A Very Special Love
A Very Special Love is a 2008 Filipino comedy romance film produced by Star Cinema and Viva Films and starring John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo. The film was directed by Cathy Garcia Molina and had received an “A” rating from the Cinema Evaluation Board. The film was released on the 30th day of July 2008 and ran for eight weeks on cinemas in the Philippines. It was also released in the United States on August 15 of the same year. This movie is the first movie of Sarah Geronimo under Star Cinema in a lead female character after Sarah: The Teen Princess 13 years ago. A sequel entitled You Changed My Life was released on February 25, 2009, and a second sequel entitled 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. 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 working in such close proximity with the man of her dreams. The film opens with Laida starting out her day for 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 causes 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 obsesses 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 proves 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 improves. 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

Main cast
 John Lloyd Cruz as Miguel "Miggy" Montenegro
 Sarah Geronimo as Adelaida "Laida" Magtalas

Supporting cast
 Dante Rivero as Luis Montenegro
 Rowell Santiago as Arturo "Art" Montenegro
 Johnny Revilla as Roger Montenegro
 Bing Pimentel as Alice Montenegro
 Daphne Oseña-Paez as Anya Montenegro
 Al Tantay as Tomas Magtalas
 Irma Adlawan as Baby Magtalas
 Arno Morales as Stephen Magtalas
 Miles Ocampo as Rose Magtalas
 Andre Garcia as Lion Magtalas
 Matet de Leon as Zoila
 Gio Alvarez as Vincent
 Joross Gamboa as John Rae
 Paw Diaz as Mitch
 Bernard Palanca as Mondy
 Will Devaughn as Cris
 Kalila Aguilos as Violy
 Valerie Weigmann as Dianne

Special participation
 Agot Isidro as Miggy's mother (uncredited)

Reception
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. Filming locations
 Manila, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines
 Marikina, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines
 Pasig, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines
 Tagaytay City, Cavite, Luzon, Philippines
 La Mesa Dam, Eco Park, Quezon City, Philippines

Soundtrack listing
 Very Special Love
 Performed by Sarah Geronimo
 Composed by Michael Lloyd
 Published by Warner/Chappell Music Philippines
 Originally by Maureen McGovern
 Kailan
 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

Awards

References

External links
 
 

2008 films
Films directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina
2008 romantic comedy films
2000s Tagalog-language films
Star Cinema films
Viva Films films
Philippine romantic comedy films
2000s English-language films