Jason Paul Laxamana’s To Love Some Buddy posits that it’s harmless to be in love with your best friend.

To Love Some Buddy revolves around best friends, Faith (Maja Salvador) and Julius (Zanjoe Marudo), who chose to give in to love and live with the consequences of choosing to cross the line and risk their friendship. As best friends they are inseparable because they both share the same dreams, same songs genre, and same perceptions in life. They agree with each other and know how to never leave each other’s side. Faith was always the one who runs to Julius every time she has a boy problem even when Julius is busy with other stuff. Since they’re so close, they are inevitably asked by other people if they’re just best friends or more than that. Julius is always the one who frustratingly explains to others that they are just friends—and that’s it. Until one night, he starts seeing Faith in a different way and tries to convince her to start dating. Faith agrees and they decide to become more than just best friends with the hope that their decision will make their bond much stronger.

The movie is for those who took the risk to find answers to the what-ifs beyond the friend-zone. It’s a journey that crosses the line in an enjoyable way. It’s very relatable and somehow very crazy because one can always entertain the thought of romantic love towards a best friend—that it’s possible to try to tell the truth that you are in love. Yes, it’s weird to be in love with a best friend, but it’s all about taking it to the next level while enjoying the relationship. The story tackles everything that usually happens when you are in a kind of relationship that begins wit friendship—the hopes, the flaws, the mistakes. Because what’s more nakakakilig is that when two persons start out as friends and end up being lovers. This movie just makes one laugh out loud, cry out loud, and love out loud.

Director Jason Paul Laxamana gave his best hugot movie yet with a fresh team-up of two of the biggest stars. Maja and Zanjoe really have the chemistry. Also, the romantic connection between them is surprising. They exude more of the friendship feels rather than the typical cheesy feels. The two have long expressed their fervor to work with each other and this indeed is a good material that made that possible.

4 out of 5 stars

Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana. Starring Maja Salvador, Zanjoe Marudo, Donny Pangilinan. Produced by Black Sheep under ABS-CBN Films.