Another chance for John Lloyd and Bea

Miss You Like Crazy is no One More Chance, that much is true. Still, it’s a film that touches the heart in much the same way. John Lloyd Cruz definitely displays his acting chops in this film. Bea Alonzo, though not as mature an actor as Cruz, still manages to draw viewers in.

Whenever I tell my friends, many of whom still refuse to watch local films, to watch One More Chance (2007), my pitch is that it’s a perfect Star Cinema movie. I tell them about the undeniable chemistry between its two lead stars, John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo, the well-written script by Vanessa Valdez and Carmi Raymundo that is laden with lines that really pierce the heart, and the beautiful execution of director Cathy Garcia-Molina. Though my success rate at convincing friends to give local mainstream cinema one more chance is still dismal, none of those who watched this film have been disappointed.

Thus, when Miss You Like Crazy (2010) was announced, I kind of approached it like I did Before Sunset (2004), which reunited Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, and director Richard Linklater, the triumvirate that brought us the unforgettable, wonderfully open-ended Before Sunrise (1995). Yes, seriously.

This time, I managed to drag along a self-avowed film geek friend who vocally shuns local cinema, but wept openly when I dragged her to watch A Very Special Love (2008, also directed by Garcia-Molina, starring Cruz and Sarah Geronimo).

Miss You Like Crazy is about two people who meet at the wrong points in their lives and let fear or indecision keep them apart. When Allan (Cruz) first meets Mia (Alonzo) on a Pasig River ferry, he is living with his girlfriend Daphne (Maricar Reyes) and working hard at a relationship that has been steadily showing cracks as it progressed. Allan and Mia fall in love, but Allan fails to make a decision right away and they lose each other.

Two years later, Allan and Mia meet again, this time in Malaysia, and it’s Mia who is involved with a Malaysian man (Gerald Hans Isaac) who loves her, well, like crazy. When Mir proposes marriage, Mia chooses with her mind and says yes. Back to Manila a broken-hearted Allan flew.

Obviously, that’s not the end of the story.

When Allan and Mia first meet, they go to Paco Park, where Mia bumps into an old psychic friend, Lolo Uly, who once told her she would meet her bespectacled true love on a river. He seems to recognize Allan as The One, and says their path to love wasn’t going to be easy. On February 24, 2010, he tells him, just show up. Be here. Don’t give up.  

Of course, Allan gives up all hope. Isn’t that the only way one can move forward? But when February 24 comes, he is faced with a decision. To trust an old man’s prediction or not to trust? To go to Paco Park or not to go? To do a truly irrational thing for one last shot at a love or not to do anything at all? Those are the questions.

When I stepped out of the cinema after watching Miss You Like Crazy, I was wondering if it had anything to say about the virtue of waiting. Now that I’ve thought about it some more, I’m seeing that it has more to do with the difficult areas of fear, trust and commitment.

Miss You Like Crazy is no One More Chance, that much is true. Still, it’s a film that touches the heart in much the same way. Cruz definitely displays his acting chops in this film—there’s this one scene where Allan bumps into Mia at a park, and he’s so happy and relieved to see her after two years of looking for her, he doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry, and the conflicting emotions are captured in Cruz’s eyes. Alonzo, though not as mature an actor as Cruz, still manages to draw viewers in.

One other element that makes Miss You Like Crazy a success is the supporting cast that the production managed to pull together. There were real talents in it: Jun Urbano, Ryan Eigenmann, Sid Lucero, Malou De Guzman, Ina Feleo, Ketchup Eusebio, and Bembol Roco, who can make you cry even if he’s just lying there, comatose.

Lastly, aside from her excellent direction, bless Garcia-Molina for finding the most fascinating settings for her urban love stories. She makes Pasig River beautiful and riding the ferry very interesting—in much the same way she has convinced me local mainstream cinema deserves one more chance.

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