Sylvia Sanchez Gives A Totally Winning Performance In 'Mama's Girl', A Film That Imparts Good Values About Passion, Commitment, Acceptance, Forgiveness And Love

SYLVIA SANCHEZ says 2017 has been a very good one for her. “I can’t complain kasi ang daming blessings na natanggap ko,” she says. “Ngayon, maganda rin ang pasok ng 2018 kasi kasisimula lang ng taon, may bagong movie akong ipalalabas, ‘Mama’s Girl’ ng Regal kasama ko sina Sofia Andres, Diego Loyzaga at Jameson Blake, opening in theaters on January 17.”

Last year, she did ‘The Greatest Love” for which she won her first best actress award ever, as she’s been winning mostly best supporting actress trophies before. It gave her leading lady status so she was given a follow up show, “Hanggang Saan”, where she’s playing the lead role once again. She also played the title role in the indie film, “Inay”, where she played a vampire. For this year, she’ll be doing another indie film for Cinemalaya.

“But most of all, I’m happy to be back sa Regal dahil si Mother Lily talaga ang nagbigay ng break sa’kin sa pelikula in 1989 nang ipakilala ako sa ‘Student Body’. Maraming nagtawa sa’kin dahil wala raw akong pruweba sa pag-arte. But since then, ang dami ko ng pinagdaanan, na-prove kong I can act by winning acting awards, and now, I’m just glad to be back sa Regal dahil hindi ko makakalimutan si Mother Lily sa buong buhay ko.”

The Regal matriarch responded at this point: “Thank you, Sylvia! I love you!”

And both Mother Lily and Sylvia have reason to rejoice because we've seen their movie at its premiere in Trinoma and writer Gina Marissa Tagasa and director Connie Macatuno have come up with a real winner of a family film in “Mama’s Girl”, which would be a truly ideal offering for Mother’s Day.

It’s a feel good flick that has no qualms in being shamelessly didactic as it teaches good positive values like passion for life, commitment in what you do, acceptance of the givens in your life that you cannot change, forgiveness to the people who hurt you and love for everyone around you.

Sylvia gives a very winning performance as a single mom who raises her only daughter, Abby Potpot, by herself after they were abandoned by the man she trusted. There’s a twist in the story but Sylvia which will be a big spoiler so we can't reveal it. But Sylvia more than compensates for this surprise because even if she’s no longer there, you can still feel her presence very much.

We love her in that scene where she gets so mad after discovering that her daughter is entertaining her boyfriend right inside her own bedroom and in that heartwarming scene where she performs a perky dance number for Abby Potpot.

Sofia Andres manages to hold her own as the self centered brat who has her own story arc from being an annoying character to a more responsible, loving and likeable person. Giving good support are Diego Loyzaga as her best friend from childhood who she ignores, Jameson Blake as the rock star who breaks her heart and Arlene Muhlach as Sylvia’s loyal best friend. We just feel that the film is a bit long, with some scenes overextended and it can surely stand some trimming to make the pacing more swift.