A Very Special Love

RATED 3/10 Language: Filipino Source: Netflix

Run of the mill story and wooden acting. I was tempted to see this movie based on the reviews but its total let down. The story and scenes are seen in multiple movies in multiple countries, but this one felt very uninteresting.

A Filipino comedy romance film starring John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo. The film was directed by Cathy Garcia Molina.

Geronimo plays a cute young woman who lands the job of Editorial Assistant to a young handsome, but tyrannical boss played by Cruz, who runs "Bachelor", a magazine for men. Our editor gets more tyrannical and insensitive to the feelings of his staff as he is pressured by his corporate bosses to come up with a winning anniversary edition of the magazine, or lose his job.

To complicate matters, our young editor is the illegitimate son of the magnate of the publishing house that owns "Bachelor", whose legal son is also an executive director. The character played by Cruz, was adopted into the upper crust family when his mother died. He continues to visit her grave.

The young new hire editorial assistant succeeds during the duration of the movie, in breaking down her bosses hard-nosed attitudes and helps him discover his concealed sensitivities.

This story formula has been told countless times on the big stream in every corner of the world.

Surprisingly, however, this 105-minute long film grabs your attention from start to finish, albeit with the ending being predicted from minute 5. Not an easy job for moviemakers.

Geronimo and Cruz very convincingly perform a series of rollercoaster emotions that fluctuate from sadness to romance to glee; and back again. Good actors with a strong screen presence.

I used to hate watching romantic films, especially those Filipino romance movies, because they are too mainstream. Usually, in movies of the same genre, the actors and actresses appear to be overacting, the dialogues are clichéd, the story lines are hackneyed, and the crises are stereotyped. However, this movie is quite different. It just showed that Filipinos can also create their own quality movie.

First: We can clearly see the good acting skills of both John Lloyd Cruz (as Miggy Montenegro) and Sarah Geronimo (as Laida Magtalas). The comedic lines were inserted very smoothly that makes the audience laugh in no time. Such is a great talent, because not everyone can make someone laugh. Also, their portrayals of heavy dramatic scenes were very sharp and bold. Even if one has no experience about love or family rivalry, it is undeniable that almost everyone can relate to their story.

Second: The storyline was well-founded. I love the fact that the producers finally thought of mixing genres so that the flow of the movie will be as exciting as it should be. The combination of having a family drama and romance is already good, but adding comedy is excellent. At least, they are valiant enough to try a different mix of sorts to give the audience new tastes of quality Pinoy movies.

Third: The scenes were virtuous to produce a movie that was never seen in the Philippine cinema ever before. Finally, the altering of clips from the traditional Filipino romance films has come. It is a great feeling that you can feel the 'kilig factor' with the new movie formula they were able to formulate.

Being a technical critic, I would only reprobate some switching of scenes where the lighting and the amount of rainfall changes between clips. I think they could have improved this one because it is quite obvious that the sun is shining on one clip and when it turned to a different angle, it turned darker.

Also, I'd criticize the cinematography. There was not much camera rolling techniques that was used in the movie. Either way, I think this one is not much necessary for a romantic film because still cameras may do for such kind of movie.

Generally, I'd give it a score of 7.

Every local film pitched with a romantic theme will never escape this harsh pre-judgment; it is a copycat, 'baduy' or trashy. As the saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover." But in reality, not all of us are critics, who have a lot of time in their hands to check out this "chick flick" to reassure the relevance of this adage.

A Very Special Love is a romantic comedy film produced by Star Cinema, directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and written by Raz dela Torre. The story is about a moody Editor-in-chief Miggy Montenegro who is in the verge of losing his staff as well as his men's magazine, Bachelor. Laida, a naïve young girl, applies as an Editorial Assistant hoping to be close with the man she dreams of every night. The plot is fairly identifiable to the movie The Devil Wears Prada wherein a recent college graduate gets a job as an assistant to a powerful magazine editor. But this time, it is a love story. Although originality in the story is not a strong quality nevertheless the basic necessities of a Romantic Comedy were all addressed.

Geronimo's performance in particular was quite a revelation. From her quirky antics, and humorous lines, to her on-screen charisma, the audience can't stop laughing and crying and giggling and laughing again, a metaphoric state just like the theme, Love. On the other note, Cruz's character was made complex and was wisely portrayed. He plays a not-so-likable character you will despise at first sight. But as the film thoroughly progress, you will sympathize with him and be captivated with his charisma. I don't want to elaborate any further as to how his character was layered as this might reveal the twists.

The probably advantage in having Star Cinema produce a film is the technical quality will not be compromised. Although I have qualms in certain dialogue scenes that were dubbed and its live recording needs to be improved. Too much musical scoring is what I loath in most mainstream local films. Moderation might ultimately be the cure.

Romantic comedy films are movies with light-hearted, humorous plot lines, centered on romantic ideals such as true love being able to surmount most obstacles. This is what this film offers. It is simple in definition, but hard to attain. It is a rare treat to watch a film in this genre and be able to say in the end, it was pleasing… and funny indeed.

rating: 3.5/5 stars

A man that publishes a failing men's magazine who has a lot to prove to his family and himself loses most of his staff. Yet he has to get an issue out in weeks with the remaining staff. A girl who fantasizes about that man gets a job as an editorial assistant at the magazine. They all struggle to get the magazine together in time and a better issue than they've done before. And will love develop between the man and the young woman?

First, must say that much of the story lacks the believability factor. If you need that, stop reading my review and find another movie. The story is decent but much is very farfetched. Though not everything is predictable which is good. This was a a romance drama. There are a few comedy moments but I never actually laughed. Kind of different for a Pinoy film.

The acting is very good. The characters interesting. As a love story it is very strange there is no kissing. The no sex scenes is okay for a romance movie. But no kissing is just strange. The romance is almost missing from this movie.

Even with several faults, I still enjoyed this movie. Sarah Geronimo who plays the female lead also sings the theme song. She has had a prolific career in both acting and as a singer. Good movie, but definitely not great.