Tuhog, a Filipino word for skewer, as a whole, is comprised of three individual stories of three different people, whom by chance are literally connected with one another due to a freak accident which causes a pole to impale through them, much to the difficulty of the doctors. The doctors can only save two of them since there are only two available operating rooms in the hospital. The movie then goes through a series of flashbacks showing the story of each characters and how they ended up in their unfortunate situation.
The first character is Tonio (Leo Martinez). He is an old retired man who dreams of becoming a baker. His family is skeptic about this dream of his because he does not know anything about baking and business. However, Tonio is determined to fulfill his dream despite the negativity.
Fiesta (Eugene Domingo) is a bus conductor whose life has always been about taking care of his demented father which resulted to her grumpiness and feisty attitude which drives away men around her. One day, she meets the new bus driver, Nato (Jake Cuenca) whom she eventually learns to love and vice versa. When everything seems to be going well, Fiesta soon finds out Nato's secret which ruins their relationship.
Lasty, Caloy (Enchong Dee) is a college student who is having a hard time keeping a long distance relationship work with his girlfriend Angel (Empress). Both promised to preserve their virginity to one another until they meet again but the distance between them proves to be quite a challenge for both parties to remain faithful to one another.
Skylight Films, the sort-of indie version of Star Cinema, decides to release an indie type film through mainstream means. This thought alone would already draw skepticism; would it go for the full indie film or would it have a hint of commercialism here and there? How about both? Nevertheless, Tuhog manages to capture the audience's heart in this emotion and theme driven film that shows a deeper side of man, the side which shows man in search for meaning and purpose in his life.
The most memorable story out of the three would have to be that of Eugene Domingo or the story of Fiesta primarily because of the depth of the story plus the acting skill of Eugene Domingo. Though memorable, it is far from flawless. There were plot holes in the decisions the characters made that hoped to have gone unnoticed with the help of acting delivery but it did not help. An example would have to be the Fiesta suddenly deciding to share her life story to Nato. If she was as hardcore as the premise established her to be, she would not have easily shared to anyone such personal information especially if they barely knew each other. Another example would have to be the sudden love affair between Nato and Fiesta which seemed to have come out of nowhere. Though we see it coming, there was not a proper build-up about it. However, if I'm gonna be all romantic, I would just like to believe that this can be a good example of how love can be very unpredictable.
In terms of story that everyone can probably relate to, it would have to be Leo Martinez or Tonio. It showed the typical Filipino family and their values which are constantly challenged such as being family-oriented, having a sense of gratitude and even patriarchy. Leo Martinez is able to give life to his character and he is able to send a serious message across the audience despite using comedy as a medium. Though Eugene's story is more memorable, Martinez' story is my personal favorite. One scene that definitely struck me was when he was doing a monologue about his life when all he did was to support his children's dreams yet they couldn't even support him now for his single plea. This part is ageless since it can cater to sons and daughters, wives, husbands and especially the elderly.
Enchong or Caloy's story on the other hand is the lightest of the three. It uses a very young approach and more comedic than the rest. This part is definitely funny and entertaining but I can't help but feel that this is where it becomes commercial. Technically speaking, this is another love story starring high profile actors in order to bring in audience. Probably even the reason why they showed this part last. A typical love story which happens to have more sex jokes which eventually receives a rating of R-13 and then voila! You have an indie film.
Overall it was a good film. I was satisfied except for the end where I felt like I was cheated to a happy ending. Before getting impaled by the pole, each of the characters were in the worst stage of their dilemmas and the moment they got out the hospital, all their problems just miraculously came to a resolution. I understand that they just came from a near death experience and all problems can be forgotten but it felt too abrupt. Other than that, the narration by the end could have been taken out since it became too preachy already. It should have left the viewers to think on their own rather than feeding them the point of the movie. One last random and unimportant thing, I don't like how I felt like it was indirectly telling the audience to be kind to kid beggars on the streets. Watch it and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Rating: 3/5
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