This Movie has suffered some form of discrimination. It has not be granted its fair and due value.
I started watching it with the clear intention to get an excuse to "postpone" the event. God only knows how may movies, books, articles, I have postponed what I had started...
Three minutes in to the movie and I was finding the most comfortable posture for I knew this was going to the very end.
You see the best of the Philippines. For those who have never been to Manila but know Nairobi, I say you have half the picture with you already. It is crowded and it is fast. The couple are welcomed to the city by "good samaritans" who waste no time in separating them from their extremely limited cash.
You can't avoid noticing the goodness of Oscar Ramirez and his wife. Dishonesty, crime, profiteering, fraud, thievery, robbery, fornication - you name the sin - surround them. Everyone is plotting or part of a plot. It is so much easier for Oscar Ramirez to stop resisting and join the flow of the powerful current. His resistance dignifies him.
What a devoted father! He carries a portion of his lunch across town as it "stinks" in the posh car of a new found co-worker in the armoured truck company. Even though he compromises along the the way, letting the wife "help" the family economy, he appears stoic making the choices. So is his final choice. He choses the future respect and honour of his children as he opts to make a sacrifice few men would dare.
I am glad that unlike Hollywood movies made outside hollywood, there was no white man or woman being forcefully introduced in to be the source of wisdom. May be the age of cliches is coming to an end.
They could have done a better job with the cinematography. The flashback scenes are almost themeless and obscure. Where they should help qualify and explain a character, the intention becomes questionable.