Mario Bautista's "Caregiver" Review

Posted on June 4, 2008

'Caregiver' is best film
released this year

Sharon Cuneta's comeback film, "Caregiver," is the best local film released so far this year.

Written by Chris Martinez ("Bridal Shower") and directed by Chito Rono, it's the story of a woman who's been used to being subservient to her husband until she follows him to work in London. There, the film becomes a poignant journey of self discovery and woman empowerment, making it not just another familiar movie about the sad travails of overseas Filipino workers.

Sarah (Sharon) used to have a good job but she gave it to help her husband Teddy (John Estrada) in his business, which eventually failed. Teddy went to London to work as a nurse while Sarah becomes an English teacher. She's due to be promoted as department head, but Teddy wants her to join him in London to work as a caregiver, so she takes a crash course on care giving to give in to his wishes. Alas, in London, Sarah finds out that Teddy is not really working as a nurse and that their relationship has really come to a dead end when Teddy forces her to return to the Philippines with him.

The film is excellently acted by the entire cast (but Monique Wilson as another caregiver is underutilized.) As a working wife and mother who only wants the best for her family, this is Sharon's most challenging three-dimensional role since Joey Reyes' "Nang Iniwan Mo Ako" (1997) where she played the abandoned wife who learns how to stand on her own two feet. "Caregiver" is a tearjerker but it doesn't manipulate you to cry. It shows us the inequities faced by wives with weakling husbands, as voiced out by Rica Peralejo who plays another caregiver whose husband, Jhong Hilario, is a doctor forced to work as a nurse.

Sharon is deglamorized as Sarah and gives a consistently superb and compelling performance that will surely melt your heart. The most touching scenes for us is when Sarah's very old grandma (Anita Linda), who earlier didn't recognize her, later summons her to give her a red shawl as a going away present, and that scene where Sarah and her son, Pau (John Manalo), are buying winter coats and she bids him a final farewell.

John Estrada gives competent support as Sarah's pathetic loser of a husband and Matthew Rutherford as Mr. Morgan, the lonely old man who Sarah takes care of in the nursing home where she works, has his own stirring moments. The highly charged emotional scene where they finally make a connection is one of the film's dramatic high points.

If there's one thing that detracts from this uplifting movie, it's the lengthy running time that results from having so many characters and subplots. It cannot be denied that Makisig Morales is good in his role as a rebellious boy in London who's alienated from his mom and foreign step dad, but the whole episode concerning him can be excised without damaging the main story at all.

What we appreciate in the film is the marked contrast showing the difference between Filipino and foreign families. Sarah's aging lola is well taken care of by her own family members, while in London, neglected old folks are just deposited by their relatives in care homes. Another standout scene is when Sarah's son goes missing in the middle of the night and all the women in their family become so hysterically concerned. It is very well staged and so typically Filipino in its portrayal of our close family ties.

Even the exterior scenes that aim to show familiar London landmarks like Trafalgar Square, the Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace (like in the wedding anniversary cruise that's meant to be happy but turns out to be miserable) are integral parts of the story and not just an attempt to give us a travelogue.

We're glad that Chito Rono is back into making a realistic film after doing nothing but horror fantasies like "Spirit Warriors", "Feng Shui" and "Sukob" for the past couple of years. He owes it to himself as a talented filmmaker to come up with more substantial and relevant films. His "Caregiver" surely touched us more than any other similarly themed Star Cinema films like "Milan" or "Dubai." Even technical credits are better than average and we're happy the film is making money as the lines were so long when we saw it in a mall theater. Congratulations to everyone concerned.

Credit:  http://telebisyon.net/
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