10000 Hours is careful to note at the end that while the movie is inspired by real events, it is a work of fiction. It’s a sensible proclamation to make. The film does not at all make it difficult to suss out what exactly they’re talking about, but it’s far more inclined to provide more conventional cinematic thrills. The film ends up talking a lot about the truth, but its convictions seem to lie within the realm of fiction, where heroes are heroes, and life can turn into a spy game. It’s a fairly entertaining piece of work, but its simultaneous claims to relevance and drama make for a somewhat discomfiting experience.
Senator Gabriel Alcaraz (Robin Padilla) is preparing to deliver a privilege speech alleging corruption in the highest levels of government. On his way to the Senate, he gets wind of a plot against him. The police seek to arrest him for his part in an operation decades ago. Suspecting that the administration isn’t willing to give him a fair trial, Alcaraz goes into hiding abroad, hoping to find a way to clear his name and eventually return to his family. Back home, an old colleague is put in charge of finding him, and his family suffers under the pressure of public scrutiny.
The glimpse we see of the senator’s speech makes overt references to the NBN-ZTE scandal. And so the film forms a foundation from a very real case filed against the previous administration. But that’s as close as the film gets to depicting real events. It starts to simplify details, working with more concrete archetypes. And so our senator hero is made completely blameless, a paragon of virtue in a world filled with compromises. And his flight is depicted as a low-key game of cloak and dagger, with mysterious women dropping bags in the street for him to pick up, and the occasional disguise.
It’s all fairly entertaining, if a little bit silly. The film’s insistence on using these elements, though, makes the entire thing feel a little irrelevant. The twist and turns distract from the very real issues that the film is supposed to be based on. If the filmmakers really didn’t want to take these issues head on, then it might have been better to concentrate on the family drama aspect of the film. The other side of this story looks at how his family deals with his flight. And it’s a fascinating bit of human drama, with these kids growing to resent their father even as they insist on his innocence. The film reverts to archetypes here as well, however, with each kid reduced to singular traits in reacting to this difficult situation.
The film does offer remarkable production values. A great score from Teresa Barrozo really sells the film as a thriller. And the acting is pretty strong across the board. Robin Padilla is always watchable, even when he doesn’t quite fit within a realistic milieu. He serves the film best when it gets silly, the actor looking perfectly comfortable playing these spy games. Michael de Mesa imbues his character with a weariness that feels utterly genuine, going beyond the lines in finding the conflict that roils within.
10000 Hours is never really very convincing as a treatise against corruption in this country. It fails to make it seem like its main character is actually much of a crusader, those titular hours largely spent not doing much of anything. But it is kind of fun in its own way, its silliness elevated to entertainment through a really solid production package. And through it gets absurd at points, it never does forget the drama inherent in every situation. It’s a pretty flawed film, but there’s a lot of craft to be found even in those flaws.
My Rating:
