Even though Metro Manila wouldn't be my first choice for a family movie night, I did find it to be very thoughtful and emotional. Any man will go crazy for his family and will do anything to protect and help. And this was no exception, a happily married farmer in need of money and food is going to move out of his nice peaceful rural home to the capital of the whole country. Talk about night and day, and for what seems like over half of the film, the family does seem out of their element. Oscar Ramirez would soon find himself working for an armored truck company. Not everyone is Manila may not be as they seem, and Ong fit the bill perfectly. Ong did seem to be very nice and took Oscar under his wing, but underneath Ong was the most corrupt workers in the company. Not only did he blackmail Oscar into helping him try to get the key for one of two missing lock boxes, Ong also made you feel the anger and little rage throughout the movie. I thought to myself "Why, Oscar was almost home free, why did you have to do this Ong?" Overall I thought the movie was great and if you are looking for a heartfelt film and I would recommend it to anyone.

I really enjoyed this movie. The plot was very suspenseful and the acting for the most part was a lot better than I expected considering the movies we saw in the first semester. Being bilingual, I was surprised to find out how similar Filipino/Tagalog was to Spanish. There were a fair amount of instances where I could sort of infer what they were saying without reading the subtitles. I found the main character to be a very likable person. It was also really cool to see how different urban life and people are compared to rural ones. When Oscar moved in from a farm to the city, you could tell he was very different from everyone else. He was generally a nicer, more considerate person. The way he is juxtaposed with his work partner, Ong, really brings out his differences. One case of this is when they just come out of the American's hotel room. Once they get back on the truck, Ong suggests they go back in and steal the money and the cocaine. Oscar naturally refuses and it is almost clear that this idea would ever come across his head. Another thing i really like about Oscar is that he does everything he can for his family, not himself. Like when he doesn't eat the meal that his partner bought for him, he saves it instead to feed his kids. And then obviously at the end of the movie, he actually dies to rescue his family from the slums, protecting their future.

I headed into this film with a glowing recommendation off a mate of mine. And it really delivers as story told where the viewer feels the crushingly powerless plight of the family, specifically the Husband. It also has a wider value in the commentary of urbanization of the modern world and the subsistence farmers being forced into leaving their livelihoods and traditions behind. It could double as a documentary!It begins with the rice farming family not being able to make ends meet with their harvest for the season. They are forced to leave their home and find a means of feeding their children due to substantially lower prices being paid for their crop.Upon arriving in Manila, a world away from their accustomed lifestyle, they are fish out of water. The hustle and bustle of city life makes any progress hard for them. Even when it seems progress is being made, corruption and greed stifle it.Both the husband and wife find ways of making money, although the husband is not fond of the wifes choice...he understands from the desperation that no job is too immoral.The films takes a couple of turns until its absolutely grandiose finale. And what an extraordinary end it has. I'm a heart of steel kinda guy, but this? This had me teary eyed and fully empathizing with the characters...Brilliantly done, and I highly recommend it. 9/10

METRO MANILA is a fine movie indeed, a wonderful character study that explores real life on the grim and gritty streets of the Philippines. It tells an age-old story of corruption and wasted lives, and yet it's so very well made that you can dismiss the familiarity of the storyline and simply get caught up in the compelling narrative.The movie stars the excellent Jake Macapagal as a mild-mannered family man who moves to the city in order to provide for his wife and kid. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that the population of this urban metropolis isn't to be trusted, and he's led into a sinister plot through no fault of his own. METRO MANILA is a very slow film indeed in which little happens, and yet there's overriding suspense, a sense of futile inevitability, which makes it absolutely gripping.The production values of the movie are strong indeed, and the performances are naturalistic in the extreme. For a guy whose previous experience of Filipino cinema has been the '60s B-movies of Eddie Romero and his ilk, this film's a real eye-opener; a gutsy piece of film-making, grittily realistic and yet full of heart, a film that can stand against the best competition coming from its neighbouring countries.