jedavis-46864 I liked the film Metro Manila. It showed the power struggle of being desperate for money. Money is needed for many things. For example, Oscar and his wife, Mai, needed it for health care, food, housing, and providing for their family. These are some very significant things that are important for survival. Throughout this film, it showed Oscar being tested to his limits to provide and protect his family. It showed how far a man can go for his family. Corruption was also a big part of this movie. This was shown through the people living in the city and the city itself. It shows the amount of poverty in the Philippines and the struggle it can be to find jobs. The characters played their roles very well. It was like we were watching a documentary more than a movie because you could connect with the characters through their struggles.

Marc Jose Suter great mirroring of the social problems in the Philippine's,a dark ride into a heavy drama ,corruption criminality poverty all is in the cake,and i don't want spoil anything,just watch this great movie and get drowned into the mind games and suffering of the Philippine's escpialy in manila, Sean Ellis made a great job at directing,great cinematography shots and the great soundtrack....the actors been amazing, the cast is truly well chosen,Jake macapagal did play very on point,as well as althea vega,john arcilla is the type of filipino u don't want encounter, hes the perfect villain in this gem and plays it out the ryt way... give this movie a chance...and hey manila is a rough place...

chavisatkins And that takes a lot to make me come to tears. I haven't wrote a review on IMDb in awhile and there is some movies deserving of one that I should review it but this one... man it hurt me, in a good way sort of speak. This is a story of a man that simply is trying to do his role as a husband and father by making sure his family is taken care of. He comes from a background that I'm sure those from the Philippines will relate to and decides that life in the big city will give his family a change of pace. He instead finds that the city is full of betrayal and lies with the people he meets. Not to say everyone there is out to hurt someone but it shows the realism of what some people go through simply trusting in someone they don't know. This is not a action movie but a movie that is sort of a thriller and moving like... sorry, my terminology isn't there for movies. The movie is a tearjerker as they say and I'm a black man who actually don't mind movies like that. This movie I didn't expect to be tearjerkish and I really don't go looking for those type movies. I'm not trying to say that this movie should be watched to feel bad for someone but that it is a movie centered on trying to capture how things can really get rough for families trying to start out in Manila.Every time "Oscar" the main character had something happen to him, it affected me and that goes to show how EXCELLENT a job Jake did in this role. Everyone played their parts right even down to the adorable daughter of his. At times I was concerned his wife would leave him... just had me that in tuned. Everything about the movie is gritty and surreal that you feel as if this is really happening; someone just taped it all somehow. What happens in the end brought me to tears because I am a human that sympathize and understand a bold move people will take for their family. It just pains me that I can only wish I could tell folks I know about this movie but they won't give it a try because it is a foreign movie and don't want to read subtitles.

marcvalenzuela This film titled 'Metro Manila' sure caught me by surprise upon hearing of how the Philippines is way different from that of the stateside. To speak briefly as a Filipino-American, I felt proud to see such a movie show the country where my family's roots originated. Not to mention how the city of Manila can be manipulative if you're not careful or not familiar at all to its foreign customs.Back to the movie, the plot of an impoverished man named Oscar Ramirez bringing his family away from their rural home and into the more modernized area of the Philippines is a big change for them. Despite being in a new surrounding, it isn't easy for Oscar to get around much since the people there can be rough and the area is not familiar much with him. It then changes when he finds a prosperous job, but is unaware that his workplace might not be all what it seems.British filmmaker Sean Ellis sure did an impressive job directing and revealing the Philippines in its imperfect, but purposeful glory. My mindset had me thinking it was a form of documentary, but that was not the case. About fifteen to twenty minutes into the movie, it slowly started to remind me of the 2008 film 'Slumdog Millionaire' in terms of an impoverished individual who tries to make something of himself and prove he's not worthless. Except in the latter, director Danny Boyle was exploring India that was based on a book about class barriers being broken by children of the slums. But in 'Metro Manila,' a married man with family is trying to build up from his derelict lifestyle, much like Slumdog's lead Jamal, but with purposes different from the latter. Overall, the movie felt moving, thrilling, and complex yet intriguing at the same time. I've visited the Philippines in my childhood more than once and one things for sure, among the many cousins and relatives I have that live there, we pretty much stick together like a big family. For Oscar willing to move ahead in life, even through the most dire of consequences, what matters to him the most above all is his family. I can relate to that and I recommend this movie not just for its culture or ethnic background, but such morals can exist anywhere in the world regardless of who you are or where you're from.