LAST week, we caught Joseph Estrada?s comeback starrer, ?Ang Tanging Pamilya? on its opening day, because we?d enjoyed his action-comedy movies years ago, and wanted to see how his comedic ability had matured through the intervening years. Alas, despite some fun moments, after the film had come to its shrill conclusion, we rued the fact that Estrada?s proven stellar talent had been poorly used in Wenn Deramas? ostensible comedy.

There were a number of reasons for the movie?s less than stellar impact on viewers. First and foremost, it was Estrada?s big comeback vehicle, but the production didn?t really focus on him strongly enough and divided its interest between him and a number of other performers and subplots, some of them largely irrelevant and comedically unproductive.

Its other stars included Ai Ai de las Alas as Erap?s character?s wife, Toni Gonzaga as his only daughter, Sam Milby as Toni?s Fil-Am beau, many young actors playing his other children, sundry other sidekicks, neighbors and villains, plus Dionisia Pacquiao as Toni?s mother-in-law from hell.

It was just too much of a merry mix-up, which made it less than merry. Sadly, Estrada pretty much got lost in all of the clangorous commotion, and that was a pity, because his talent really deserves another big, bright outing.

The movie?s story wasn?t fully focused on Joseph?s character, and was more concentrated on its subplot, which involved Toni and Sam?s ?madcap? romance, which was more heavy-handed than delightfully, romantically frothy. For her part, Ai Ai kept things loud and lively, but all that hectic in-your-face energy got to be enervating after a while.

As for Dionisia Pacquiao, she and Ai Ai had a lot of feisty, combative moments, because they were supposed to hate each other to the most vitriolic max. It was all supposed to be outrageously funny, but it ended up being short of that, because Aling Dionisia had little real comedic sense, so she just went through the motions. Make no mistake, she?s a real character, but the humor she engenders is rather knee-jerk and short-lived because it feels so uninspired and?accidental.

The movie also suffers from an unselective, scattershot view of humor, throwing in just about anything and everything in the desperate hope that at least some of it will turn out to be funny.

An example of this lack of comedic selectivity is the scene in which Sam is forced to act as Joseph?s conductor. The scene starts out pleasantly enough, but it goes on and on?and on?until it becomes ridiculous, with Sam ending up on the jeepney?s roof?and even under its chassis.

Then, there?s the unexpected plot development that distends the story?s progressions to an unacceptable degree: Sam gets irritated at his future mother-in-law?and hits her in the stomach! What a confounding turn of events, and what a blow to his character?s basic goodness.

Even worse, after the dastardly deed is done, little mention is made of it again. So, what was all that unexpected viciousness for?a couple of startled laughs?

Some people may say it?s just a ?crazy? comedy so don?t expect anything logical. But stories and characters are supposed to be logical and consequential, so viewers can empathize with them. So, if things end up as heavy-handed and purposelessly nasty as this, what?s comedy for?