Toy Story 3

Cast: (Voice only) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Michael Keaton; Director: Lee Unkrich; Producers: ; Screenwriters: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich; Genre: Animation/ Comedy/ Adventure: Distributor: Pixar/ Walt Disney; Running Time: 102 mins;

Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewrs age 13 and below with parental guidance

Andy, the owner of the toys is now grown-up and is leaving for college. His mother asked him to sort his things and decide which goes to the boxes labeled ‘college’, ‘attic’, ‘donation’ or the garbage bag. This is such a heart-wrenching moment for his toys that have not been played for a long time and have been kept in the toy chest for years. Andy decides to put Woody in the box “going to college” while his other toy friends are put in a trash bag but Andy intends to put them at the attic. His choice of container leads to a near rendezvous of the toys to the garbage truck. Afraid that they may end up in the landfill, the toys managed to climb back and decide to go to the ‘donation’ box headed to a day care center. Woody knows the garbage truck incident was a mistake and he tries to convince them to come back home. The group did not believe Woody and they find themselves in the day care center and welcomed by a strawberry scented bear named Lotso. They are convinced that they have found their new home in the day care center and are assured by Lotso that they will be played there. Woody is still not convinced so they decided to part ways. Woody later on learns that Lotso is not the friendly teddy bear he appears to be and his toy friends are now in danger.

Toy Story 3 could be the most anticipated family movie of the year. Being the third installment of a successful franchise, it has to at least be at par with its earlier versions or better. And it never failed in this respect. The creators of the movie managed to thicken the plot with its new premise and additional villain characters which are far more evil-like and frightening than the previous villains in earlier movies, making Toy Story 3 the darkest film of the franchise. This time, the fun and laughs are lesser, but the sentiments are more or less the same. The movie is still as imaginative and the “great escape” adventure of the toy characters is very engaging. The voice actors are great as they have always been. All in all, Toy Story 3 remains to be both fun and heart-warming experience that brings out the child in all of its audience no matter what age.

The Toy Story has been working on its original premise, what if toys are like humans with feelings and emotions. This makes the children, and even the child-at-heart, appreciate all things around, both living and non-living, especially those that make them happy however temporary. The film successfully conveys this idea and achieves such effect to a great extent. For most times, audiences forget that they are actually watching toys. In the movie, toys are actually more human than other humans. How does it really feel to be abandoned? Or left alone? Or betrayed? It is almost always easier to escape and evade but the toys in the story has taught its audience loyalty, courage, perseverance and far more importantly, hope. Against all odds, they stick together and their friendship and camaraderie make them survive any ordeal, making things work for them in the process including a peaceful turnover, a meaningful goodbye and a sentimental letting go. The evil ones get their punishment and the good ones are rewarded. However, the ‘prison break’ and ‘great escape’ plots and some degree of violence in the movie may be a bit dark for the very young so CINEMA recommends that parents supervise their children below 13 years old while watching.

The Karate Kid

ASSESSMENT ONLY
Cast: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Shenwei Wang; Director: Harald Zwart; Producers: Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Ken Stovitz, Jerry Weintraub, James Lassiter; Screenwriter: Christopher Murphey; Genre: Action/Drama/Family/Sport: Cinematography: Rodger Pratt; Distributor: Columbia Pictures; Location: USA/ China; Running Time: 140 mins;

Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 13 and below with parental guidance

BRIEF FILM SYNOPSIS

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is a 12-year old living in Detroit, USA when his mother Sherry (Traraji P. Henson) gets a job in China. Once in China, Dre misses home and wants to go back to the USA. His mother tells him that China is home now, and he must learn to accept his new home. Dre begins to like China when he falls for his classmate Mei Ying (Wenwen Han). Dre’s feelings for Mei Ying are seen by Cheng (Shenwei Wang) the class bully who is out to stop it. Cheng puts Dre to the ground with ease using his Kung Fu training. Dre doesn’t have a chance of using the little karate that he knows, and Cheng proves it the next time he sees Dre. Dre is getting beaten badly when Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) the maintenance man, secretly a Kung Fu Master, stops the fight. Dre persuades Mr. Han to teach him Kung Fu. With this knowledge, Dre must now face down Cheng in a fight to win his respect in a Kung Fu tournament.

Sex and the City 2

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Kattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon; Director: Michael Patrick King; Producers: Michael Patrick King, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Melfi; Screenwriter: Michael Patrick King, Candace Bushnell; Editor: Michael Berenbaum; Genre: Drama/Comedy/Tourism: Cinematography: John Thomas; Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures; Location: New York/ Middle East; Running Time: 135 mins.;

Sex and the City 2: sugar coated poison



By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS



Those who have become fans of the cable-TV series will no doubt find something to like in the movie... but for audiences who regard movies as powerful shapers of values particularly of the young, Sex and the City 2 is sugar-coated poison.





After two years, the quartet of long-time gal-pals Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) reunite and update one another on their woes, their joys, etc. Lawyer Miranda grumbles that she is pushed around by her male boss simply because she’s female. Housewife Charlotte thinks she’s a happily married mother of two kids. PR agent Samantha swears happiness is looking 35 when she is 50.. Writer Carrie (who narrates the story) chooses marriage without children as most fulfilling for her. They are so close that when Samantha is gifted by a potential client with the opportunity to travel first class and spend some days in style in Abu Dhabi, she wouldn’t go without the other three. In Abu Dhabi, situations invite them to confront their insecurities otherwise unexamined back in America.

A sequel to the 2008 feature by director Michael Patrick King, Sex in the City 2 is candy for the eyes, especially if viewers relish high end fashion, high end travel, high end living, high end everything. There’s a story all right, a story of women who represent the ultimate consumer, and everything else in the movie backs this up. The pace is snappy and so is the script, and with the frequent costume changes, fancy settings, “beautiful people” and exotic locales, it’s hard to get drowsy or bored watching this 145-minute bloated version of the TV sitcom. In this technically polished production, acting is sincere, but the characters are contemporary and seem too close to home to challenge one’s acting skills. Besides, when the movie is almost fashion-porn, who needs to act?

Those who have become fans of the cable-TV series will no doubt find something to like in the movie, for it is indeed entertaining in its own right, but for audiences who regard movies as powerful shapers of values particularly of the young, Sex and the City 2 is sugar coated poison. If the movie is candy for the eyes, it is also toxic for the impressionable soul.

While sound values are presented—like fidelity, family, sexual equality, tolerance and respect for alien culture—these are glossed over when contradictory values forcefully grab screen time, making us wonder whether the movie is pushing a hidden agenda or is simply being dismissive and downright contemptuous of people who are not “in”.

A lavish gay “wedding” eats up nearly half an hour, with the Best Man being a woman (Parker) in a tuxedo, and the pastor another woman—60-something Liza Minelli doing a whole song and dance routine (I’m a Single Lady) in a glamorized man’s shirt and fishnet stockings. That number in itself trivializes the pastor’s ministry and makes of the marriage ceremony a vaudeville show.

Also inserted into the story is a tour of a luxurious hotel suite—mouthwatering to many no doubt, but may be thought-provoking to some who may wonder how much the five-minute plug is actually costing the hotel owner. Five minutes in a movie where fates are sealed in a matter of seconds must cost quite a fortune.

While the gang of four fashionistas do care to be there for each other, they are too self-absorbed, pathetically unaware that there breathes a world outside of their own sparkly little bubble.

Carrie prides herself in juggling career and marriage with elan, but she’s a writer who has no “give and take” in her vocabulary.

Charlotte is the picture of a contented wife and mother, until her two-year old daughter impatient for her attention imprints red paint on her prized Valentino skirt.

Lawyer Miranda plays safe and does some research on the local customs before they fly off to Abu Dhabi but the movie does not take her seriously; instead it gives the youth-obsessed Samantha license to mock with impunity the sex and dress issues of the Muslims. In fact, Samantha is the kind of American tourist no self-respecting American traveler would want to be identified with, uncovering her profound maleducation by openly defying mores of Islamic modesty and seducing a man in public in full view of a traditional Muslim couple. In real life, Samantha could have been stoned, but in the movie the director lets her go scot-free, her neck saved by burqa-clad women who literally unveil themselves as clones of the fashion-obsessed quartet from New York. (Uh-oh… insult upon injury! Let’s see how this movie performs among Middle Eastern audiences).

It is doubtful whether Sex and the City writer and director King intended to portray these four friends as conflicted human beings struggling for enlightenment, but if he believes film ought to serve as a tool for man’s growth, he needs to transform his heroines from women of (dubious) style to women of substance. From lauding these women’s avarice he should now challenge them to get real and outgrow their narcissism.

In Sex and the City 2, women empowerment means the entitlement to la dolce vita, the privilege to shop on a husband’s largesse, and the freedom to carry condoms in your bag as a basic necessity. In spite of everything they have, these women can’t seem to have enough. We’d love to see Sex and the City 3 do justice to women, real women. Miranda will now be running her own law office and rendering legal services pro bono to cuckolded husbands on welfare. Charlotte will be shown happily conducting healing sessions in a facility for battered wives in Harlem while her children play with her patients’ children in a crying room she’s built out of her own pocket. Realizing that a novel of import is never written from atop an ivory tower, Carrie will move to Brazil to write while living alone in a favela and managing a soup kitchen for its residents—because has husband has now claimed his right to enjoy in solitude black and white movies without talkies. Samantha who will have (finally) fallen in love, will now be residing somewhere in Afghanistan as the fourth wife of a handsome 80-year old sheik who demands that she wear a burqa for life, or else… (The author is Founding Board Member of the CBCP/CINEMA)

Letter to Juliet

ASSESSMENT ONLY
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Chris Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal; Director: Gary Winick; Producers: Mark Canton, Caroline Kaplan, Ellen Barkin; Screenwriters: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan; Music: Andrea Guerra; Editor: Bill Pankow; Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy; Cinematography: Marco Pontecorvo; Distributor: Summit Entertainment; Location: New York/ Italy; Running Time: 105 min.;

Technical Assessment: 3.5
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

BRIEF FILM SYNOPSIS

When a young American travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author to travel in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined.

Sophie (Seyfried), a current fact-checker and aspiring writer is spending a bleak pre-honeymoon with her workaholic-chef fiancé, Victor (Bernal) in Tuscany. While he parages himself throughout Italy’s finest eateries in search of authenticity, Sophie stays in Verona where she visits “Juliet’s” charmed abode. There, she discovers dozens of letters hidden within the courtyard walls from love-struck women all over the world, and is so taken by one from Claire (Redgrave), dated back to 1957, that she responds to it. Recognizing a story opportunity, Sophie meets Claire. The two, along with Claire’s painfully uptight grandson Christopher, emback on a quest to find out which of the 74 Lorenzo Bartolinis in Tuscany is the long lost subject of Claire’s letter.

ADDITIONAL REMARKS: It’s a clean movie but subject matter is not for children.

I'll Be There

Cast: Gabby Concepcion, KC Concepcion, Jericho Rosales; Director: Maryo J. De Los Reyes; Producers: Charo Santos-Concio, Malou N. Santos; Screenwriters: Athena Aringo, Melissa Mae Chua, Anjeli Pessumal; Music: Jesse Lucas; Editor: Tara Illenberger; Genre: Drama: Cinematography: Gary Gardoce; Distributor: Star Cinema Productions; Location: Philippines;

Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

Ulila sa ina si Maximina Dela Cerna (KC Concepcion), baguhang New York-based fashion designer, at lumaking di kapiling ang ama dahil iniwan sila nito sa Amerika at hindi na tinupad ang pangakong babalikan sila. Nang mabulilyaso ang inutang niya capital para sa pagsisimula ng career sa fashion ay biglaan siyang umuwi sa Pilipinas at kinontak ang nawalay niyang ama na si Pocholo Dela Cerna (Gabby) upang kunin ang parte ng mana niya sa naiwang conjugal property ng ina. Pawang galak at kasabikan sa anak ang naramdaman ni Poch samantalang galit at hinanakit ang namamayani naman kay Maxi (a.k.a Mina). Saglit na ipinagdamdam ni Poch nang hayagang sabihin ni Maxi na pera ang dahilan ng pakikipagkita niya sa ama, subalit nangingibabaw ang pagnanais niyang makabawi sa nawalay na anak at mapagbigyan ang nais nito. Naisip ni Poch na ipagbili ang lupain sa mga interasadong banyagang investor subalit kailangang bigyan ng panahon ang pagsasaayos ng mga papeles. Dahil dito ay napilitan si Maxi na mamalagi sa poder ng ama habang hinihintay ang kailangang halaga. Sa pamamalagi ni Maxi sa ama ay nakilala niya ang binatang ama na si Tommy (Jericho Rosales). Dahil sa mapapait na karanasan sa mga taong nang-iwan sa kanya ay tinagurian siyang “angry lady” at di man lang siya naging magiliw sa kanyang pakikitungo. Ano ang kahihitnan ng muling pagsasama ng estrangherong mag-ama? Ano ang magiging kaugnayan ni Tommy sa buhay nilang mag-ama?

Walang bago sa kwento ng pelikula, lalo na at di maiwasan na masalamin dito ang totoong buhay ng mga pangunahing tauhan bilang nagkawalay na mag-ama. Subalit may diin ang mga linya at kahit papaano ay naipakita ang emosyon ng galit at hinanakit lalo na sa parte ni Maxi, samantala emosyon ng pananabik ang lumutang sa parte ni Poch. Mahusay ang trato ng Direktor sa magkahalong komiko at drama. Markado rin ang kaswal na karakter ni Tommy. Maganda ang disenyo ng produksyon na tila hinahatid ang manonood sa mapayapang pagtatapos ng kwento kahit na sa mga madamdaming tagpo. Nakakaaliw ang sinematograpiya kung saan pinapakita ang yaman ng kalikasan at detalye ng paggawa ng tuba. Panalo ang inilapat na musika sa pagpapalabas ng damdamin. Akma lamang ang ilaw at di kinailangan ang maraming effects. Sa kabuuan ay maayos ang teknikal na aspeto ng pelikula at nakatulong sa pagbibigay ng saysay sa gasgas na kwento, bagama’t ang ilang bahagi nito ay nakakaantok sa bagal ng pag-usad ng mga eksena.

Nagiging ganap na malaya ang tao kung wala siyang kinikimkim na anuman nakapagpapabigat sa kanyang kalooban katulad ng galit, sakit, o panghihinayang. Ang mga ito ay dapat na hinaharap ng may pagtanggap, pagpapakumbaba, pagpapatawad at tapang na magpatuloy sa buhay na taglay ang pag-asa hatid ng bukas sa kabila ng lahat. Responsibilidad ng ama bilang magulang na suportahan, alagaan at gabayan sa paglaki ang anak hanggang sa kaya na niyang dalhin ang kanyang sarili. Kung magkaroon man ng problema ay dapat hinaharap at di tinatakasan. At kung may pangako ay dapat tuparin. Sa mga aspetong ito ay naging duwag ang ama sa kwento, at naging makasarili nang bawiin ang pangako na gawan ng paraan ang kailangang halaga ng anak. Sa kabila ng lahat ay di maikakaila ang lukso ng dugo. May punto ang pelikula na ang unang hakbang ng pagkakasundo ng mag-ama ay ang sama-sama nilang pagsimba at bigyan-diin ang parte ng pagbati ng kapayapaan sa isa’t isa. Sa bandang huli, ang anak na nangulila sa kalinga ng ama at ama na nais bumawi sa nawalang panahon ay nakita ang mga sarili na magkaugnay habang buhay.

Emir

ASSESSMENT ONLY
Cast: Frencheska Farr, Sid Lucero, Julia Clarete, Jhong Hilario, Dulce, Bayang Barrios, Bodjie Pascua, Gigi Escalante, Beverly Salviejo, Liesi Batucan, Melanie Dujunco, Kalila Aguilos; Director: Chito S. Rono; Producer: Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) & Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP); Screenwriter: Jerry Gracio; Music: Chino Toledo; Genre: Musical/ Drama; Location: Philippines and Middle East; Running Time: 145 mins;

Technical Assessment: 3.5
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

BRIEF FILM SYNOPSIS

EMIR tells the story of Amelia, a Filipina, who decides to work abroad to help her family. She is the nanny of the Sheik’s newly born son, Ahmed. Amelia sees Ahmed growing up, introduces him to the culture, values and language of the Philippines. She acts as surrogate mother to the young prince and will sacrifice everything to protect him.

ADDITIONAL REMARKS: The positive and negative elements faced by overseas Filipino workers (OFW): exposure to other cultures abroad while supporting one’s family in the Philippines, but there is risk to life and family.

Killers

Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heighl, Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, Katherine Winnick, Kevin Sussman; Director: Robert Luketic; Producers: Scott Aversano, Jason Goldberg, Mike Karz, Ashton Kutcher, Chad Marting, Christopher S. Pratt, Josie Rosen; Screenwriter: Bob de la Rosa, Ted Griffin; Music: Rolfe Kent; Editor: Richard Francis-Bruce, Mary Jo Markey; Genre: Comedy/ Action/ Drama: Cinematography: Russell Carpenter; Distributor: Lionsgate; Location: USA; Running Time: 99 mins;

Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

Nursing a broken heart after a recent failed relationship, Jen (Katherine Heigl) vacations in Nice, France with her protective parents Mr. and Mrs. Kornfeldt (Tom Selleck and Catherine O’Hara). Jen convinces them to let her be more independent with a different schedule or agenda. She meets a handsome hunk Spencer Ames (Ashton Kutcher) who says he is some kind of consultant. They fall in love and marry. They live a bland, contented suburban life, with Spencer getting along well with his in-laws and friends in the community. Unknown to Jen, Spencer lives a secret life as a superagent-spy-hitman who takes orders from a mysterious boss who pays well and gives complicated instructions through a cellphone or other unconventional ways. After three years of living a placid existence, Spencer is viciously attacked on various occasions by close friends and neighbors for no apparent reason. He suspects a price has been put on his head after he had lain low for sometime from his secret job. Jen demands to be enlightened about this turn of events, wanting to know who her husband really is and what he does. But Spencer can tell her only so much because, he said, of a possible risk to her life if she knows more. While having doubts about Spencer, Jen helps him in the deadly fights and even saves his life though she is frightened of guns. Both now try to figure out these mysterious attack and threats to life. Will they succeed?

The opening scenes of Killers immediately spark the viewer’s interest because of the breathtaking lovely scenes of Nice effectively shown to advantage as the panning camera also tracks a running red car. But this so-called comedy falls flat on its face, so to speak, in the first hour or so when nothing happens, no excitement, no witticism, no laughs. When the fighting erupts, it is so vicious and violent, it seems like we have an action picture. Then the film ends just as placidly as it began. This non-sensical movie puts to waste the talents and acting expertise of its actors. Take for example, Tom Selleck. Here, sort of a gruff but charming doting Daddy. Well, he is underutilized. So with our female lead, beautiful Katherine Heighl who had successfully performed other substantial roles before. Ashton Kutcher, as expected has looks and charm but he kills instead and doesn’t have a chance to do any comedy. Not much to commend in this forgettable picture.

In a way, Killers reflects the present times when quite a member of people opt to kill for a living. Ashton Kutcher, in this movie may be a cut about the usual guns for hire as he is employed in an agency (perhaps the CIA?) that gives him “jobs” to do a la 007 James Bond. But killing is wrong per se, no matter how legitimate or worthy is the motive, unless it is done in self defense. Speaking of killers for hire in our midst, it is said, they will kill even for a measly P5, 000. (That’s how cheap human life has become). After all, with the use of masks and unplated get away motorcycles, they are hardly caught and made to answer for their crime. This is a crime that cries to Heaven for justice and perhaps government as well as well meaning citizens should get together to find a solution to this problem that is getting to be more serious and pervasive. Aside from the over-the-top violence for this kind of picture, there is sensuality though there are no explicit sexual scenes.

Noy

Cast: Coco Martin, Joem Bascon, Baron Geisler, Cherrie Pie Picache, Erich Gonzales, Vice Ganda; Director: Dondon Santos; Producers: Arnel Nacario, Katherine Catalan; Screenwriter: Francis Pasion; Genre: Drama/ Docu: Distributor: Star Cinema; Location: Manila; Running Time: 100 mins;

Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

Dala ng matinding kahirapan, si Noy (Coco Martin) ay mamamasukan sa isang malaking TV station bilang isang journalist gamit ang pekeng diploma at ipinagawa sa ibang demo reel. Agad bibilib sa kanya ang producer (Vice Ganda) at ibibigay sa kanya ang isang napakahalagang proyekto- ang dokumentaryo ukol sa kampanya ni Senador Noynoy Aquino. Susundan niya at kakapanayamin ang senador sa pangangampanya nito sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng Pilipinas. Sa simula ng kanyang trabaho’y katakot-takot na pang-iinsulto ang matataggap niya sa producer pagkat pawang hindi niya alam ang trabaho ng isang mamamahayag. Ngunit kalaunan ay magagamay na rin niya ito. Ang paggawa niya ng dokumentaryo ukol kay Senador Noynoy ay magbubukas sa kanya ng marami pang oportunidad at unti-unti’y matutulungan na niya ang kanyang pamilyang nakalubog ang bahay sa tubig baha dala ng bagyong Ondoy. Ngunit habang naaabot na niya ang pangarap na makaahon sa hirap, saka naman magdadagsa ang kanyang problema sa pamilya at pag-ibig. Dagdag pa dito, ang peligro na maaari siyang mabuko sa mga pineke niyang dokumento at maalis sa trabaho.

Isang malaking pagsasayang ang pelikula. Sayang sapagkat kitang pinagbuhusan ng maraming talino ang pagbuo nito. Maraming ninais gawin at ipahiwatig ang Noy ngunit pawang sumabog ito sa kabuuan at hindi naipahatid ang kaukulang mensahe sa mga manonood. Sa umpisa’y kaiga-igayang panoorin ang mga palitan ng eksenesang drama at dokumentaryo. Kahanga-hangang nagawa ng pelikulang pasukin ang mundo sa likod ng mga kampanya ng mga kandidato para sa eleksyon. Ngunit hindi nito naipahiwatig ang nais nitong ipakahulugan. Pawang mahuhusay lahat ng nagsiganap. Yun nga lang, mas magiging epektibo siguro ang pelikula kung hindi mga artista ang ginamit na karakter kundi mga totoong tao na may totoong kuwento. Sadyang mahirap lang papaniwalain ang manonood sa mga bahaging dokumentaryo ng pelikula kapag ipinapalabas na ang kathang-isip na kuwento na ginagampanan ng mga artista. Naging pawang melodramtiko rin ang dating ng maraming eskena na taliwas sa dapat sana’y dokumentaryo nitong pamamaraan ng pagkukuwento. Ang naging resulta tuloy sa bandang dulo’y pagkalito sa kung ano ba talaga ang gustong palabasin ni Noy. Isa ba itong propaganda para sa papasok na pangulo ng bansa? O isa ba itong kuwentong melodramatiko na nagnanais kurutin ang puso ng manonood?

Bagama’t pawang isang malaking propaganda ang pelikula, marami itong ninais ipahiwatig ukol sa pagmamahal sa pamilya at sa bayan. Kahanga-hanga ang karakter ni Noy na handang gawin at isakripisyo lahat alang-alang sa pamilya. Yun nga lang, naging kabaha-bahala pa rin ang kanyang naging pamamaraan. Pinagdusahan man niya ito sa bandang huli’y hindi naging malinaw kung pinagsisihan niya ba ito o hindi. Bagama’t nabanggit din niya’t aminado siya na siya’y kumapit sa kasinungalingan upang maitaguyod ang pamilya, isang malaking katanungan pa rin kung itinuring din ba siyang bayani sa kuwento o hindi. Nariyan din ang maraming isyung pumapalibot sa kahirapan tulad ng droga at krimen. Nakababahalang hindi napaparusahan ang mga tunay na salot ng lipunan. Marahil paraan din ito ng pelikula na ipaabot sa darating na pangulo ng bansa na heto ang kalagayan ng marami sa ating mga kababayan at nararapat lamang na pagtuunan ng pansin. Isang pinaka-nakababahala sa pelikula ay ang pagtatalik sa labas ng kasal na bagama’t nagiging palasak na sa mga kabataan ay talagang nakababala pa rin. Sa bandang huli’y nagsubok ang Noy na magbigay ng pag-asa sa gitna ng kawalang pag-asa. Yun nga lang, sana’y naging mas malinaw pa ang ninais nitong sabihin at hindi nanatili lamang sa idelohikal at astetikong antas na tanging ang mga gumawa lamang ng pelikula ang nakakaintindi at nakakaarok. Dahil sa mabigat nitong tema, minarapat ng CINEMA na angkop lamang ang Noy sa mga manonood na may gulang 14 pataas.