AHEAD-------SPOILER AHEAD-I have classified this into 3 categories: BAD, BAD, acting by the ensemble cast, flat dialogue by Vincent R. Nebrida or the godawful direction by Laurice Guillen. This movie is a very poor copycat of their Asian counterpart, Man-Woman-Eat-Drink, but this one stinks-BIG TIME! Starts with a woman who cooks (adobo - a Filipino dish) and looks out the window, while she narrates the opening spiel of the movie -- all to the tune of some funny yet wanting to sound mystifying music that continues throughout the movie-it was irritating!"American Adobo" is a story about five Filipino best friends as they look for love in New York City. One character is gay (Davao), another is a soon to be old-mail (Picache-the only saving grace of this movie), the third one is a good-looking but shallow womanizer (Montalban), the fourth is an overacting socialite who doesn't know what the meaning of self worth (Bonnevie-too shallow acting, more shrills, shouts, very bad acting), the 5th one is an unhappily married guy (DeLeon). To top the already boring & too much hyped characterization, however dense, don't be surprised when the gay character tearfully reveals that he's been in love with the unhappily married guy for the longest time. Near the end of the film, the cook accidentally sets her apartment on fire and then falls in love with the firemen who saves her, the gay man accidentally mixes up letters to his lover and mother, thus he has to fly back to the Philippines to retrieve the letter containing sexy pics of him and his lover and before his mother finds out - WHEW!!! That is just to name the many senseless scenes in this movie. And why was the movie named American Adobo? If it is a metaphor of sorts, then it failed miserably to put forth the message it wants to convey.Watching this movie makes you want to drink a whole bottle of Maalox for your upset stomach after tasting that concoction named adobo.