January 30, 2025
Joshua de Guzman (Jerald Napoles) was a devout Catholic who actively spread the mantra that Jesus is the Boss of our lives and we should always follow His commandments. He lived with his similarly religious mother Elizabeth (Irma Adlawan) in their house full of religious icons. He worked as the commercial loan manager of Kalayaan Bank, under his manager Mr. Montes (Bobot Mortiz). The boss's daughter Ella (Debbie Garcia) was his girlfriend.
Josh's seemingly charmed life all came crumbling down one day when the NBI (Joel Saracho and Raffy Tejada) accused him of embezzlement, AND his mother was diagnosed with a serious disease. His office friends -- kleptomaniac Bill (stand-up comic James Caraan), sex maniac Eli (VMX stud Albie Casino), and Josh fan Zoren (MTRCB ad dad GB Labrador) -- helped Josh cope as his faith and obedience to his Boss Jesus floundered.
Jerald Napoles had been starring in dramedies lately, notably "Instant Daddy" (2023) and "Seoulmeyts" (2024), but he got to do more serious drama than the others. From playing Lods in "Rewind" (2023), Pepe Herrera played a talkative mocking Satan here, but I do not get what all those fruits he was brandishing were about. The jokes and gags of the supporting comic sidekick ensemble may have some misses or shock value, but were generally
Religion is always a thorny topic in films, but writer Sherwin Bienvenida and director Marius Talampas took this bucking bronco squarely by its horns, pushing the edge of the R16 rating. The story was an adaptation of the Book of Job, and an entire scene was dedicated to this parallelism. Comedy can somehow lighten the mood, but their points were clear. Of course, there were still some corny scenes that were plain silly, all done in the spirit of slapstick.
They did not shirk from showing scenes and using language that are sexual, profane, or borderline blasphemous. Josh had conversations with Satan, who punished those who disobey God's law, inadvertently helping God's cause. There was even a literally iconoclastic scene that can make even the most non-practicing of Catholics gasp. They left a sticky dilemma at the ending open for the audience to make their own interpretation. 7/10
PS: This film was dedicated to its screenwriter, Sherwin Buenvenida who passed away last June 2024 from lung cancer. Buenvenida was a veteran comedy writer for TV and films, most notably for his work in kiddy gag show "Goin' Bulilit" (2005-2019) and teen comedy series "Luv U" (2012-2016). He continued working on the script of "Sampung Utos" with director Talampas even after he had been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in 2022.
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