Journeyman Film Review

 JOURNEYMAN Mini Review

by Mars Callo

Directed by Christian Paolo Lat and Dominic Lat

Starring JC Santos, Ruby Ruiz, Jasmine Curtis Smith, Darlyn Izabelle Salang, Raffy Tejada

Give JC Santos any role and he can nail it hard. In Journeyman he plays Angelo, a professional losing boxer who does the job for quick money and for his sickly daughter (Darlyn Izabelle Salang) and wife played by another brilliant actress Jasmine Curtis Smith. 

If you are familiar with director, Christian Paolo Lat, he also had his directorial debut of a boxing inspired film, Ginhawa, shown in 2022. This time he worked on this film together with brother Dominic who also served as co-director and cinematographer. Cool tandem. 

Journeyman explores the shady side of boxing in which matches can be fixed. Raffy Tejada plays Angelo's corrupt handler who instills in his boxer's mind that even if he doesn't win his fights, just think of the prize money that he can bring home for his family's needs. 

Notable scenes can be credited to Ms Ruby Ruiz as Nay Rosario, who works at a fish port where JC side hustles as a kargador of fish and other seafood faves. She gives life lessons to inspire Angelo to overcome trials and challenges and what life throws back at him.  

Kudos to JC who gained weight and trained hard for at least a couple of months just to be in top boxing shape and making his fight scenes very convincing all throughout the film. He can also consider this project as one of his most notable to date. 

Adding extra punch was a cameo from world champion Gerry Penalosa who brought authenticity to the sport that made him shine and famous during his active fighting years. He has truly inspired a lot of boxers to work extra hard and follow their dreams and bring glory and pride to the nation as a boxing champ eventually. 

These are the awards of JOURNEYMAN during Puregold Cine Panalo 2025 Awards Night:

Panalo Sa International Jury, Panalo sa Cinematography (tie with Olsen’s Day), Panalo sa Film Poster, the MTRCB Special Award for Responsableng Paglikha, Panalo sa Brand Intrusion, and the Puregold Always Panalo Film shared with the romantic-comedy film Fleeting by Catsi Catalan.