In seemingly the year’s purest comedy so far, Joross Gamboa, Ketchup Eusebio, and Arjo Atayde lets their inner humor masters raise hell from their respective toll booths all the way along the euphoric expressway in the south. “‘Tol” assembles the magnetically outrageous trio — Dimitri (Gamboa), Arthur (Eusebio), and Lando (Atayde) — as they apparently forego their even more comical dreams and become toll booth attendants to cajole their childhood sweetheart, Elena, portrayed by the ever comely Jessy Mendiola. ”’Tol” spawns her pleasing aura, sumptuously delivering a charming version of Elena that wows with side-splitting normalcy. Aptly titled, the movie presents the massive toll that the three protagonists had to endure on the highway to disenchanted glee. “‘Tol” is sprinkled with juicy jokes and natural silliness. Writer-director Miko Livelo, together with co-writer Joel Ferrer, shapes a script that flows with childlike wonders in the form of simplistic gags. Equipped with silly jokes, perhaps the the most tickle-frenzy element of the film is ace actor Gamboa as a bearded manchild. He uncorks a barrage of naive humor yet brandishes the gags with comic precision. Livelo and Ferrer’s script lets Gamboa go on a jolly rampage to purposely jab at the viewers for a spur of laughs. Not to be outdone is Atayde, who divulges his ludicrous charm playing a simpleminded mama’s boy. Atayde displays ridiculous comedic timing coated with slapstick bodily reactions. Where Gamboa and Atayde blesses audiences as wide-eyed zanies, Eusebio keeps himself together through Arthur’s zeal as a wannabe leader to Dimitri and Lando. But then he is funnily frail, and he produces plans that rather loosens his callow though adorable conduct. Never allowing to catch any viewer’s breath, “‘Tol” aggresively transforms into a speeding bullet with endless chuckles for velocity. When the smoke clears off its trail, the film reveals one more shocking gag: the trio of protagonists whirls into an unintentional acid trip, scampering and quavering out their infatuation for the apparent kindhearted Elena. The trippy neon-painted sequence shows the spontaneity of wild comedy plus the genuine power of comedic timing — all fitted in the camera’s unsuspecting lens. Narrated through a police interrogation, which is handled by comedic legend Jimmy Santos, “‘Tol” shatters pre-existing notions about comedies. If the chuckles are signal fire, the joyous escapade through the movie’s toll booth is a liberating nuance albeit its slapstick insanity. Pass through “‘Tol,” and the trip will be as gullible as it is smooth. The movie is largely unmissable since its tolls are worth the drive for a good laugh.
Director: Miko Livelo
Trailer © YouTube.com; Reality Entertainment
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