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

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.

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.

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.