REVIEW: 'Dyagwar' Settles in the Monotonous Territory of an Uninspired Comedy

In Philippine Cinema, a movie like Dyagwar shows a lot of premise: Two cousin security guards (Boom Labrusca and Eric Fructuoso) watches over a residential compound. Pursued by the nature of their job, the two is required to be observant, unknowingly tracking of what's happening with the lives of the tenants. The thought of displaying the everyday hurdles and triumphs of different people, behind two security guards's perspective calls attention, but this promise is easily broken by using a monotonous script, mediocre execution and flimsily built characters.

Labrusca and Fructuoso respectively plays Manuel and Ruel, two cousins who appear more of a sketch than a character, which was initially hoped. Manuel is the righteous type - he's the output of the tenants's inner  angst and drama, while Ruel is otherwise, spending his nights with a prostitute, and ending looking like the hero (he's night watch, what did you expect), yes, it's pretty clear that doing the night shift has benefits too. 

The movie is built with little stories, from different people in and out of the compound, day and night, and Manuel and Ruel's little talks to each other, but these stories aren't tightly woven. The outcome to this is an interrupted flow of narrative that will be a punishment to even follow. What loses this even more is how the characters are built in developed, not right to be described as wholly bad, still neither right to be described as otherwise. Labrusca and Fructuoso are given such characters, as other ones are given - Chiokla Gaston as the amusing and equally annoying Shamcey; and others I'm too lazy to write about - but they both took it seriously, so you dig them both anyway, especially Fructuoso whose estimable prowess is displayed in this movie throughout.

Director Sid Pascua's story is monotonous, ran by a tedious pace and slapdash execution, motioned by a set of unmemorable characters and actors who play them. Pascua settles to where the movie naturally goes, which is to somewhere that you know beforehand, even before the film starts to fare to that place. He lets his elements play out their roles, without his full collaboration, without him maneuvering a film with much premise, and hence Dyagwar is described with how I just did.

The film is a wasted opportunity, an idea that could have built a strong script, and also three-dimensional; if not for the decisions, the directions that it decided it will take, an ambitious and triumphant film. C+