Stray Cats

STRAY CATS (PUSANG GALA) is a an odd but in the end endearing mixture of cinematic styles, soap opera drama, tender little comedy, and hefty measures of relationship philosophy: perhaps this is the Filipino brand of magical realism. Based on a play by Jun Lana and adapted for the screen by Rody Vera and writer/director Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, the movie boasts a fine little cast and it is the cast's commitment to the project that sets the film sailing.

Boyet (Ricky Davao), a mother-like gay man who takes in stray cats (including the human form), lives in an apartment complex: his next door neighbor is Martha (Irma Adlawan), a successful business woman whose evenings are usually spent alone pining for her often absentee boyfriend of five years, Steve (Reggie Curley). Martha and Boyet are close friends, to the point that Boyet's writing career is focused on the love tangles of Martha as well as his own absentee lover situation with the manipulative Dom (Lauren Novero). Boyet has a live-in 'son', JoJo (Alcris Galura), a lad whose street life as an abandoned boy has stuck the heart of the mothering Boyet. The story bounces between Boyet's and Martha's fantasies about their boyfriends' commitment problems, and while each of the two character's love lives are well defined (both straight and gay and in between!), the method of the story telling makes dissecting fact from fantasy a bit of a challenge. The ending of the film contains a twist that will surprise audiences who expect a light fluffy comedy.

The film takes place in the Philippines and is in a mixture of Tagalog and English. While the story has some holes and problems, the cast is energetic and committed and the result is a fairly entertaining, if somewhat rough, little diversion. Grady Harp