Milli & Nathan (2011) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

Indonesia 2011
Director: Hanny R. Saputra
Cast: Olivia Lubis Jensen, Chris Laurent, Sabai Morscheck, Fendy Heryanto, Chaca Rasidy Ariefiansyah, Frans Tumbuan, Minati Atmanegara, HIM Damsyik
Rating: Remaja (Teen)
Language: Bahasa Indonesia
Release Date: 23 June 2011 (Indonesia)
Running Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

The Movie Review

High School lovers seeking for a romantic drama might want to check this out. An all-out run-of-the-mill teen love flick which might appeal only to Indonesians but at least saved by good and lovable performance of its lead actress Olivia Jensen Lubis.

Milli & Nathan is a teen love story taking on a classic theme of opposite attract. Or if one wants to elaborate it better in psychological terms, it's the classic interesting attraction of a melancholy and a sanguine. Set in Bandung, West Java, the story revolves around Milli Wiriawan (Olivia Jensen Lubis), a rich high school student with a laid-back and forgiving personality and a playful girl. She loves to hang out with a classmate named


MILLI & NATHAN
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Nathan Sastro (Chris Laurent) and eventually falls for him, a smart boy who often teaches Milli how to do her homeworks but he is overly serious and uptight. They finally dated and really heads over heels for each other. But suddenly out of the blue, the overly-ambitious Nathan opts to leave Milli to go to a college in Jakarta. Nathan breaks up with Milli as to seriously indulged in being successful claiming also for noble purpose to make his mother happy.

But these two love birds can't get their minds off each other and they keep on being best friends and still hang out like the old days as they're still in high school. But their different point of view of life is still as strong as ever. Nathan succeeds to finish his study as Cum Laude graduate while Milli suddenly quits college to pursue her dream to become a novelist. And she does become a novelist, a successful one in fact as her first novel titled "Manusia di Persimpangan" (A man in a crossroads) becomes a huge best seller.

And as predicted, Milli & Nathan eventually kiss and make up. In the heat of passion, they even end up making love (Read: Milli loses her virginity). Milli is very happy but not for long her worries come true when Nathan seemingly vanish again from her life. Another Milli's best friend since high school, Asti (Sabai Morscheck), then tries to cheer her up by setting Milli up with a truly caring guy, Oscar (Fendy Heryanto). Will Milli Wiriawan open her heart for Oscar or someone else? But what is exactly really happening between Milli and Nathan?

It feels rather quiet in the studio. Not solely because there weren't many people watching Milli & Nathan but also because of the lack of soundtracks or musical score. On important scenes where the present of a music is desperately needed to enhanced the emotional experience of audience, there is no music. So basically we're like eavesdropping two love birds arguing or saying love words to each other. Had the movie filled with more music, the emotional impact of the story would have been greater. Sigh...

Milli and Nathan is based ordinary story but thankfully still engaging nevertheless. It has ordinary dialogues but logically acceptable as the story is dealing with young folks. But even so, there are some poetic and meaningful words uttered by Milli. Unfortunately this Indonesian drama film which a potential to be of high quality isn't backed up by the good editing or memorable acting. Like I said earlier, the only memorable point of acting department is Olivia Lubis Jensen who makes this movie as watchable by viewers outside its segmented demographic. The presents of senior actors and actresses such as Frans Tumbuan, Minati Atmanegara, HIM Damsyik are only as cameos! Too bad this talents had to be underused. If I have to point one striking annoying thing about the film, there would be 2 things. The recurring dialogue of Milli exclaiming "Nathan!" and Nathan exclaiming "Milli!" to each other, it's like the filmmakers are trying to point where they have the idea of the title from. And the second thing is the recurring game of "Pancasila ada Lima Dasar" played between the characters, more and more of this game makes it even more annoying as they try too hard to be comical.

I watched Milli & Nathan in Gading 21 cinema inside the huge Mal Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta. It has a comfy seats with a price of only Rp. 20.000. I finished that day with watching What Women Want (2011). And oh man! I would rather watch Milli & Nathan again than to sit through the pretentiously un-romantic Andy Lau versus Gong Li. The chemistry between Olivia Jensen Lubis and Chris Laurent is a mixed bag and does not shine through but at least the story doesn't try "too much"

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
posted: Thursday, 30 June 2011 11:20 pm