I’m glad that Netflix is expanding their roster of Filipino titles. Otherwise, I wouldn’t come across options like Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap. When cinemas were still open, there were less Filipino titles shown compared to foreign options and the ones that generate the most interest are made by already established or successful film outfits. Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap and its ilk usually have limited releases or can only be found in the film festival circuit or, specifically for this film, go through ratings hell when they are labeled as promoting crime with their title.
Although, based on the film’s title and its rating, I knew that this isn’t a movie I can watch with my daughter around. So, I took advantage of that rare day that my daughter is with her grandmother and my husband is actually free to watch a movie with me.
Eman (Pepe Herrera) trawls the streets in and around Barangay Husay every day with his friends Toto (Jerold Napoles) and Carlo (Jelson Bay). While he hopes to emulate his father’s reknown as a thief, the trio fails miserably at staging robberies or scams. Nicoy (Paolo Contis), a recent recruit by Eman’s father Ka Paeng (Pen Medina), is added to their team, trying to earn their trust but is actually an undercover cop hoping to catch Ka Paeng at a job so he could get a promotion. Meanwhile, prostitute Marga (Kate Alejandrino) brokers a deal between her client and farmers from her home province who discovered the long lost Golden Phallus, hoping to get a commission big enough to get out of her debt with Badjao and avoid getting punished by Roy Bulag (Dindo Arroyo).
I haven’t heard a Boy Bastos story in decades, but when I heard one at the opening of Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap, I had an idea of what kind of humor this film was going to serve us. True enough, the opening scene set the tone for the film, with director Marius Talampas embracing the comedy and running away with it. Instead of sounding cheesy, as other recent comedy films are apt to do, there is an effortless quality in the comedy the film served. Whether just casually mentioned or built up over time, the punch lines just pays off for the viewer. There is also a healthy mix of comedy setups that you can predict from the get-go and scenarios that just surprise the laughter out of you.
The chemistry of the cast is excellent, with everyone embracing the eccentricities of their characters or the silliness of the situations their characters are in, yet they are also somehow able to maintain a sincere human core in the more prominent characters which make them easy to empathize with. There were characters that played to stereotypes successfully and those that shocked us in their change once their motivations become different.
All these are punctuated by a very strong story, with paths intertwining in intriguing ways once the multiple heists take place. This isn’t the type of movie you can pause and return to on another day. With the brisk pacing and the constant changes in circumstances, particularly in the last third of the film, I feel you would miss out on certain details or not appreciate it as much as it deserves. I’m always guilty of cutting my film viewing in small chunks over several days, but I’m glad that I actually watched Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap in one sitting. Even if I was tired from laughing at its end.
Happy viewing!!
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