Ronda (2014)-
IMDb’s synopsis goes like this: A policewoman roams the city of Manila to fulfill her duties as a police patrol and to look for her lost son.
And yes, almost half of the movie just shows her literally roaming the streets of Manila.
Ai-ai de las Alas takes on this rare non-comical role of policewoman Paloma Arroyo, mother of a teenager (Leo) who has gone missing. She carries on an illicit affair with her son’s school guidance counselor, played by Cesar Montano while as a policewoman, she carries out her job with her partner, Tamayo (Carlos Morales).
A good chunk of the movie literally just follows a police vehicle running. Even the (too long) credits minutes into the film just shows the vehicle being driven along the streets of Manila. These bits take too long. Not much is said about how she had a gap with her son (or is it just a generational thing?) but we can glean that they might have had a falling out and that the son is in his rebellious state. His son’s sexuality has also been subject of one of the film’s pivotal points but the film just left it at that and carried on with the usual day-to-day job of a policeman, as if nothing happened.
To be honest, even the presence of versatile and veteran indie actors in the film (Bernardo Bernardo, Perla Bautista, Angelie Bayani, Menggie Cobarrubias--now that's a star-studded ensemble!) didn’t do much to me because ya know, I have pacing issues. That problem is unique to me so if you’re one who doesn’t mind watching some good 5 minutes of a police car being driven along the streets, (no, there's not even a young woman staring pensively outside), without dialogue, then suit yourself. But as I said I have issues with these stuff that’s why my interest is easily lost. It didn’t help that the story isn’t engaging to begin with. It didn’t start with a bang, it had a mildly interesting middle part, but the ending was a bit of a question mark. No, there were no cliffhangers. More like, just that? It just faded into darkness. Just that.
Not recommended.
