Review: A Very Special Love
I'm very picky about local movies, especially love stories, because most of them are done in a very formulaic way. However, I can also choose to ignore or not nitpick at the story if I like the leads, and this is the case of "A Very Special Love."
It's no secret that I like Sarah. I think she's a good kid and a fantastic singer. Like most stars, it's more than the pretty face or the powerful voice that draws people in, it's the humility and honesty that gets them. It's also the "being", and being Sarah Geronimo, just being herself, is something that people gravitate towards. John Lloyd is fine, I've seen him in person, he looks different in person. He's more boyish onscreen, that's why I can't believe him sometimes when he acts all authoritative in this movie. Does he expect me to believe that he's all manly and sexy during that scene where he mocks Sarah because she has no sexual experience? Not buying it, fella. I believe him more when he's weeping at his mother's grave.
I'm thankful that this movie is not as schmoopy as I thought it could be. Also, one of my fears for this movie is that it will be a long, overrunning, diatribe about the dichotomy of the rich and poor... which kind of happened but the movie, most of the time, kind of kept it under control and did not make it all about that. Because frankly, I'm sick of it, I've got those damn ABS CBN telenovelas lecturing me about the dichotomy of the rich and poor.
I also admire that they didn't stick purely to meet-cutes and banter of Laida and Miggy. It's very good that they gave some background on Miggy because it gave more depth to his character. His being an illegitimate child trying to live up to the legitimate children of his father is a storyline I did not expect. That was one aspect that I liked so much because I thought that John Lloyd was getting into the meat of the character when he was saying his lines like "kapag nakikita ako ng mga anak niya, ang nakikita nila ay yung mga kasalanan na ginawa ng nanay ko sa nanay nila."
Of course Sarah was cute and quite funny in this movie. I only wish that her character was given a similar treatment to that of John Lloyd's. I appreciate that the writers didn't make her all flirty and that she still managed to be modest (hello born again Christian, heh) and nary a kissing scene, heh. I guess I liked it more that way because it was fitting for her character and our culture. As far as romantic comedy endings go, I thought that it was penned tastefully -- it ended on a hug, a cheesy Smokey Mountain song that I like, and a sun dance. Way to go, John Lloyd and Sarah, way to go.