"NASAAN SI FRANCIS?" BRIMS WITH ENERGY and experimentation when it comes to visuals, but if you're expecting something really substantial or a story with lasting impact, you're better off watching something else. The comedy that centers on the ill-fated junkie Francis (Epy Quizon) and his former band mates Boy (Paolo Contis) and Sonny (Rico Blanco), boasts a cast that includes Christopher de Leon, Rio Locsin, Ricky Davao and Rita Avila. There's an obvious collective enthusiasm in that stellar gathering, but it may as well have been a prolonged local TV sitcom.

When the stoned title character croaks barely 20 minutes into the movie, Boy and Sonny decide to steal Francis' unsold Ecstacy pills hidden in his home, right under the noses of his bickering brother and sister (Davao and Avila). Boy and Sonny try to pull off a "Weekend guy dazed or unconscious,

Stretched

That premise is stretched until-and a bit after-the climax. What pops out is a collage of new parodies from De Leon as a drug dealer who accidentally gets high and dances to electronica in a convenience store; and from Rio Locsin, who plays a vicious, platinum blonde-wigged pimp. It's great seeing them do new stuff for a change, and as extra-hyper characters that are ultimately transparent plot devices, they're quite good.

What the story lacks in heart is made up for in bells and whistles. The movie sports some snazzy animation, trippy digital effects, and rock video cinematography. The director-screenwriter, Gabby Fernandez, shows potential to be really good; he has an eye for out-there imagery and composition. The story could have been tweaked to be more involving and believable, though. It wasn't established that Francis' house has thick, soundproofed walls that an assortment of loud characters can go unnoticed in it for a long time.

Blast

"Nasaan si Francis?" doesn't bother with back stories except for brief glimpses of the very dead Francis and his siblings' happy moments together. But despite lacking depth, the off-kilter characters of Locsin and De Leon are fun because they're so effectively nonsensical. Rock musician Karl Roy's short but memorable stint as a semi-narcoleptic stoner dude is similarly funny. If only the same can be said about Blanco's zodiac-obsessed geek sidekick. But it's pretty clear that the cast had a blast working on the film, just as it's obvious that the humor is strictly hit-and-miss.