There is no question that Aga is a good actor but I guess nobody will disagree if I say that Jake Cuenca is excellent on this movie. He portrays the role of the governor’s second son; the first one (Ryan Eigenmann) is illegitimate. Dylan is the lesser evil between Homer (Ryan Eigenmann) and he. Perhaps by nature, he is soft-hearted but he needs to be like his father and half-brother (Homer) to get the former’s approval. He is his father’s bait, his father’s last chance to lord it over in the political arena of their province. Unassuming and young, he questions his father’s decision why he is being asked to run for a vice-mayoralty seat instead of the aggressive Homer. In his father’s mind, he knows that Dylan will make a better political asset than Homer. After all, the people hate them. They need someone new and charming to win the people’s heart. He has a girlfriend (Cedes/Angel Locsin) whom the masa can identify with, nevermind the rumors that she was dancer (perhaps she is even an escort girl). Cedes is the icing on their cake or maybe a deodorizer or an image booster.
In a twist of fate, he meets his fiancee’s ex-lover Emman. His friendship with Emman (Aga Muhlach) starts when the latter saved him from one assassination attempt. He realizes that Emman is smart and his suggestion on how to boost his vice-mayoralty candidacy is considered. Clueless about his fiancee’s past with Emman, he is the one who hired Emman to be Cedes’s dance instructor for the Governor’s Ball.
It is Dylan’s mother who came up with the idea about sponsoring a Governor’s Ball. The family’s image needs some cleansing .Carmi Martin’s life as a rich politician’s wife is touched at the cemetery scene with Cedes. While the two women’s life could have been parallel (Carmi as a poor provinciana got married to a rich politico), their reason for staying with their men is different. Carmi did it for money, Cedes did it for love. How can one decent woman stomach to live with a man she doesn’t love and even be made a whore by that man just to find ways on how to help her man?
Later it is unfolded that the governor and Homer had a plan to assassinate Cedes while she and Dylan would be dancing at the Governor’s Ball. Being young, uncorrupt and so much in love, they knew that losing Cedes could release the evil in Dylan by probably getting back at their political enemies or maybe, Dylan could get the public’s sympathy. Either way, it’s win-win for the family.
But the plan does not materialize because Emman arrives just in time to prevent the sniper (too bad he caught the bullet for Cedes!) The governor shows his true color by pointing the gun at Cedes, their sacrificial lamb, much to Dylan’s shock. It is out of instinct when he catches the bullet for Cedes.) A man in love will do anything for the woman he loves just like what Emman did for Cedes. Dylan dies on the spot while his ladylove is busy crying over the love of her life Emman.
Jake Cuenca did justice to his role as a young man trying to win his father’s affection and his ladylove’s heart. In the name of love, he protected Cedes from anyone who would harm her. Jake is just too perfect for the role, I forgot that for a time, I hated him for that chance encounter incident with ex-gf Roxanne Guinoo at a bar. There is something in his acting that is uniquely his. The intonation, the body language, the depth, the intensity- I wonder if his acting talent has always been there or was it polished at regular acting workshops in ABS-CBN. For a young actor to be pitted along a much veteran and talented actor like Aga Muhlach, Star Cinema made the best decision to include Jake Cuenca in the cast.
This is the best Aga Muhlach film ever. In this film, Aga is so convincing, you will forget that he is Aga Muhlach, the star. In this film, he is just Emman, an ordinary Filipino working as a dancer in Japan. He is a father estranged from his son, a middle-aged guy being stalked by a girl in her mid-20’s, a lover who will sacrifice in the name of love. That confrontation scene with Angel Locsin as Cedes is just too realistic, you will forget that this is just a film.
I am not impressed with Angel’s pole dancing but let’s not focus on that. (Hey, Ciara Sotto is the best pole dancer for me!) I like her best on the scenes where she is not speaking at all. You can feel her pain, her excitement for seeing Emman again and all her kept emotions through the years she and Emman are separated from each other.
Yes, I am writing this article from Dylan’s perspective. Isn’t it obvious that Jake Cuenca earned a fan in me?
The World of Second Chances 