The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

The title character of this Philippine import is a gay 12-year-old who lives with his widower father and thuggish brothers in a Manila slum. Maximo is more than a little effeminate, but his lack of machismo is never mentioned by his family—who are busy with petty crime (including stolen cell phone reselling and running a numbers racket)—and appreciate his ability to cook and keep a tidy home. Maximo has no role in his family's illicit activities—until he falls in love for the first time with a handsome, acutely honest young cop who shows a sincere paternal interest in the boy, but also grows suspicious about the family's sources of revenue. To its credit, Maximo's orientation is simply presented as a given, but the dreary script and sluggish pacing from first-time director Auraeus Solito—not to mention terrible acting—wreck what could have been an offbeat coming-of-age drama. Swishing his hips in a catwalk stroll and sizing up the good-looking policeman like a glutton eyeing a sandwich, young Nathan Lopez's painfully unsubtle hamming turns Maximo into a gay caricature rather than a credible character. Not recommended. (P. Hall)