Cinemalaya:
Kiko Boksingero (Kiko, the Boxer) (Thop Nazareno) *** - After the death of his mother, an 11 year old boy being raised by his loving nanny, tries to reconnect with his estranged professional boxer father by taking up boxing. This is a Cinemalaya film. Going into this, I thought it was going to be a sports movie. But it’s not. Not at all. It’s more of a story of a son trying to reach out to his father in order to find some semblance of a family. It’s not a knockout but it’s a sweet tale with its heart in the right place but thankfully keeps things subtle and honest and doesn’t go for the cheap tears which films of this ilk tend to do. A solid drama.
Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha (The Family That Doesn’t Weep) (Mes De Guzman) **1/2 - There is an urban legend about a strange family whose members do not weep. If you let them stay at your house, whatever or whoever is missing in your life will come back. This local legend is used by a lonely woman with the help of his housemaid to bring back her estranged children. This is considered an acting comeback and first indie film of Sharon Cuneta, whom we haven’t seen in movies for a while. And she’s really good in this comedy-drama. She’s really funny and knocks out the drama when needed. She’s matched by Nino Muhlach and Moi Vien, who’s hilarious as her exasperated, sexually frustrated maid. Unfortunately, the film suffers from a really muddled script and even worse, obviously rushed editing. Some scenes cut in strange places. Some transitions are jarring. One scene ran for too damn long. There is a gem of an idea here and certainly there are moments that work but the film really suffers from bad execution.