When John (Joross Gamboa) finds out that his cancer is terminal, he recruits his best friend Mark (Edgar Allan Guzman) to fake his death and stage a fake wake. The mechanics and the motivations behind this are kinda iffy, but in essence John wants to see how the people in his life react to his passing. (Apparently in this universe there are no ghosts. Hehe.)
It's hard not to compare Deadma Walking to last year's Die Beautiful, but other than the fact that there's a wake, the two films diverge in what is explored because of the wake. Deadma Walking is more about the unique relationship between the two leads, a once-in-a-lifetime friendship that's pretty hard to come by these days. While played mostly for laughs, the wake puts a bit of pressure on the relationship between the two.
It goes without saying that the film is funny, mostly thanks to the two lead actors. Edgar Allan Guzman gives one of his best ever performances as Mark; his performance overflows with wit and charm.
The rest of the film, however, leaves much to be desired. There's a lot in the execution of Deadma Walking that left me wanting. The editing is weird at times and the script, as award-winning as it may be, has some third act problems. While there's a certain dramatic turn near the end that delivers a genuinely emotional moment, it feels too abrupt so as to seem contrived; add that to the fact that the film doesn't dwell on it too much, and ultimately it ends a bit too abruptly for my taste (a few end credit scenes do help in that regard.)
The film is relatively enjoyable, but other than stellar performances by both actors, there's little holding Deadma Walking together.
***
That ends my MMFF 2017 coverage and my local film coverage for the year. Stay tuned for this year's rundown of the best and worst of 2017.
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