Brussat Movie Review
Thanks to Dan for this information!
 
Adobo review from:

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/moviereview/item_3806.html


Movie Review
by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

American Adobo 
Laurice Guillen
Outrider Pictures 01/02 Feature Film 
R - sexuality and language 

Letty Cottin Pogrebin has wisely observed: "We need old 
friends to help us grow old and new friends to help us stay 
young." In this romantic comedy directed by Laurice Guillen, 
a group of Filipino-American friends regularly gather to 
savor their native cuisine and to check in with each other. 
Love is always in season but it is hard to find just the right 
one for their palates.

Tere (Cherry Pie Picache) is an observant Catholic 
accountant who lives alone and specializes in cooking 
adobo, the national dish of the Philippines, a meat or 
vegetable marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. Her 
best friends include Mike (Christopher De Leon), an editor 
who is unhappily married to a rich and self-centered 
woman; Marissa (Dina Bonnevie), a successful career 
woman whose boyfriend Sam (Randy Becker) is notoriously 
unfaithful to her; Raul (Paolo Montalban), a womanizer; and 
Gerry (Ricky Davao), a gay ad man who hasn't come out of 
the closet even though his boyfriend is dying of AIDS.

Over the course of a year, these New Yorkers have their 
lives marinated in surprises, disappointments, betrayals, 
and loss. Tere's excruciating loneliness gets the best of her 
until the man that was meant for her arrives in a life-saving 
moment. Gerry tells his mother about his sexual orientation, 
and Raul squares off with AIDS when he learns that he may 
be infected with the virus. Mike decides to leave his wife and 
family, returning to the Philippines.

It is interesting that so many recent films dealing with the 
challenges facing ethnic individuals in their new homeland 
center around table fellowship (Tortilla Soup, What's 
Cooking?). Although American Adobo is very melodramatic 
and predictable, it does contain enough magic moments 
where the sturdiness of friendship is celebrated as the very 
salt of life — that reliably gives flavor and meaning to our 
experiences.