Beauty and the Bestie

Beauty and the Bestie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wenn V. Deramas
Screenplay by	Mel Mendoza-Del Rosario
Story by	Enrico Santos
Produced by	Charo Santos-Concio Malou N. Santos Vic del Rosario Jr.
Starring	Vice Ganda Coco Martin
Cinematography	Elmer Despa
Edited by	Marya Ignacio
Music by	Vincent de Jesus
Production companies	ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. Viva Films
Distributed by	Star Cinema
Release date	December 25, 2015 (2015-12-25)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino
Box office	₱529 million (US$10.5 million)

Beauty and the Bestie is a 2015 Filipino action comedy film directed by Wenn V. Deramas, starring Vice Ganda and Coco Martin, alongside James Reid and Nadine Lustre. It is an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.

It was produced by ABS-CBN Film Productions and Viva Films and was released nationwide under the banner of Star Cinema. It was also released overseas in cities that have a significant Filipino population. It is the seventh highest-grossing Filipino film of all time, as of 2023. This is Wenn V. Deramas' last film before his death on February 29, 2016, and last film as a co-production between Star Cinema and Viva Films in preparation for the co-production between TV5 and Viva until it was terminated in June 2016 before the release of Finally Found Someone on July 26, 2017, Gandarrapiddo: The Revenger Squad and Ang Panday on December 25, 2017. The film's title is a play on the 1740 French novel by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Plot

The Impersonation Gambit

Struggling photographer Erika, whose family faces financial strain and a nephew's impending blindness, gets an unexpected offer from her estranged best friend, Emman. Emman, a spy with the Elite Super Secret Task Force, needs Erika to impersonate Ms. Uzeklovakia, a beauty queen abducted by the Yakuza Daemon Yu and his associate Jin Jhong. Erika, still resentful, agrees to the dangerous mission in exchange for her family's care. Further complicating matters, Erika's sister, Abi, and Emman's half-brother, Tristan, fall in love, forcing Erika to confront her past with Emman while battling terrorists and managing her sister's new romance.

Pageant Peril

The coronation's Q&A is interrupted when the real Ms. Uzeklovakia, having escaped, is intercepted by Emman and her team. Erika, still impersonating the beauty queen, wins the pageant, but the celebration is cut short when terrorists attack. Daemon kidnaps Erika, mistaking her for Ms. Uzeklovakia, and takes her aboard a helicopter. Emman intercepts them, and during a struggle, kills Daemon just as Erika nearly falls from the helicopter. Erika and Emman reconcile, but Emman then loses his grip and falls into the ocean, with Erika following after him.

The Final Mission

After rescuing Erika, Emman performs CPR, and they reunite with her family. Later, Ms. Uzeklovakia's father, the prime minister, thanks them both for saving his daughter. The movie concludes with Emman and Erika eating fishballs when their sunglasses, revealed to be detonators, explode, signaling their departure for a new mission.

Cast

Main cast

Vice Ganda portrays Eric "Erika" Albano Villavicencio and Natalia Thalia Nutreila.

James Reid portrays Tristan Adams.

• Vice Ganda as Eric "Erika" Villavicencio / Natalia Thalia Nutreila
• Coco Martin as Emman Castillo

Supporting cast

• James Reid as Tristan Adams
• Nadine Lustre as Abi Villavicencio
• Marco Masa as Jimbo Villavicencio
• Alonzo Muhlach as Jumbo Villavicencio
• Karla Estrada as Barbara "Ms. Barney" Clooney
• Lassy Marquez as Jude
• MC Calaquian as Stef
• Badjie Mortiz as George
• Jacky Woo as Daemon Yu
• Ryan Bang as Jin Jhong
• Tetchie Agbayani as Coney
• Boom Labrusca as Joseph
• Ron Morales as Rob
• Tess Antonio as Riff
• Menggie Cobarrubias as Eddie
• Chrome Cosio as Jake
• Jelson Bay as Chief Ben
• Valerie Concepcion as Editha "Edith" Villavicencio

Additional cast

• Jay-R as himself/host
• Karen Reyes as Nurse
• Raikko Mateo as Angelo
• Phoemela Baranda as herself/host
• Wendell Ramos as Jojo
• Miguel Faustmann as PM Thor
• Wilma Doesnt as Ms. Upanghet
• Bea Rose Santiago as Ms. Philippines
• Randy See as Dr. Kenneth Sy
• Divine Tetay as Interpreter / Kris Aquino Impersonator
• Ahron Villena as the Fishball Vendor

Release

The film was released nationwide on December 25, 2015, as an official entry to the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival. It was also released around the world on cities that have significant Filipino population except in the Middle East where the film was censored due to the region's predominantly Islamic religion.

Marketing

The teaser trailer of the film was released on YouTube on November 28, 2015, followed by its official trailer on December 4, 2015. This was followed by extensive TV spots on ABS-CBN network and its sister cable channels. It was also heavily promoted on the social media accounts of Star Cinema, VIVA, ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries including Vice Ganda's official Facebook account where he has over 12 million likes. A special dedicated page was also created by Star Cinema on its official website.

Music

The official theme song of the film is a cover of Jolina Magdangal's 90's hit "Chuva Choo Choo" which was relyricized and sung by Vice Ganda.

Reception

Box office

The Metro Manila Film Festival committee did not disclose the official breakdown of the box office gross for each film, instead, they released the total box office gross of all the films in the festival and listed the top four films in no particular order. From the beginning to the end of the festival, Beauty and the Bestie was consistently included on the list of the top 4 grossing films, the other being My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore, Haunted Mansion, and #WalangForever. GMA Films on the other hand reported that their film My Bebe Love was the highest-grossing film during the opening day with an earning of 60.4 million pesos. All other studios and distributors did not disclose their respective opening day gross. The Metro Manila Film Festival committee's reason for not disclosing the gross box office breakdown for each film was "to protect the other four film entries that did not make it on the top four." By January 7, 2016, the official closing of the festival, the film has grossed 428 million pesos making it the highest-grossing film in the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival. On January 25, 2016, the film has grossed 526 million pesos domestically, making it, at the time, the highest grossing Filipino film in domestic box office and the second highest grossing Filipino film of all time behind only A Second Chance.

Critical response

Beauty and the Bestie received mixed reviews from critics with many praising the humor, stunts, and other action sequences while criticizing the story and the acting.

Movies In the Philippines in a review have given the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars stating, "The film's comedy works the same but thankfully, adding Coco Martin to its story makes it watchable as he's character drives the narrative in a convincing way." the critic added "The good thing about Beauty and the Bestie is that it doesn’t rely much on satirical comedy or other out-of-nowhere input to the story just to make things fun or make fun of things." Oggs Cruz of Rappler.com commented that, "Beauty and the Bestie is a whole lot of everything resulting to nothing", but he also added, "However, when the film becomes true to the fact that it is just a medley of punchlines, it sort of works. There are lengthy bits in the film that are truly funny. It surely helps that Vice Ganda is a very capable comedian who can use both his wit and his awkwardly masculine frame to deliver jokes that render parts of the film worthwhile." Philberty Dy of ClickTheCity rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stating, "It just gets sillier and sillier, and that's a good way to go." and "Beauty and the Bestie thrives on Absurdity"

Controversies

Ticket swapping incident

On the opening day of the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival, several moviegoers raised concerns on social media that the tickets they bought for another MMFF movie, My Bebe Love:#KiligPaMore were misprinted. Instead, their tickets had the title of Beauty and the Bestie. This was confirmed by Jose Javier Reyes on Twitter. In the official Twitter account of SM Cinema, it tweeted that there was indeed a mistake in the tickets but the tweets were removed. However, on December 26, 2015, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the organizer of the festival, denied the accusations involving this incident. They added that the accusations were baseless and stated that fans should "be responsible in expressing their sentiments especially on social media." Wenn Deramas, director of Beauty and the Bestie, was skeptical about the ticket swapping incident and countered the claims of those moviegoers.

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient	Result
41st Metro Manila Film Festival	Best Child Performer	Alonzo Muhlach	Nominated
		Marco Masa	Nominated
47th GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards	Phenomenal Box-Office Star	Vice Ganda	Won
		Coco Martin	Won
	Most Popular Screenwriter	Wenn Deramas	Won
	Most Popular Film Director	Wenn Deramas	Won

External links

• Beauty and the Bestie at Star Cinema's Information
• Beauty and the Bestie at IMDb