Verdict: Essential Viewing
Pinoy Rebyu Score: 4.00 (12 ratings)
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Mes de Guzman
Cast: Nora Aunor, Josefina Estabillo, Arnold Reyes, Mara Lopez, Sue Prado, Ama Quiambao
Synopsis: Mabuti accidentally finds a stash of money that could bring an end to her family’s financial problems: is the solution that simple or is it loaded with complications?
MTRCB rating: PG-13
Running time: 100 mins.
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Trailer:
Reviews:
5.0 Tito Valiente (Business Mirror)
“I cannot think of any actor who can perform for us an exercise about how life is sumptuous and gripping in its familiarity. And, I cannot imagine any other actor who has reached such maturity than Nora Aunor as Mabuti.” (Read full review)
5.0 J. Pilapil Jacobo (Young Critics Circle)
“Ang Kwento ni Mabuti reveals to us that there are still stars, and the stars are still, in Nora’s eyes. Superstars, they remain. And we must gaze, gaze, gaze.” (Read full review)
4.5 Lyndon Maburaot (Table Stretcher)
“In here, (Aunor) unlearned all those layers she acquired through the years, peeled off all shields, all protectors, until she is stripped to her barest. And what is left of her, the residue we got here in this film, is, sustained by a fully-realized character, a graceful performance, may be for the books, and unlike any other we’ve seen from her to date.” (Read full review)
4.5 Mari-An Santos (PEP)
“The revelations in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti are so low-key that if you blink, you might miss them. The characters are well-rounded, despite not delving on each one’s history, we understand their motivations and their actions. We empathize with their plight because they are common people.” (Read full review)
4.0 Noli Manaig (Closely Watched Frames)
“Nora lends tremendous cachet to it by her stellar thespian presence, reaffirmed here with understated perfomance in the Ilocano idiom. But what must be equally recognized is how Mes de Guzman’s authorial achievement lays equal claim to this movie.” (Read full review)
4.0 Eric Cabahug (InterAksyon)
“(De Guzman’s ) adherence to spare, naturalistic, life-like presentation (he wrote the screenplay as well) gives the film a certain chilliness that provides a very interesting contrast, and friction, to the story’s sun-kissed setting — the highlands of Nueva Vizcaya.” (Read full review)
4.0 Philbert Dy (Click the City)
“It is still a very small story that thrives on details of provincial life, punctuated at times by a really unique sense of humor. Aunor fits the milieu pretty well. Though one might never forget who she is, her understated delivery sustains a strong level of immersion.” (Read full review)
3.5 Randy Renier Espinoza (Iconoclast)
“Nora Aunor is the film’s saving grace. She reaffirms why she is the ultimate interpreter of roles that represent ethnic and minority groups. Relaxed and self-assured, she abandons the emphatic delivery of lines that has long been identified with her and speaks with fluidity in her passable Ilocano accent.” (Read full review)
3.5 Rito Asilo (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
“It’s refreshing to see the actress juggling her character’s pathos with the unforced humor she generates in the production’s light moments. What’s even more astounding is the fact that Aunor doesn’t require long and flashy lines to relay Mabuti’s carefully calibrated tale well—she can tell it just by using her expressive face and those fabled orbs to shuttle between contrasting emotions.” (Read full review)
3.5 Katrina Stuart Santiago (GMA News)
“Without (Aunor), it’s entirely possible that Ang Kwento ni Mabuti wouldn’t survive its own simplicity because not much happens in this story. But Aunor takes Mabuti’s character and makes everything happen for her.” (Read full review)
3.5 Fred Hawson (Fred Said)
“De Guzman has succeeded to create a charming fairy tale with modern-day characters and situations. There is a whimsical element about the interplay of harsh realities of live with fate and destiny that will make the audience smile.” (Read full review)
3.0 Renelson Morelos (Reel Thoughts)
“The ethical dilemma was essayed in such a low-key manner that it might have been more fitting if the viewers were able to somehow have a clear grasp of what Mabuti ‘did’ to the large amount of money suddenly “entrusted” to her. Sure, all the emotions that register through Mabuti’s eyes and her oblique references subtly point to what may have transpired in the end. But giving a clear picture of the consequence of the ‘act’ wouldn’t be a bad artistic choice either.” (Read full review)
