"Magnifico" the little hero

By Maryo J. de los Reyes

"Magnifico" is the story of a young boy with a good heart, which leaves behind a pledge for others that
even in the cruellest of moments, they will find hope in the complex structure of the Rubik's cube of life.
Everyone will love this heartwarming and heartbreaking movie, and will give hope and inspiration to the
viewers that every darkness of life there's always light.

Magnifico (Jiro Manio) is a sweet nine-year-old boy with a good heart and a helpful nature. His kindness
brings joy and optimism to the people around him. His family is very poor and they could barely make
ends meet. His parents (Lorna Tolentino & Albert Martinez) hope his older brother Miong (Danilo
Barrios) will lift the family out of poverty but Miong loses his college scholarship. His younger sister
Helen (Isabella de Leon) has cerebral palsy and requires much care. Magnifico intends to get his sister a
wheelchair so she can move around with ease. Magnifico's grandmother Lola Magda (Gloria Romero)
has cancer and his parents are worried about the funeral expenses. He gathers scrap wood so that he
can build his grandmother's coffin by himself.

The young boy Magnifico is outstandingly played by Jiro Manio. His acting is outstanding and very
effective. He did his best to portray a caring and a loving brother to his younger sister, a son to his
parents and a grandson to his grandmother. Both Lorna Tolentino and Albert Martinez do decent jobs of
portraying caring and concerned parents. Isabella de Leon did a great job of portraying a child with
cerebral palsy. Danilo Barrios also did a good job, and Gloria Romero did a great job, her good acting
never fades. The actors and actresses are all outstanding and they really did their very best to make the
movie great and make it successful.

Magnifico is one of my favorite characters of all time because he's quite pure and very positive. I like
that Magnifico is making the right choices, despite the fact that it seems much easier for him to make
the wrong choices. I like that he doesn't blame other people for making the wrong choices, and he just
seems to accept that things are happening as it should. I like everything about the movie because it
reflects the love and unity of a family despite the hardships of life and they just live in hope.

Don't focus on the problem instead take time to solve the problem. This is what I've learned after I
watch the movie Magnifico starring Jiro Manio. No wonder why this movie received many awards. The
family of Magnifico always worried about their problem but unlike Magnifico, he always look for the
solution of the problem.

This movie is PG, a rating which might run off some of the older crowd, but it’s truly a movie for
everyone. This is the best filipino drama movie ever been made. This movie "Magnifico" is one of the
most extraordinary films of all-time and it's worth watching in a lifetime.

Scale of 1-5:
 5

Maryo J. de los Reyes was born on October 17, 1952 in Santa Cruz, Manila, Philippines. He was a director
and writer, known for Magnifico (2003), A Love Story (2007) and Laman (2002). He died on January 27,
2018 in Dipolog City, Zamboanga Del Norte, Philippines.