“From beginning to the end, you won’t see a trace of Jericho Rosales. All you see and hear is Manny Pacquiao—even to his last Visayan accent and to his most subtle mannerism.”
So goes one of the glowing reviews on the actor’s performance in Pacquiao the Movie, which is on its second week in cinemas nationwide. Although the buzz is that the movie has not done well in the box office, critics say that Jericho gave his finest performance in the bio, and may just be due an acting award come the film awards season.
“I really got under Manny’s skin,” says the handsome star. “At home, I talked Visayan to my Visayan maids. I watched tapes of Manny and studied his mannerisms. I even reviewed his commercial just to study his quaint accent. During the shoot, I wasn’t myself, I was Manny Pacquiao.”
Humbled by praises, he maintains that it isn’t just he who shines Joel Lamangan-movie. Bea Alonzo as Pacquiao’s wife Jinky and Jaclyn Jose as the boxer’s mother were also “total knockouts.”
“We didn’t keep anything from the movie going public,” shares Lamangan. “It’s a tell-all movie that chronicles even the ‘sins’ of Pacquiao, who himself is the first to admit that he is as human as anybody else, with feet of clay.”
One of Pacquiao’s confessions was that he, just like any teenager, had tried drugs but never became addicted. Not just a film about boxing, and his latest claim to fame, Jericho guarantees that Pacquiao the Movie is an all-around entertainment fare that will give its viewers valuable lessons the Pacman experience.
