October 14, 2022
Jimmy Canaria (Sean de Guzman) was a security guard in an apartment building. During their duties, he and his fellow security guard Roman (Jeric Raval) observed the lives of the tenants who lived in the building. Jimmy's wife Amor (Christine Bermas) worked the day shift at a pizza kiosk. Despite their conflicting schedules, the two of them were very happy together and were expecting their first child together.
One day, there was a new woman Ms. F (Jela Cuenca) who moved into Rm 422, likely a kept woman of an old sugar daddy. She had long red hair and an irresistible perfume that mesmerized Jimmy. When she needed a plumber for a clogged drain, Jimmy eagerly volunteered to work on the problem. One night, upon Ms. F's text, Jimmy sneaked out of their house to meet her at her apartment for one night of lust.
The story is actually very simple, a familiar story of a happy couple broken up by infidelity. However, writer-director Crisanto Aquino was able to give this film a cinematic treatment which elevated it above a run-of-the-mill television drama. The scenes of the urban jungle of Manila were very well shot, as well as how the regular routine of the characters was shown by the daily time clock and CCTV footage at the apartment.
The sex scenes need not have been that graphic, but I guess the director had to abide with the Vivamax standard at this point. They were there to establish that Jimmy and Amor had a happy sex life together, albeit routinary. The night of forbidden passion between Jimmy and Ms. F had to happen to get the story going. Good thing we were spared from seeing Ms. F cavort with her decrepit sugar daddy.
The performances of Sean de Guzman and Christine Bermas had leveled up in this movie. They showed that under the proper direction, they can deliver when it comes to dramatic acting, and they're good, not just for bed scenes. For Jela Cuenca, being a femme fatale like Ms. F is not a big stretch for her. It was to her that de Guzman delivers his memorably killer line "Hindi totoong guard lang ako. Security guard ako, ma'am."
Jeric Raval was still very youthful-looking in his spiky hairstyle reminiscent of his action star heyday. He was very natural in his performance as Jimmy's older co-guard and his final scene giving Jimmy advice was very well-written and executed. Lara Morena played Mrs. S, a woman whom the guards observed was having trouble with her husband. She was likewise given a good scene giving Jimmy some well-said words of wisdom.
The way director Aquino set up, blocked and shot the conversations between Sean de Guzman and Christine Bermas was remarkably filled with dramatic tension and emotional connection. Their best scene together happened at the very end of the movie, beautifully shot in a verdant field at the foot of Mt. Makiling. In that tear-jerking scene, you can clearly see that they had really become very good actors. 7/10.
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