Nothing to cry about.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Rina Jimenez-David

ON THE SURFACE, "Crying Ladies" tells the stories of three women who earn a living crying for the dead, forcing tears from their eyes and sobs from their chests for a stranger (well, not exactly a stranger, but we're getting ahead of our story) when their lives give them plenty of reasons to cry-for themselves.

But indulging in self-pity is a luxury none of the three women can afford or are inclined to engage in.

Hilda Koronel plays a faded movie starlet whose main claim to fame is being trampled on by the giant in "Darna and the Giants." She seeks to revive her lost "glory" by pushing her teenage daughter into reluctant stardom while pushing her acting skills on ungrateful and clueless park goers at the "horror house" in an amusement park.

Angel Aquino is a secular saint who devotes her time and energies to helping out in various charitable institutions and confessing her sins to an exasperated priest. The trouble is that despite her good heart, she is burdened by a lustful bent, particularly for the husband of a pregnant friend. Finding escape in more than a little cuddle with her married lover, she seeks redemption in penance only to fall yet one more time.

Finally, there is the character played by Sharon Cuneta, whose role in "Crying Ladies" is yet the bravest move of her career. This time, she's no sweet colegiala on the throes of first love, an abandoned wife, self-effacing stepmother or any variation of the "good" woman. She is instead a con woman, someone who lives by her wits and lets no opportunity to make a quick buck escape her. Clearly, this is no pushover, except, that is, when it comes to her son and her estranged husband, who take advantage of her vulnerability as a mother to bully and harangue her. Three Filipinas, three unique characters but all embodying aspects of womanhood and survival in this land at this time.