A Very Special Love is a 2008 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina from a story and screenplay written by Raz S. de la Torre. The film stars John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo in her first film under ABS-CBN's film studio as a lead star, the film revolves around an editorial assistant who finds out that she is going to work for the man of her dreams. In addition to the lead stars, the supporting cast includes Dante Rivero, Rowell Santiago, Bing Pimentel, Joross Gamboa, Al Tantay, and Irma Adlawan and a special participation of Agot Isidro.
A co-production of Star Cinema and Viva Films, the film was theatrically released in the Philippines on July 30, 2008, and later released in the United States on August 15. The successful results in the box office spawned two sequels: You Changed My Life, which was released on February 25, 2009, and It Takes a Man and a Woman which was released on March 30, 2013. Now, it currently holds the title of the seventh highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.
Contents
Plot
Laida Magtalas is a modern-day Belle. "Miggy" is the youngest member of the Montenegro clan – a well-established family in the business. She applies as an Editorial Assistant at Miggy's newly launched men’s magazine, "Bachelor". Laida revels in working in such proximity with the man of her dreams.
The film opens with Laida starting out her day with a job interview with Flippage, owned and managed by her crush Miguel "Miggy" Montenegro. Unbeknownst to her, on the day of her interview, Miggy has a heated meeting with his creative team on the issue of Bachelor, Flippage’s men's magazine. Miggy’s mean demeanor and undermining of both his friend and editors cause a walkout of half of the team. In the middle of the chaos, Laida is hired on the spot after she presents Miggy with coffee left by an attendant who also walked out after being screamed at.
Laida remains blind to the fact that the Miggy of her dreams is very different from the real one. In reality, he is an unapologetic, hothead who always thinks he's in the right and is obsessed about making his magazine number one. Everyone is scared of him with the exception of the love-struck Laida, who adamantly defends him. Imperceptively, she caters to his every whim, even sending her in his absence on a date with his girlfriend, breaking her heart a little. Her colleagues question her unrelenting devotion to such a monster and when Laida continues to prove her loyalty to Miggy, gossip regarding her feelings for the boss starts to circulate.
However, the moment is short-lived, as the next day, after Laida makes a suggestion in regards to an article content that Miggy should put for the magazine, Miggy publicly humiliates her and her knowledge of sex and questions her virtue in front of the staff by making her say the word “Sex”. Miggy later embarrasses himself after realizing it was Laida who made the last-minute call to find a printing press to do a rush job on their magazine overhaul. After being chastised by Miggy, Laida finally sees him for the tyrant he is. Miggy then realizes why people are so put off by him.
Miggy tries to apologize to a disenchanted Laida, first by ordering pizza for the team and serving a slice to her, which Laida ignores. Laida is called to Miggy’s apartment but finds him ill with very little food or necessities and no one to care for him. Laida takes care of Miggy, missing her mother's birthday. Miggy wakes up and sees the exhausted Laida next to him patting his back in a motherly way. This prompts him to realize his feelings for Laida, igniting a change in him and wishing Laida to be closer to him, as well as being more friendly with the rest of his team. The productivity and atmosphere of the company also improve. Miggy becomes comfortable enough to tell Laida the truth about his past, that he was an illegitimate child of his father, who was later adopted into the main family after his mother's death, thus, his strong desire is to prove himself to his father and older brother. For the first time in his life, Miggy garners the strength to apologize and this new-found humility opens up a whole new world of "firsts" for Miggy. With Laida's help, Miggy slowly learns to be more of a team player and the true value of loyalty.
Cast
John Lloyd Cruz as Miguel "Miggy" Montenegro
Sarah Geronimo as Adelaida "Laida" Magtalas
Dante Rivero as Luis Montenegro
Rowell Santiago as Arturo "Art" Montenegro
Matet de Leon as Zoila
Bernard Palanca as Mondy
Joross Gamboa as John Rae
Gio Alvarez as Vincent
Bing Pimentel as Alice Montenegro
Will Devaughn as Cris
Al Tantay as Tomas Magtalas
Irma Adlawan as Baby Magtalas
Miles Ocampo as Rose Magtalas
Arno Morales as Stephen Magtalas
Andre Garcia as Lion Magtalas
Johnny Revilla as Roger Montenegro
Daphne Oseña-Paez as Anya Montenegro
Kalila Aguilos as Violy
CJ Jaravata as Julian
JP Pascual as Ronald
Maris Dimayuga as Angie
Gail Nicolas as Janis
Paw Diaz as Mitch
Soundtrack
"Very Special Love"
Performed by Sarah Geronimo
Composed by Michael Lloyd
Published by Warner/Chappell Music Philippines
Originally by Maureen McGovern
"Kailan"
Performed by Smokey Mountain
Composed by Ryan Cayabyab
Published by Filscap
"Ngiti"
Performed by Ronnie Liang
Lyrics and music by Vince Katinday
Arranged by Tito Rapadas
Published by Universal Records
Note: The song "Very Special Love" (or sometimes called "A Very Special Love") rendition by Sarah Geronimo was also used as the official theme song/part of the official soundtrack for the GMA Network action-drama series Black Rider, which aired from November 6, 2023 to July 26, 2024.
Reception
Box office results
The film was a huge box office success, it became the highest-grossing Filipino film of 2008. It earned ₱179,235,324 in its entire run.
Critical reception
Karen A.P. Caliwara, writing for Philippine Entertainment Portal, gave the film a positive review on the film and cited the cast, particularly Geronimo and Cruz's respective performances, the screenplay, the dialogue, and the impact on the cinematic audience as the reasons why the film is "a must-see movie".