When love is hard work

Film review: You Changed My Life

MANILA, Philippines - You Changed My Life, a co-production of Star Cinema and Viva Productions, Inc. and directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, comes to us with a lot of expectations. Reprising the characters they portrayed in the top-grossing film of 2008, the Sarah Geronimo-John Lloyd Cruz starrer runs the risk of either being relegated to that category where viewers will say they should have left things alone and the sequel resembles “whipping a dead horse;” or it’s like slipping on a warm glove on a very cold day, where the sensation is familiar and yet it is something we anticipate, relish, and are grateful for. Thankfully, the brains trust behind the sequel were fully aware of the situation, and took pains to give us a fresh story, a true development of the characters so many came to love.

The rich boy-poor girl love story could have easily taken the route of least resistance, playing the audience simply for laughs, fairy tale romance, and feel-good moments; but the script of the Part 2 aspires for much more. Given that the social backgrounds of our two lovers are worlds apart, the relationship is like some ticking timebomb; and the film fully explores this aspect, presenting the dilemma/reality check of how perception, expectations, commitment, sacrifice, and hard work are often needed to make a relationship flourish and succeed.

Sarah’s Laida is back in full force, showing her gift for physical comedy, while maintaining the balancing act of not letting the portrayal slip into caricature. John Lloyd surprises whenever he lets his restrained, stress laden character of Miggy suddenly slip into kenkoy mode. The support cast of the first film is back, and the new twist is Rayver Cruz’s Makoy, an old flame/high school best friend of Laida who ends up working in the same ad agency as her new assistant. A rival for the affections of Laida, it’s nice to note how the film makers manage to keep the Makoy character sympathetic, while the audience still roots for Miggy. The two scenes I found particularly telling in terms of our two heroes acting prowess were: A.) the one where John Lloyd and Dante Rivero (as Miggy’s father) are seated on a garden bench, and John Lloyd shows how he’s still one of the more effective actors when it comes to crying; and B.) when Sarah/Laida confronts John Lloyd/Miggy after he’s kept her waiting at a wedding of a friend, when disappointment, hurt, exhaustion and still, love, are etched on her face.

Blending light, carefree moments with the more serious situations is direk Cathy’s special gift to us in this film. She redefines romantic comedy within a Filipino milieu, and reminds us that love is really not a simple, straightforward experience. Change is an essential element for sustaining a relationship, and making it grow. The fairy tale elements and resolution that do exist are there to maintain a feel good veneer, but the issues raised and confronted are what one takes away when leaving the theater.