Film Review: "The Trial"

John Lloyd Cruz, Gretchen Barreto "THE TRIAL"

If one wants to be kind to the Star Cinema film "The Trial" by director Chito S. Roño and looks at it as a comedy on the hilarity of the justice system in the Philippines and the awkward integration of homosexuals into mainstream Filipino society then you will find yourself applauding the effort of the writers and the filmmakers. But sadly you will be reminded much too often that what you are watching is a melodrama carefully packaged as a socially relevant discourse on the following: rape, the haphazard justice system in the Philippines, social media, mental retardation, homosexuality, infidelity, death, marriage, and many others. The film attempts to cover so much that it feels like watching a distilled teleserye.

It's too bad because, for the first time in a long time, Gretchen Barreto acted her part quite well. Yes, she's supposed to be a psychologist but she was mostly a grieving mother all throughout and her blank, expressionless face worked to her advantage this time.

Richard Gomez was a disappointment however. The veteran actor has the build of a lawyer but the poorly- written court scenes did not do him any favor. John Lloyd Cruz was mildly effective and, oftentimes, his performance as a high-functioning developmentally disabled individual reminds you of how he usually acts "cute" in his regular rom-coms (I am not sure if it was how the character was researched by the writers).

Character actress Sylvia Sanchez has the meatiest part in the film as the lesbian mother of John Lloyd's character and, except for a few badly-written lines, she delivered the best performance in the movie. The actor who played her gay wife in the film was hilarious but it added nothing to the character.

The movie deliberately withheld one key plot detail until the predictable climax which was setup similar to a key scene in "A Few Good Men" when the two marines finally decide to tell the truth. The editing is the film's biggest strength which, to some extent, made the exposition more interesting but the lack of credible conflict and tension only led to a lackluster and dull finale.

Rating: 3 stars

xxx
Raymond Lo