Noy

Not only flooded homes but also faith submerged in trials projects Noy Agapito as the face of every Filipino tested by life's challenges. Noy may be pertaining to two different persons bearing the same name with entirely different destinies, but it mainly revolves on the Noy we Filipinos can relate to.

A brutally honest and sharply written screenplay by Shugo Praico reflects the depressing and faith-shaking scenario of the Philippines today. The film focuses on the street smart persona of Noy Agapito who is determined to do everything he can for his family. The straight-from-the-shoulder opening narration from the lead character himself hints how tough the whole picture would be. Sharp-worded dialogues, demoralizing incidents and wretched fate pencil in the harsh reality of life.

Noy is a lost soul tested and shattered by difficulties looking for, if not his, his family's redemption. Despite all the bitter actuality we all face, this film makes me realize that when things get really unpleasant and difficult to handle, when nothing seems right and everything goes wrong, your family would always be there to run to.

A story as big as life itself put into writing, Dondon Santos's brilliant direction, a gripping cinematography and well-acted roles made this a glorious feat. Moreover, Rodel Nacianceno's documentary clips woven together with the story of a lifetime contributed to this film's triumph.

Saying that Coco Martin did a pretty good job is an understatement. His performance captivated my heart and soul. All the rest of the cast were very convincing. Cherry Pie Picache once again showcased her acting prowess as she brought to life an illiterate yet loving mother. In addition, the notable performance of Joem Bascon as an insecure and handicapped brother is also something to celebrate. Even the very short appearance of father and son Pen and Ping Medina did make the film better. However, the love story between our main character and his girlfriend, Divine, appeared to be somehow unnecessary. Still, it didn't ruin the whole picture.

Noy is not only about a lost man who found someone that could possibly uplift his country's situation. It's not merely about hope and success. It also voices out that we all have a responsibility not only towards ourselves and our family, but also for all the people around us. This is the Philippines's official entry to Academy Awards 2011 and whether it wins or not, I must say that this film is a victory for all of us Filipinos.

"Noy" is a movie that makes us think about the social reality in which we live in here in the Philippines. We follow the lead a character Noy who lives in a flooded slum area with his family, composed of an illiterate mother, an invalid elder brother and a hapless younger sister. He fakes his college credentials to get a job as a TV journalist. His initial attitude towards his job is one of shallow pragmatism. His assignment was to follow presidential aspirant Noynoy Aquino around during his campaign, yet Noy only thought of how this reporter gig can help him and his family out of poverty.

We follow the arc of the story as Noy gets to know Noynoy more and eventually becomes more cognizant of what real journalists do. However with Noy's self-realization comes overwhelmingly complicating realities (and overly dramatic plot twists) involving the members of his family, which eventually catch up with Noy himself.

Coco Martin really shines in the title role of Noy. He was a cocky jerk yet you also knew he had a heart somewhere in there. The scene where Noy could not do anything but helplessly weep and silently gnash his teeth on the stairs outside his house as his cup of suffering literally overflows was an intense tour-de-force acting showcase for this Prince of Philippine Independent Cinema.

Cherrie Pie Picache, Joem Bascon and Cheska Billones had very realistic supporting performances as Noy's unfortunate family . Noy's love interest Divine was played with surprising maturity by upcoming young actress Erich Gonzales. But I felt this love story angle (and love scene) was largely awkward and even unnecessary (as it was largely ignored in the end).

I liked the movie as a whole. I liked the very first line where Noy lays down the premise of the film, that everything will be real, except himself. The scene between Noy and his editor (Baron Geisler) where they discuss what journalists are supposed to do was very well-written, among others. The docu-drama gimmick worked very well, as the scenes interposing the Noynoy campaign with Noy's personal travails were very realistic and quite well-edited. The generous cooperation of Mr. Noynoy Aquino to this film in the midst of the busy campaign was really commendable. In the end, this rather depressing movie still manages to convince us that hope will still spring eternal.

20 minutes into the movie I was already loving it for the social relevance and the questions it poses. The cinematography was topnotch, with shots that are artfully done and makes creative use of the visual impact of the slums. Kudos also to the music which perfectly captures the mood of the story all throughout the movie. Halfway into the movie, I was actually impressed about the questions that it poses and the reality it exposes. The realities that the typical everyman Filipino (usually living within the poverty line) usually does not immediately give much of a damn who becomes president, because what only matters is the interest of his family. It's a bitter reality, but genuine nationalism is really quite rare, and usually it is the law of "every man/woman for her/himself (or his/her family)" that prevails. I love the exchange between the character of Noy (Coco Martin) and his editor (Baron Geisler) and how he attempts to enlighten Noy's uneducated views on society and politics, but eventually is greeted by stubbornness. I love that the main character is one who is sort of a jerk and an annoying idiot, but one that mirrors many of us, and that we expect his character to eventually have a point of enlightenment in the movie. I also love the metaphorical reflection of Noy's family to what is going on in the Philippines (and in many of Filipino families struggling to survive poverty), I also found depressingly fascinating the bleakness of the setting of Noy's home, a slum area in Metro Manila which is now seemingly a permanently flooded area, as an effect of the Typhoon Ondoy flood calamity that struck in 2009. Halfway through the movie, there were some minor awkwardly edited sequences, but it never did demoralize the movie...yet.

The second half of the film, on the other hand, was just a mess. After setting up some interesting points and questions, up from there, the movie looked like it went to various directions at a horrible pace. Many of the questions opened by the first half felt unanswered without any decent closure. It was not at an intentional manner but one that reveals the clumsiness of the scriptwriting and the direction. There is a scene where a child does a sort of "history background monologue" which would have been a really nice touch to the movie, but its editorial location in the movie felt misplaced.

The editing along with the direction was a disaster. There is no fluidity in the progression of the movie. One example that stands out is the gad-awful love story in the movie. Why is there even a love story subplot in here that is needlessly spotlighted? That was the first major fail-bomb that crippled the movie. The director obviously does not know how to shoot a love story because what I saw in there was a mixture of corny dialogue, corny acting, and an overall corny execution as to how the scenes should work out. I felt like I was watching a parody of an over-sentimental romance telenovela. The movie started to stink like manure when all of a sudden a torrid love scene occurred in the middle of this film which, by the way, should be a socio-political drama.

The film did not succeed on giving ample background on the other details of the movie. There wasn't much explanation why the area where Noy lives in is in a flooded state. Sure, we are aware of this right now, but audiences of this movie who are from other places outside manila or from another country or is watching this movie 15 years from now might be rendered clueless as to this background detail. Giving your audience background information is important in filming a movie like this which attempts to define the current reality situation. It was also not clear as to how Noy got into pretending as a media man. It felt like it relied on an audience who has already read the synopsis or seen the trailer. An audience who has not read or seen the trailer may not have a full understanding of what is going on in this movie.

In the first half I could understand the relevance as to why this was shot side-by-side the Noynoy Aquino campaign for presidency, but as the film went on, that link got lost, and the movie began to lose its consistency in effect.

The real meat of the story really lies on the plight of Noy's family struggling to rise from poverty, and the problems and miseries that haunt them. What is being shown in this movie does happen in real life. But the problem is that the film was not subtle in depicting it. During the lowest, most depressing part of the movie (when Noy and his brother argue over something), the main characters are suddenly being bombarded with problems that seem to have ridiculously popped up out of nowhere at the same time with a lack of basis to support the problem's existence. It felt like it diverted from making an honest depiction of harsh realities and exposed itself as an obvious attempt to make its audience cry.

But sure, there were moments that did manage to make my eyes watery. Because even though the execution of the story was bad, this was still a story of the Filipino people. And apart from other movies that pretend to be nationalistic or relevant, I could tell that this one had some sincerity in it. As a critic I should point out the movie's flaws, but I'm sure that other people will love this movie despite its technical flaws. To the naive, this serves as an eye opener to the bleak shadows of society, and this also serves as a prayer that hopes that a new administration will solve these bleak aspects of society.