What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Filipino film-making was once exemplified by the ubiquitous presence of Vic Diaz, who snarled his way through countless Roger Corman-produced action flicks shot in the archipelago, usually clad in a really ugly floral shirt and wielding a machete. The now-very ill Diaz is nowhere to be seen in Cavite, but fans of those low-budget Corman flicks might still enjoy this film. Produced, written, and directed by Ian Gamazon, Cavite stars - who else? - Ian Gamazon as Adam, the American-born son of Filipino parents on his way back to the islands to attend his father's funeral. Once there, he learns that his mother and sister have been kidnapped (presumably by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas), and that in order to save them he must follow a very precise series of demands. The perp seems just as interested in educating Adam in the ways, means and motives of Islamic revolution as in reclaiming the money his father apparently stole (or hid) from the insurgency. This isn't a horror or exploitation film; it's a serious and exemplary political thriller about a man being forced to come to terms with his cultural and religious heritage. Shot verite style in and around some of the worst slums on Earth, Cavite offers rich rewards on many levels.

While the entire movie was o.k. the major premise of the need to use bomber whose family have no interests in the bombing or terrorist act is an overkill. The whole charade can be simplified, if the terrorist take the money from him after closing the bank account. What the terrorist should do is just simply place the bombs themselves. I don't see any complexity in that do you? Because the plausibility of the whole movie is in question, it throws into question that the movie is somewhat contrived. Another movie of Paradise Now is much more straightforward and simple as well as low budget and was much better done.

Cavite is about Adam, an American Muslim Filipino traveling back to the Philippines to attend his father's funeral and visit his mother and sister. He finds his mother and sister are kidnapped by a Muslim terrorist faction to force Adam to do something. Adam is forced to travel around the Philippines to various places while his family is abused. Adam picks up a bomb and is told to take it to a church and leave it there as revenge for American crimes against Muslims. Adam tries to refuse, but the slime balls cut out his mother's tongue. Adam finds out his father was killed by the same terrorists in a similar bombing. As a back drop, Adam's American Christian girl friend calls him and tells him she's pregnant and having an abortion. Adam does what he's told, his family is released, and Adam goes back to America where his girl friend tells him she couldn't have a Muslim baby. As if a baby is born favoring one religion over another. While the dialog lacked some emotion, the acting made up for it to some degree. The cinematography was pretty good and you got to see some low income parts of the Philippines during Adam's travels and understand how the poor can be taken advantage of by sooth saying organizations that hand our money for cooperation. I liked the movie more for its raw surreal nature. Adam walking around in shock trying to comply with lunatics while also trying to think of a way out that doesn't kill his family.

Here's my mini review. the film's not bad. it's well edited and shot. But I feel the movie's trying a little to hard to be a video tour guide on the Philippines' slum areas and show non-Filipinos up close what poverty is like there. I'm not impressed with the story either. I've never felt Adam's life was in danger, and the voice on the phone was a joke (he sounds a little gay, IMO).I don't think "Cavite" is a hotbed for Abu Sayyaf terrorist activity. and most of the kidnappings in Luzon are done by corrupt military and police officers, not Muslim Fanatics. The Philippines is 90% Catholic IIRC. But I guess it would be much more dangerous for Gamazon to film it in Basilan, therefore Cavite, since most foreigners can't tell the difference anyways.How was it possible for Tariq (the phone caller), to follow Adam wherever he goes (from squatter areas to open fields to little alleys) without being seen? Is he god or something? - The unseen caller is always lecturing and preaching. The caller ordered Adam to eat a "balut", drink soda from a plastic bag, and go to a cockfighting event so that Adam can "experience" the Filipino culture and reality... Blah blah blah...somebody said the movie's about how poverty will make Filipinos become suicide bombers or terrorists. But I think that's wrong. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country with only a 5% Muslim population. Most Filipinos are poor Catholics, but you don't see them becoming suicide bombers, no? And Osama bin laden and the 19 9/11 hijackers are not exactly poor people.