New York Times Thanks to Dan for this information! January 25, 2002 MOVIE REVIEW | 'AMERICAN ADOBO' A Stew With a Few Too Many Ingredients By STEPHEN HOLDEN The title of the romantic comedy "American Adobo" refers to a popular Filipino dish whose ingredients include pork, vinegar, garlic and fish sauce and whose ritual preparation regularly brings together five Filipino-American friends around a dinner table in Queens. The dish becomes an overwrought metaphor for group dynamics and cultural assimilation. And as the film loses its grip on its multiple stories, the title begins to suggest an overheated stew bubbling out of its pot. By the end of the film, the intersecting dramas and histrionic performances have spilled all over the floor, so to speak. The film, directed by Laurice Guillen from a screenplay by Vincent R. Nebrida, forces together a familiar gallery of types. Tere (Cherry Pie Picache), the group's gloomy, unofficial den mother, is an attractive, virginal 40-something woman whose low self-esteem prevents her from mounting a vigorous campaign to find Mr. Right. By contrast her beautiful, younger best friend, Marissa (Dina Bonnevie), is sexually avid but equally miserable because of her weakness for shallow, unfaithful glamour boys. Marissa's scummy boyfriend, Sam (Randy Becker), is one of the movie's two cheating Romeos. The other is Marissa's cousin Raul (Paolo Montalban), a preening yuppie lothario, whose promiscuity ends with a telephone call from a former conquest informing him she is H.I.V. positive. Gerry (Ricky Davao), the fourth member of the group, is a closeted gay advertising copywriter whose lover, Chris (Wayne Maugans), is dying of AIDS. Gerry's mother (Gloria Romero), who lives in Manila, abhors homosexuality and mercilessly nags him to produce grandchildren. When Chris accidentally mails her a letter containing revealing photos of himself and Gerry, Gerry is so upset he jumps on the first plane to the Philippines to intercept it. Finally, there is Gerry's best friend, Mike (Christopher De Leon), a lawyer and former political activist unhappily married to Gigi (Susan Valdez-LeGoff), with whom he has two children. While the snobbish Gigi fritters away the days playing mah-jongg, Mike fantasizes chucking his family and returning to the Philippines. When not wallowing in its characters' frustrations, the movie is busy contriving false, sitcom-worthy solutions to their problems. The most shameless involves Tere and a neighborhood firefighter. "American Adobo" certainly doesn't lack emotional energy, but it has two or three more plots than it can handle and plays like a compressed, strident soap opera. "American Adobo" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has sexual situations, nudity and strong language. Directed by Laurice Guillen. R, 99 minutes