When Love Begins...

Considering all the hype put into this brazen launching vehicle for Anne Curtis, When Love Begins was painful to watch from start to finish.

Environmental rights lawyer Ben Caballero (Aga Muhlach) and spoiled real estate scion Michelle 'Mitch' Valmonte (Anne Curtis) meet in Boracay and fall in love. Despite their age difference and lack of things in common, they somehow sustain their MU (mutual understanding). When principles and disparate values and loyalties get in their way, both must make a decision to stay together or stand by their beliefs.

Disappointing, really, considering the experience of writer/director Jose Javier Reyes (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo) and the leads Curtis and Muhlach. Everything just felt forced: the unnatural dialogue, the wooden delivery, the poor editing...the lack of chemistry between Curtis and Muhlach just added fuel to the fire.

Even the shockingly amateurish use of the formula was glaringly obvious and self-absorbed; despite the well-intended trendily eco-friendly subplot of the movie, the characters become tiresome mouthpieces for the message that it can come across as insincere because the audience's disbelief is not sustained. The supporting cast only serves to jar the moments instead of build up the scenes.

No witty lines, no memorable scenes...utterly, sadly forgettable.

I loved this movie! Although the storyline has been used in similar circumstances, kind of a "Romeo & Juliet" storyline, but instead of the families being the "stumbling block" in this relationship, it was their careers. But despite that, it was still portrayed well. I thought the previous review was a bit harsh. I thought the acting was good, especially ANNE CURTIS (Michelle "Mitch" Valmonte). The Character of "Ben" was portrayed as a quiet sort of man, possibly because the actor playing him, AGA MUHLACH seems to have a similar temperament as seen in the "Behind The Scenes" film reel. I also thought the supporting cast did a great job! It was well written and directed with some awesome cinematography of Boracay & especially ANNE CURTIS in bikinis! (Ok, maybe that wasn't the cinematography... she still would have looked hot filmed on an old Super-8 movie camera!!) It has fuelled my desire to visit the beautiful resort of Boracay one day! Overall, I loved this movie! 10 out of 10 from me!!

I may agree that the story is not one of the best and that it could have been written or made much better. Howeverm the cinematography is great, capturing the beauty and splendor of Boracay. Also i have to give credit to the actors/actresses involved for delivering good performances.Rafael Rossel is good, he shows a lot of potential in this film. Aga's performance in this particular movie may no be one of his best ever but on the other hand, lead actress Anne Curtis delivers a very commendable performance.. I love the way she delivers her lines, very natural and effortless.It doesn't look like she's acting at all. This young actress is someone to watch out for...More challenging projects for her....

After watching the movie, I can't help but think how much ratings it gotfrom the viewers. Not to hate, coz i admire Aga and Anne for their acting skills which was one of the reasons i watched the movie. However, it was tiresome to watch.. the story seemed to0 slow and i was just dying to see it end. ANne Curtis' acting sucked. It wasn't realistic at all. I would've just preferred if she spoke in tagalog since all of her lines sounded "scripted". There was no chemistry at all between aga and anne, which makes watching it even worse. I'd say this is one of the worst Pinoy movies i've seen even compared to the jologs/corny ones.

What i love about this movie?? i loved the beach setting (boracay) and Anne Curtis' fashionable clothes. That's it..

got to watch this film on a Pal flight from Sydney. it was utter torture. man, Aga has been in the business for ages. and he still doesn't know how to act. he is like:"hey look at me, i'm sho cute don't you think sho?" he still hasn't outgrown his pa cute esh. sorry but i think Filipino movies in general are trash. so shallow plot, so predictable, so "wakasan" comics fantasy story. so unnatural acting, well Anne in fairness acted OK, so natural. come on, Filipino audience are not all stupid. make some good movies. enough of this stuff. so i have to write at least 10 lines for me to submit a comment. i can't write anything good about the movie except for the beauty of boracay. so i won't be adding anymore bad comments. oh, i have exceeded 10 lines already. it's time to push the preview then submit button!