In case you missed it, slow cinema auteur Lav Diaz has made his first foray into action with actor-martial artist and Buhawi Jack star Monsour del Rosario, in the fifth episode of Call My Manager.
On the show, Diaz and del Rosario can’t seem to agree on the direction to take with their film, which del Rosario calls his comeback movie. “Ang kapal-kapal ng script,” del Rosario tells his manager Andrea Manuel (Judy Ann Santos). “Walang pinagawa sa akin kung hindi umiyak, umungol, mag-isip. Nasaan ang martial arts?”
In a separate meeting with Andrea, Diaz complains about del Rosario’s demands. “Pumayag na ako na under three hours,” he says. “Ang laki ng hinihingi niyo sa akin, pero sige.”
Their disagreements, which include whether the movie should be in black and white, come to a head when the two get into a fistfight in the fountain outside the Shine Artist Management (SAM) headquarters (a.k.a. the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Malate). If you’ve never seen Lav Diaz fight a brawny action star before, Episode 5 of Call My Manager, released on September 10, gives you the chance.
This only comes on top of the many other headaches plaguing SAM’s senior managers. Andrea, Matthew Buenaventura (Edu Manzano), and Gabriel Soler (RK Bagatsing) must find a way to buy the agency from Helen (Cristina Gonzales), the widow of SAM founder Samuel (Edgar Mortiz), who’s more interested in selling the company to a rival agency. Aside from that, the three must also confront personal issues.
While Gabriel’s son and baby mama get ready to migrate to Canada, Andrea navigates her relationship with her new girlfriend, Rina (Madeleine Humphries). But nobody has it worse than Matthew, whose biggest secret — being the biological father of Andrea’s road manager Camille (Christiana Zaleta) — has upended his family life and ruined his chances of getting help from his wealthy wife, Gina (Ayen Laurel), to buy SAM.
Will Diaz and del Rosario ever come to an agreement? Are Andrea and Rina endgame? And can the managers save SAM and the employees who rely on them?
Call My Manager’s sixth episode has been released, while the seventh and penultimate episode arrives this Thursday, September 24. The series finale is set for October 1.
Call My Manager is available to stream only on HBO Max.
Frequently Asked Questions
Call My Manager, the Philippine adaptation of the French series Call My Agent, is slated for eight episodes, each released weekly on HBO Max.
The finale of Call My Manager will be released on October 1.
Lav Diaz makes a cameo, playing himself in Call My Manager. On the show, he directs his first-ever commercial action film, with actor Monsour del Rosario taking the lead role.
Cameos on Call My Manager include Kiray Celis, Niño Muhlach, Laurice Guillen, Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Karylle, Brandon and Jessica Vera, Ogie Diaz, Rob Gomez, Monsour del Rosario, Lav Diaz, and Roderick Paulate, among others.
Parts of Call My Manager are filmed at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Malate, Manila, which serves as the setting for the SAM office.
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