Foreword
I was already
in line for the tickets, and I still didn’t know what movie I was going to
watch. Initially, I was hoping to see “Thy Womb”. I thought it was worth the
money I was going to shed off and the efforts I was to exert for a blog.
Unfortunately, this mall wasn’t showing it—so I had to go over the options they
offered. There is no way I’m watching and doing a movie critic for the always
so disappointing “Shake Rattle & Roll” nor the Enteng-Agimat film, and
especially not “Sisterakas”. And then, there’s “El Presidente”; I must admit my
apathy for history so it was out of the options. I ended up watching “One More
Try”. And here goes my insights.
The story goes
around 2couples—Edward & Jacq, a happily married and well-off couple who
still haven’t had a child of their own, and Grace and Tristan, a happy and
loving couple. Edward had an affair with Grace years before when he went to
Baguio and got her knocked up unknowingly. Grace lived a happy and contented
life raising Buchoy (not sure if I got his name down) on her own, until they
learned of his life threatening disease—some sort of rare case of anemia. It
was then that she decided to let Edward know. He was not a match for the bone
marrow transplant so the last option was laid out: to have another baby. It
would’ve been easy if both weren’t happily in their seperate relationships.
Jacq was totally against the idea of lending her husband as well as Tristan
accepting her girlfriend doing it with another man. The scientific way to
“copulate” was not working out so the doctor was highly recommending doing it
the natural way, which is to have a sexual intercourse. In our society, this
topic is sensitive and considering it is quite impossible since most Filipinos
are Christian (or is it Catholic?) and we have a conservative nation (or are we
really still?). Over time, the kid got worse which led Grace to plead for a chance.
It was unsuccessful and Jacq was not considering of having them do it again.
Until the kid’s condition was worsening along with the marriage of Edward and
Jacq falling apart and Grace breaking up with Tristan. Jacq then had to go to
Singapore for work and Edward decided to spend more time with his kid in Baguio.
After the birthday party of their son, Edward and Grace celebrated and then
fought, and then made love. This time Grace got pregnant, and the day she told
Edward, was also the day when Jacq learned of it and sought for her. The usual
hair-pulling and pushing cat fight happened when she found her crossing the
road. Grace did not get hit by a car, (I’m so thankful of a new twist), thus
she hit herself on a small pole directly to her stomach. She started bleeding
and it wqs only then when Jacq stopped hurting her. And since Filipinos are so
very fond of happy-ending stories, shortcut: baby was alive and they all
reconciled after some time. Years later, they all met up in Baguio, Jacq
finally got pregnant again, a baby Vernon was keeping his brother Buchoy alive.
The End.
Conclusion
And yes, I am
not a fan of happy-ending stories so I was quite disappointed when the film
ended. But I guess it is within our culture to be always happy and optimistic
that’s why they came up with that cheesy ending. Filipinos are very religious
and most of the time, it is portrayed in films like this. That is why I was
quite expecting to see them crying and desperate at some church for resolution—and
I’m so thankful I have seen none. But there were a lot of “emoting” scenes that
I find a little unnecessary.
I think there
were several symbolic events or things were shown in the film. Like when the 2
female characters first reconciled, it was Christmas (or almost at east). This
time of the year is often used in films for the resolution of problems &
reconciliation of characters since it is said to be the season of “giving and
forgiving”. Also, the story of Ibong Adarna, a Filipino folklore, was
often being read by Grace to her son as a bedtime story. It symbolizes and
emphasizes her willingness to do anything and everything to save the life of
her son just like what the last prince did for his sick father. Also, the
clothes of the characters were representing their social classes and
characteristics: Jacq was almost always dressed up in business attire with her
hair smoothly combed in place, showing her career oriented lifestyle, while
Grace would be wearing chill, easy, breezy and simple dressed down clothes with
her bed-head looking hair to show her carefree lifestyle. Then Edward is always
very sleek and clean looking showing his well-off life while Tristan would be
as dressed down like Grace, almost messy in a way to show his relaxed life as a
sculptor in Baguio,
Now, let’s
tackle the characters and their cliché roles: Grace, a typical single mom, who
would do anything, even sell her soul to the devil just to save her son. Then,
there’s Jacq, a typical housewife who would do everything for her family, and
who would always give in for her husband and her marriage. And then there is
Edward, a guy who doesn’t exist in real life (Hah, a very bias opinion there). And
last but not the least, Tristan, a typical jealous, protective and loving
boyfriend, who would end up drinking his problems away.
Anyway, I think
the movie is an okay-OKAY movie for me. It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t
really good—something I have already expected from the typical drama-romantic
love story for the typical hopeless-romantic Filipino audience.
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