Film Review - Manay Po

Regal's gay movie
By: Rianne Hill Soriano

Starring: Cherry Pie Picache, John Prats, Polo Ravales, Jiro Manio and many more
Directed by: Joel Lamangan

The gay theme of ‘Manay Po’ joins the bandwagon after the recent success of art films of the same genre including 'Brokeback Mountain’ and ‘Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.’ This movie may be falling under the same genre, but it is completely made for ‘masa appeal’ considering its totally mainstream presentation. With its ‘masa audience’ target, it does work with its comedy. However, there is really nothing new about this kind of movie. It is developed with the same old theme, concept, characterization, conflict, plot and storyline – just presented with new faces of actors and actresses and some new details to account for its story.

With my experience in watching this movie in a certain mall, I would like to address the moviehouses to give proper training to their ‘lagaristas.’ Indeed, it is very annoying to watch a movie with the next reel being played on the wrong cues for the whole duration of the movie. Normally, a feature film has 5 reels of prints with each print having a length of 2,000 feet. Every 90 feet is approximately 1 second of footage. And so, 1 reel is more or less 20 minutes worth of the movie. So you can just imagine how irritating it is to get bothered by either the advanced or late playing of the next print by the irresponsible, untrained or maybe undisciplined ‘lagarista/s.’ Also, though it has not happened for this movie, let me address that there are a couple of times when those people working behind the projector play some cheesy boy band, novelty songs or some other non-complementing tunes for the CBB (closing billboard) – which, obviously, are not the ones the filmmakers have made for their films. This may sound like a very trifle thing to take a look into but it is something really important because people should pay respect to the creators of the film. And even the credits is a part of the film and it should be given due respect.

‘Manay Po’ is your typical Regal movie. All the elements of a Mother Lily formula can be seen: quirks for the characters, song and dance number, a sequence in a beach as a breather – all these and even more have been seen in countless movies since the 80’s.

The movie’s mainstream comedy works. And with the more budget-friendly cost of a more advanced filmmaking technology as compared to what the not so distant past has offered, it is a great improvement to see a more digitally-enhanced OBB (opening billboard) for this movie. It may not be as spectacular as the OBBs of the likes of ‘LOTR,’ ‘Star Wars’ or ‘The Matrix,’ but at least there are efforts made nowadays to utilize digital technology for the almost always tightly-budgeted Pinoy commercial films. However, with the sound, Pinoy movies are still in the trying times – not being able to achieve good sound quality to come in par with international films. This movie, just like most Pinoy movies, gets out-of-synch with some of its dubbed lines. Although it’s minimal, it’s still a weakness.

On the surface, the comedy brought by the actors playing gay roles tends to be funny. However, they do not completely justify their gay roles as the sincerity in their acting is questionable. This may not be caused by the idea that they are straight guys in real life but this shows how far their acting can become convincing to the audience. And this becomes clearly seen with the effective punchlines thrown by the real-life gay actor IC Mendoza as compared to the acting of John Pratts, Polo Ravales and Jiro Manio.

With the story revolving around the life of Luz, a jeweler, and her three gay children Oscar, Orson, and Orwell, ‘Manay Po’ tries to project a family movie image with its wholesome and family-oriented gay theme. The various issues on identity crisis and ‘gayhood,’ the unconditional love of a mother to her children, the value of friendship, the struggle in a competitive and discriminating society, the effort to make stable relationships and overcome adolescent insecurities, the financial and emotional struggle of loved ones, and the search for freedom are all presented in the story.

Cherry Pie Picache’s efforts for her ‘S’ defect is quite obvious and it becomes inconsistent as there are times that it sounds authentic but at times she sounds too conscious of it – it looks forced on her tongue and it tends to sound fake. IC Mendoza is the most effective gay of the characters. Charles Christianson gives some good efforts for his supporting gay role, but just like the major characters John Pratts, Polo Ravales and Jiro Manio, his gay acting does not reflect a sincerely gay character still.

Many can relate to the movie’s theme and this becomes an edge for it. The ‘Magpakatotoo ka’ attitude, the manifestations of true and unconditional love, and the ups-and-downs in love and relationships – all these crawl their way towards the heart of the viewers who get to attach themselves and relate to the feelings of the characters. And it could have been better if these issues have been presented in a more creative fashion and not too contrived in a box of formula. Noticeably, particular issues as the relationship of best friends (a male and a gay) in their adolescent days do not ingeniously address the issue. It only provides a physical stream for the story. And if the viewers don’t try to analyze further, they won’t be able to dissect what the script tries to offer beyond its surface.

‘Manay Po’ is not an A-list Pinoy film but it gives the audience some laughs. And with the rising number of Pinoy films nowadays, I believe that the film industry is starting to survive death. Let’s continue to support Pinoy films, and who knows, a few years from now, great improvements may come.