Dwelling > Leisure
Fred Hawson
Joma Hermano (Zanjoe Marudo) was a 39-year outdated down-and-out ex-boxer who had misplaced his license. Sooner or later, he misplaced his job as a sparrer in a boxing gymnasium, and was bumped by a automobile on his method out. His long-estranged mom Sylvia (Dolly de Leon) took him in regardless of his contempt for her for abandoning him previously. She now had a youthful 21-year outdated son Joselito “Jayjay,” who had high-functioning autism, and a virtuosic expertise for enjoying the piano.
After a tough begin, Joma and Jayjay finally bought alongside. Sylvia requested Joma to maintain Jayjay whereas she wanted to be away in Batangas for her work. She additionally requested Joma to assist Jayjay enter a prestigious piano enjoying competitors sponsored by the elite Batiquin Conservatory. When Joma came upon that Jayjay was a fan of retired pianist Annette Labayen (Michelle Marquez Dee), they sought her out to get a suggestion.
If the plot sounds acquainted, it was possible that you will have seen its unique 2018 Korean movie of the identical title. That movie starred famous person Lee Byung-hun within the elder brother function, and Academy Award winner (for “Minari”) Youn Yuh-jung within the mom function. In that unique movie, as with this Filipino adaptation, it was the emotionally-moving performing performances of the three lead actors that elevated the familiarity and predictability of the plot.
For me, the film got here alive when Jayjay performed on the outdated deserted piano within the Labayen mansion. From then on, each time Jayjay performed the piano, be it Chopin or Rimsky-Korsakov or Tchaikovsky, Elijah Canlas’s life like efficiency in these scenes made me teary-eyed. Dolly de Leon performed a mom instantly reverse to the one she performed in her present theatrical hit “A Very Good Lady.” Her unhappy kindly eyes and face convey way more than she says.
Statuesque present Ms. Philippines Universe Michelle Dee struck a sublime silhouette as Annette Labayen, though her performing nonetheless wants additional honing. Tirso Cruz III as her father Don Roldan Labayen, solely had one scene with dialogue, when he confronted the snooty snob Cesar, the director of the Batiquin conservatory, performed by Bart Guingona. Althea Pinzon was a pleasant presence as Jayjay’s pal Apple, whereas Katya Santos performed her coquettish mom Eva.
From the very first act of this movie, all the standard tropes of household melodrama have been already very evident. A loser in life estranged from his mom, who’s now saddled with a particular baby, who simply so occurred to be a musical prodigy.
We have seen so many permutations of those tales already in previous dramas, such that we are able to in some way predict what was going to occur. When the mom started exhibiting a worsening cough, the clearer the plot turned.
This assessment was initially printed within the creator’s weblog, “Fred Mentioned.”
