Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health (1996) User Reviews (10)

Fun romantic comedy with a Spanish-star-cast and dealing with a likable couple during several decades

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 31 October 2012]

In the 60s , Madrid , Beatles are in Spain , two young people, a gorgeous girl named Diana (Penelope Cruz) and the bellboy named Santi (Gabino Diego) meet at a luxurious hotel room as a result of their devotion to John Lennon . Later on , they take diverse ways , however they will have a recurring relationship during the next thirty years at the oddest places , in the most strange moments , and during historical events that defined ulterior decades . Years later , Diana (One time grown-up performed by Ana Belen) will marry a cocky , wealthy man (Luis Fernando Alves) , she will divorce him and marry an Italian tenor named Raimondi (Carles Sans) . While , Santi (one time grown-up played by Juanjo Puigcorbe) has already married María José (Laura Conejero) and her unfaithfulness is bringing him lots of problems .

A very pleasant romantic comedy plenty of humor , emotion , sensitive scenes and mayhem . "Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health" is Pereira's return to top form, with an intelligent and engaging script which uses amusing situations to give us a good movie in a high sense and intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost two hours and some of duration . Rightly enjoyable and fun-filled , milestone comedy which neatly combines humor , mirth , entertaining situations and amusement . Pay attention as one couple of younger actors very well played by Gabino Diego and Penelope Cruz alternate with the other pair of older players perfectly performed by Ana Belen and Juanjo Puigcorbe to recreate this 30 year span in this splendid comedy . Flawless story with a quartet of sensational protagonists , including an unforgettable Penelope Cruz who though plays a secondary acting , she parades sexily at her best and more relaxed and enticing than ever . The hit of the show is undoubtedly for the fetching Penelope who gives one of the best screen acting . I liked everyone in the excellent cast, and the male and female actors , especially Penelope Cruz , were all very attractive . I have seen many, Hollywood-romantic-comedies that couldn't compare with this one, but many give them a higher rating because they are Hollywood-made . The screenplay manages a lot of laughs from the audience and romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film. The only flaw I can find is that some of the story lines are left unexplained and some character arcs end up being implausible. Some situations are laugh out loud ridiculous and the story proceeds at a breakneck speed that never flags . This movie is a lot of fun and well worth the time. I enjoyed the film tremendously and I guarantee you that if you rent it, you'll enjoy it and have a few laughs. It was funny, great actors and a super soundtrack composed by recently deceased Bernando Bonezzi . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Amoros . Nice special effects showing historical deeds in ¨Forrest Gump¨ style . Rating : Better than average Spanish comedy , you will be glad to saw it. The picture will appeal to Penelope Cruz fans .

The motion picture was well written and directed by Manuel Gomez Pereira . He usually writes his films and occasionally for other directors as "What Makes Women Laugh?" by Joaquin Oristell who in "Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health" is screenwriter and producer ; both of them are ordinary collaborators . Pereira is an expert on comedies as ¨¨Rose sauce¨, Why do they call it love when they mean sex ?¨, ¨Mouth to mouth¨ , "All Men Are the Same" , though he also has made some drama as ¨The hanged man¨ and ¨Between your legs¨ . His latest projects, however, tanked as "Off Key" starred by an American-all star cast but was a failure both economically and artistically or simply didn't deliver as "Atrévete y Verás" . Nowadays , he directs TV chapters as ¨Gran Reserva¨ and ¨Cheers¨ series .

Surprisingly Entertaining Romantic Comedy

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 22 October 2007]

El Amor perjudica seriamente la salud (Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health) is a smartly written and produced Spanish Romantic Comedy dating back to 1996 when two of the 'stars' (Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem) were barely known: of course now, their names add enormous credibility to the DVD issue on today's market. Written and directed by Manuel Gómez Pereira, this is a tale of a boy/man and girl/woman who meet in a slapstick situation in the 1960s when the Beatles were all the rage, fall in love, part and have recurrent meetings over the next thirty years under varying circumstances that prove to be both humorous and sensitive.

In the mid 1960s there is a reception for the King of Spain and in the hotel site of the reception we encounter a bellboy Santi (Gabino Diego) and an over the top Beatle's fan Diana (Penélope Cruz) whose antics include hiding under John Lennon's bed as he makes love to a local trollop, much to the chagrin of the smitten Diana. The two lock in an attraction and over the ensuing years, each becomes married with family in various forms of devotion and fidelity, and as adults Santi (Juanjo Puigcorbé) and Diana (the gorgeous Ana Belén) continue to have mutual assignations in the most bizarre of circumstances. In the end the repeated replay love affairs take their toll and the two eventually manage to proceed with getting on with their married lives with a degree of normalcy ... or do they? The flavor of the various passing decades during which Santi and Diana meet is well captured by the director, the scenic designer, the musical score and by the quartet of superb actors. At times, especially in the beginning, the film seems as though it is going to be a slapstick comedy, one that could become tiresome given the subject matter. But just when madcap 60s pass the tone of the film takes on a more sophisticated stance, dealing with serious issues of lust, infidelity, abuse of power, commitment to family and political changes. It all works surprisingly well and the film ends like a 1940s enduring love story. There are numerous bit parts my serious actors, not the least of which is a split moment by an unknown Javier Bardem who even in that twinkle of time gives evidence of the gifted actor he has become. The very young Penélope Cruz likewise proves not only her early comedic gifts, but shows us that even as a beginner she has electric screen presence. A fun and tender little diversion of a film. In Spanish with English subtitles. Grady Harp

A terrific atypical romance

[evilmatt-3 · 8/10 · 5 July 2000]

I saw this film as part of a series while I was going to school in Spain. Spanish films tend be, for the most part, confusing, unsatisfying, and obviously low-budget. _El amor perjudica seriamente la salud_ is none of these things. The performances are absolutely outstanding (with a very notable early Penelope Cruz role) and the story is at times screamingly hilarious. At others, it is devastatingly sad. It has the wonderful quality of seeming to be a cute little romantic comedy that actually evolves into a complex, finely tuned film that can easily become the topic of a night's conversation after the film. I've not yet seen it in English, but I'm doing all in my power to find it here in the United States. Truly, truly excellent.

Big budget overambitious romcom

[alserrano · 7/10 · 13 April 2022]

Manuel Gómez-Pereira was on a roll, with movies that were each one more polished than the previous one and each one of them having a really good reception from both audiences and critics (the Javier Bardem starred "Boca a boca", now almost forgotten, was talked about everywhere and seen as a contemporary Madrid screwball classic), so he had all the budget and almost everything he wanted for his next movie, this one, in which he decided to talk about love.

A story of a non romantically engaged couple destined to jump into each other at different points of time, with two young actors (Gabino Diego, Penélope Cruz) who looked nothing like the same character elder ones (Juanjo Puigcorbé, Ana Belén) but with some impressive set pieces that also tell the recent history of Spain. It attempts to be several things at the same time: didactic about history and circumstances, and absurd, tragic, and funny about the romcom, and succeeds mostly. This is a common thing in the Gómez-Pereira later works: he never hits all the spots that he is trying to hit, but I admire him for trying so much.

Costumes, cast. The Bernardo Bonezzi soundtrack, all the technical details are incredible. It feels a bit disjointed but it is also very poignant, and the dance scene is one of my favourite movie scenes ever.

Couldn't leave the film, even though I wanted to!

[Stefan____ · 9/10 · 6 November 2002]

This started as something curious to watch, something light. Well that changed almost imperceptibly as I was drawn into the film and the story.

In a way it's a typical story line, yet not so typical as so few people have experienced what happens to the characters. The emotional levels really pull you up and down as the movie explores the idea of true love vs. lust and romance vs. marriage. Also exploring ideas about getting what you want in life materially and career and classes of society and how those intertwine with attraction and love.

The music was also very moving, making the emotions that much stronger. I'm a man and yet it made me laugh and cry ... making me think back to events in my own life.

Life can be so simple and pure if we want it to be .... but is that boring?

The love is very funny

[Josma · 4 October 1999]

A good film. The cast is perfect and Gabino Diego is the best of the film. It is very amusing and enjoyable. You'll laugh willingly. You must see it because you'll have a good time and it is worthwhile. It only have a little defect, the duration is very long, I think.

Interesting, funny, boring and overlong

[halopes · 5/10 · 21 November 2003]

Just a week ago I was have this conversation with a friend; she said she wanted to find a man who would marry her and would agree both of them to live in separate places, with their own personal lives. They would be together only when they felt like it. That's the relationship that works, in her opinion; in mine, that's choosing the easy way.

The premise of the movie is very interesting, even though reminiscent of Forrest Gump. The movie itself raises a lot of questions about love, lust, relationships, marriage and ultimately, about sharing a life and the evolution of love in a relationship.

The movie starts well, setting a warm mood, and delivers us a promising story with funny moments. After the first hour this cozy movie begins to turn too repetitive and its otherwise empathetic and cheerful main characters start to make you uncomfortable. We all know passion doesn't last forever and that love has its own evolution in a relationship. We also know time and distance help to heal frustrated love stories.

And as the movie goes by, chance puts the characters in a perpetual never-ending confront about their feelings for each other almost in a masochist way. Even though this is a comedy, we can see the characters suffer with their impossible love, and at certain point I lost total empathy with the characters - they are only in pain because they don't want to make a decision, for the good or for the bad - so the movie becomes boring and overlong running almost two hours.

Hopefully this is a comedy and the title - Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health - could not be more appropriate.

Such a romantic story...

[KrystelClaire · 10/10 · 10 October 2009]

I like this film so much! Believe me: I'm the person who has the world record of hating romantic films, but this one has really touched my heart.

I see it as a realistic kind of love story. Life and different circumstances force both lovers Santi and Diana to postpone the moment when they can be together forever. At the beginning, it looks like Santi is hooked on somebody who is much powerful and resourceful and who doesn't really need him, but as time goes by the audience can appreciate how much they love each other, no matter how different they are, how their divergent social backgrounds push them apart or whatever circumstances come in their way. Both need that love in their lives, although life being as it is, it insists in keeping them apart. Diana marries well: for her money and a good social position are part of her identity as a person, and for him, his profession is something really important: he's had to fight his way to the top, and he's not going to destroy his professional life -something he's fought so hard to have- to the rubbish bin. It's natural and it happens many times in real life: when people grow older, they mature, and many people become sadder and regretful with lost opportunities, what-could-have-been's and the grim realities of life like routine and mortgages.

Of course there are good fun moments, but the anxiety of their separation and the loss of years make both them a bit melancholic. The scene which presents John Lennon's death is tender, and it means so much for the main characters, and it's a really touching moment.

A mixed success, but I still rate it at 7

[Oskado · 8/10 · 21 November 2002]

After a well-handled and intriguing light-comedy scene at a reception for the King of Spain, this film returns us to that moment through a thirty-year-long flashback told through numerous rather distinct scenes, each striving toward another amorous turn of triumph in the enduring attraction of the two main characters. The quality of those triumphs matures over time, and in each we confront, to varying degrees, light suspense, nostalgia and humor. The dialogue is at times hilarious - quick turns of phrases, clashes of word choice with social surroundings, etc., but of course understanding the Spanish is at times essential for full comic appreciation.

In the first half of the film occurs a short sequence of rapid-fire madcap stunts that surprise and work well, but thereafter, slapstick is largely absent through the remainder of the film - or at least till the end. As already hinted, some of the scenes end so successfully, and with a sentiment seeming so perfectly to wrap up the film, that I was momentarily disillusioned to see it continue.

As for acting, the leading actors project wonderfully and are capable of charm and "sutileza" (the English spelling escapes me at the moment). I order zone-2 dvds from Spain and received this along with Cielo Abierto, which I rate higher (I like Albaladejo's work). Yet I give this a 7-rating. With many films I can envision how I might reorder or change the work - with El amor perjudica seriamente la salud, I find the basic plot extremely challenging - yet when it did end, all in my family left the room smiling and laughing. There is no graphic sex, and whatever violence that occurs is comic. The language is non-offensive, at least to Spanish sensitivities. Probably my favorite film with a plot vaguely-vaguely similar to this one is Avanti, with Jack Lemmon.

When unfaithfulness is peaceful (web)

[leplatypus · 10/10 · 12 August 2013]

Usually, stories about lovers and mistress are drama en end in blood. Here, it's the opposite: it's funny and happy. The idea is original and is well played as the separated lovers meet all along their life in Spain. So it's a good way to learn about the evolution of this country and its people, especially with their King. But there's more as the first look comes from the Beatles! It's Pené who plays the young lady and she is cute in this old fashion. With the years, the mature woman is played by Ana Belen, who has the same sexy look than a very famous Justice Minister of my country (RD). Thus, it's 100% Latin charm and not at all superficial: their story really speaks about why people can have two loves: as i write for "Douche froide", the reason is the difference. So it's not really about a competition of lovers, of choosing the best as they are unlike and opposite. In a way, they can be in good terms together, the bad side is that the unofficial lover is stuck to bits and leftover: he can't never access the best level because if he did, there's no more difference thus no more desire. So it's funny and tragic to see those lovers meet, dream and leave as it's their fate. In addition, it's never repetitive as there's a lot of humor, due to the facts that they must do little lies, silly plans for their official families.

Again a good surprise from my neighbors !