You’re Still the One works on the very simple and relatable premise of two people wanting to be together, but never finding the right time. But the film is anything but simple and relatable. Its plot feels like a succession of soap opera twists, the characters contrived into crisis as they act in ways that feel completely irrational. Combined with subpar production values, You’re Still the One emerges as a really goofy little romance.
Jojo and Elise (Dennis Trillo and Maja Salvador) first got together in 1999, when they were in university. But at the time, Elise didn't want to get into a serious relationship. The film then tracks the two as they encounter each other over the years leading up to the present. The two have never stopped being in love with each other, but they never seem to find the right time to be together. They always seem to be with other people, and end up suppressing their feelings for one another in the name of propriety.
What's most intriguing about this story is how awful it allows its characters to be. Throughout this story, the lead characters make horrible personal choices that would normally exclude them from the possibility of a happy ending. But the film still ably makes the case that the best possible result is the two of them ending up together,if only so that they don't inflict their misery on others. There's almost a sense of parody to the proceedings, the characters going to comical extremes as they yearn for each other.
But it doesn't really feel like the movie is trying to subvert anything. It plays things pretty straight, hitting all the familiar beats of the local romcom. And this is where the film falls apart. The content is inherently soapy, the characters going through the sort of plot developments one would expect more from a TV serial. But it still treats all of it like it’s just basic romantic storytelling. It mostly ends up feeling pretty goofy. The atmosphere and the direction seem to indicate that serious romantic stuff is happening, but the content is so outsized that it’s almost comedic in nature.
The similarities to TV continue in the aesthetic, which never really rises to cinematic heights. There are sequences in here where the focus is so soft that it feels like a flashback. Many of these shot choices are questionable at best, the framing and the movement never quite feeling right projected on the big screen. The acting is more or less okay. Trillo and Salvador don’t have any particular chemistry, but they’re okay. Salvador in particular finds interesting hooks in her character, finding a solid human base within the outsized plotting. Trillo succumbs to overacting through a lot of this, but he’s mostly able to charm his way through the role.
You’re Still the One really fizzles out as it hurtles towards its conclusion. For all the outsized drama of the plot, the ending indicates that the resolution of all this is just waiting long enough for the obstacles to just get out of the way. And so, the climactic encounter doesn’t involve the characters doing anything out of the ordinary. It doesn’t involve them taking risks or going against norms or challenging who they are as people. And it certainly doesn’t involve the more interesting choice of tragic disconnection. It heads into badly shot final sequences that celebrate a love that seems like nothing more than a default choice.
My Rating:
