Ruel S. Bayani's One More Try has an interesting premise, but it is bound by its own loudness. Crazy enough, it brought home many awards in MMFF. Of course, there could be a lot of reasons that this movie made it Best Picture in the festival - reasons that would be unfathomable to me (or to many others), anyway. So...who's got the time?
One famous director (who in respect, I will keep the name of undisclosed - not Brillante Ma. Mendoza, this is someone else) told me in a conversation over Twitter: "In my honest opinion, we should let MMFF be MMFF and stop complaining," he said. "Let us do our art somewhere else." This is an obvious retort for Thy Womb, though the famous director did not made this clear on his end, not winning the anticipated award that instead as aforementioned earned by One More Try, a movie that is overrated as it is overwritten.
One famous director (who in respect, I will keep the name of undisclosed - not Brillante Ma. Mendoza, this is someone else) told me in a conversation over Twitter: "In my honest opinion, we should let MMFF be MMFF and stop complaining," he said. "Let us do our art somewhere else." This is an obvious retort for Thy Womb, though the famous director did not made this clear on his end, not winning the anticipated award that instead as aforementioned earned by One More Try, a movie that is overrated as it is overwritten.
The movie starts with a deceiving promise. Characters and their own issues are solidly and straightforwardly introduced. Dingdong Dantes (Segunda Mano) and Angelica Panganiban (Madaling Araw, Mahabang Gabi) play a married couple, Edward and Jaq. While some issues have challenged them, they are completely happy in each other's company. Then a Baguio native, Grace (Angel Locsin, In the Name of Love) enters the picture. "I have a son," her tears now jerking. "He's five years old. He's sick...and he needs his father."
Grace and Edward had a secret romantic affair with each other years ago. Botyok (Miguel Vergara) is the effect of this tryst. He has severe aplastic anemia, a disease incurable unless the patient undergoes a successful bone marrow transplant operation. Edward eventually agrees on donating his bone marrow, but learns he do not match his son's. The only chance left on saving Botyok's life is to reproduce a matching bone marrow donor. Yes, this maybe done In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or, if that fails, the "natural way."
After this dilemma is revealed, and questions about morality is posed, the movie inevitably falls apart. It suddenly becomes completely adherent to mainstream formula. There are a lot of crying, slapping, maiming and all other things in this that the movie's emotionally intense moments feel monotonous to others. Angel Locsin's notwithstanding-ly impressive performance and admirable professionalism do help in aiding this issue, but it isn't enough compensation for the exasperating camp in the movie.
In all frankness, One More Try has another movie in it - a beautiful kind, not an excessively loud and soapy material like this one mostly turned out - but its finding a needle in a haystack.
VERDICT: B-
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