Movie Review: Starting Over Again

It has been terribly easy to become jaded about local romantic films in general as they usually go for cliches rather than realism, but somehow Starting Over Again managed to incorporate some sense of truth and honesty to the story, which was quite refreshing. Yes, the script was a bit clunky at times, which almost threatened the whole film to fall apart, but they kept it together long enough to make it work. The structure of the film was pretty interesting, the scoring was decent, and the film was more than competently acted. Toni Gonzaga has a relatable charm to her, Piolo Pascual was pretty believable, but it was Iza Calzado's wonderfully understated performance that stole the show. There were weaknesses to Starting All Over Again, but the film mostly worked due to how refreshingly earnest it can be at times - despite some of the schmaltz. 7.5