True love doesn’t expire
The course of true love never did run smooth.
– William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Romantic dramas and comedies drive in the audience because they are the most relatable to the escapists, the dreamers and the realists. After all, love is the universal language. In You’re Still The One, we see the on-again, off-again relationship between the career-oriented Elise (Maja Salvador) and the more casual Jojo (Dennis Trillo) through 15 long years.
At the get go, we are bombarded with an uneven mix of drama and comedy, wondering if the film is a satire or just a heavy dose of manic neurotransmitters occassionally injected to the supporting characters, the family and friends of Elise. If ever this is a foil to the seriousness of Elise’s character, it comes off as clunky and confusingly undelectable. For Jojo’s set of support, from his caring mother afflicted with diabetic retinopathy (Zsa-Zsa Padilla) to the soft-spoken, physically-toned caregiver (Ellen Adarna), they contrast the carefree nature of the leading man on their side of the story. During the first act, where their unusual relationship starts, it’s quite comforting to see the two together even if the circumstances are quite artificial and external threats unnecessary. More than an hour into the film, the moments of dramatic unveiling are concentrated in the latter sequences, revealing the true form of a drama infused with some comedy, which are the better bits that could have set the tone of the whole film. Unfortunately, the scarcity of such scenes make You’re Still The One cringe-worthy with its soap opera format, as flimsily aided by an overbearing mood-cancelling score.
With a decade and a half of material to course through, a different approach could have been utilized, like the indie rom-coms 500 Days of Summer or Comet, where there is coherence story-wise and palpable emotions without being overstuffed. If not, the latter sequences which deal with more visual storytelling could have been spread out in the first two acts, to give a breather and let their special kind of love sink in to the audience.
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With its more liberal take on love, sex and relationships, much could have been expounded on Elise’s feminist stand on her womanhood, or the stark differences in careers and qualities that may signify the ultimate doom of the relationship teased for two hours. The maturity is only evident on face value, from the consistent level of acting desired from the cast, but is not enough to dig in a compelling romance, of a true real love, in You’re Still The One.
You’re Still The One is currently showing in Philippine cinemas from Star Cinema and Regal Entertainment Inc. All Images are from YouTube screencaps from the trailer below:
