Ruel Bayani scores a hit, creates a classic

MANILA, Philippines - Ruel Santos Bayani created another unforgettable cinematic masterpiece and scored a certified box-office hit in Star Cinema’s family drama One More Try. The film grossed P13.1M on its opening day and emerged as Best Picture at the 38th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

In One More Try, Ruel weaves a luscious tale laced with intricate layers of plausible conflicts that left audiences crying and cheering and gagging for more. Ruel zeroes in on the core competence of Pinoy movies — the unmatched acting prowess of Filipino artists. It has been clear from the get-go that One More Try is character-driven as much as it is centered on its powerful narrative that is focused on its four major characters played flawlessly by Angelica Panganiban, Dingdong Dantes, Zanjoe Marudo and Angel Locsin.

In the movie, Grace (Angel) seeks the help of Edward (Dingdong), the biological father of her child Bochok (brilliantly played by child actor Miguel Vergara) who is suffering from a rare blood disease and must undergo a bone marrow transplant. Grace and Edward need to conceive a child that would match the DNA of Bochok for the transplant to work. However, the squarishly handsome Edward is married to feisty Jac (Angelica) and the earthy Grace is in a relationship with the ruggedly attractive Tristan (Zanjoe) making it morally and emotionally difficult and challenging for Grace and Edward to conceive, especially when their option of in-vitro fertilization failed making the “natural” way of conceiving the only viable and expeditious option to save Bochok’s life.  

Ruel casts a magic spell on us, the audiences, that grabbed us by the very core of our humanity as he challenged us to think about the extent of our willingness to save a child’s life with our conservatism as Filipinos as the key influencer of our decisions. As we willingly entered the imagined world created by Ruel, we accompany the characters  in their individual and collective journeys as they all aspire to save Bochok’s life and we empathize with each of them leaving us as torn and as confused as the characters the actors of the film expertly breathed life into.

Audiences cheered and clapped with bravura of Jac’s emotional outburst when the final threads of her patience as a supportive wife to Edward started to crumble and fall. On the other hand, we also felt the deep pain of Grace who is willing to let go of her morality and self-respect and dignity to save the life of her child.

I personally felt the psychological conflict of Dingdong’s character in his desire to do everything he can to save the life of his son including making love with Grace in spite of the fact that he is greatly endangering his marriage with Jac whom he professes as the love of his life.   

Angelica, Dingdong and Angel are all known as formidable dramatic actors but Zanjoe is a great revelation as a serious actor in the movie with his quiet yet very powerful presence as Grace’s understanding and loving boyfriend.

Carmina Villarroel and Agot Isidro also gave unforgettable performances as Dr. Diesta and Marga, respectively, while the ever-reliable Gina Pareño as Nanay Medy did not fail us with her equally riveting performance as the voice of reason and fairness in the movie.

The four leads of the movie did not upstage each other because Ruel orchestrated them in pitch perfect harmony as he expertly presented them as a singular unit interconnected with each other and integral with the development and resolution of the movie’s narrative. Ruel along with his team writers Jay Fernando and Karen Ramos, lighting director Charlie Peralta, musical director Raul Mitra and editor Vito Cajili scored a big hit and created a movie that is instantly canonized as a modern Filipino classic. One More Try championed the true essence of filmmaking as it epitomized and communicated the indefatigable human spirit and transformative power of true love in all its many forms.