Not Your Typical Love Story: A Critical Evaluation of Star Cinema's "Starting Over Again"

Margaret Laureen Lumabas

How do I 'unlove' you?" This is one of the most important questions in the movie "Starting
Over Again," a Filipino romantic comedy directed by the renowned Olivia Lamasan. The movie,
produced by Star Linema, was released on February 12, 2014, and grossed a total of PHP 573
million from both domestic and international ticket sales.

The movie, starring Piolo Pascual as Marco Villanueva Ill and Toni Gonzaga as Ginny
Gonzales, is about two exes, who meet again after going through a tough breakup, one with a lot
of unanswered questions. Ginny sees this as their second chance, but the problem is that Marco
already has a new girlfriend, Patty, portrayed by Iza Calzado. So, it becomes a question of should
they start over with their relationship, or should they learn to ‘unlove’ one another altogether.
The movie became sensational as many viewers would note because although it is not award-
winning, the movie showcases a realistic and unpredictable plot, appropriate lighting and camera
work, and believable acting performances.

Plot
Plot pertains to the unfolding of events in the story and viewers nowadays look for a
realistic and unpredictable plot. Although there were a few obviously staged scenes, the overall
plot remained realistic and unpredictable because it showed the real-life struggles in a
relationship. For example, in the movie, Ginny chose to pursue her own dreams and leave Marco
behind. When she returned, she went after the man she loves, Marco, even though he has
already moved on. Another reality present in the movie is the existence of a third party in a
relationship. These issues resonated with the audience, making the movie more true to life.
Additionally, the movie had a non-linear story progression, through the use of flashbacks. These
flashbacks told what happened to Ginny and Marco's relationship, and why they broke up. This
technique proved to be effective in making the story unpredictable and keeping the audience
curious as to what is going to happen next.

Although some movie critics think that the movie offered nothing new, its attempt to veer
away from the typical romantic movie formula is noteworthy. The typical ending that most
people expect from a Filipino romantic comedy is a happy one, where the boy and the girl end
up together. However in this movie, the writers decided to deviate from the expected, and gave
the audience a different kind of "happy ending," one where Marco and Ginny did not get back
together, but instead got the closure they both needed to start over again.

Despite these strengths, there are still points for improvement, in terms of the movie's
plot and story line. First, the accident of Patty and Ginny, wherein the scaffold fell on top of them
both, proved to be anticlimactic. The scene, which looked obviously staged, halted the intense
emotions the characters were projecting during the confrontation they had beforehand.
Additionally, a character is expected to have a single motive line. Here, Marco was originally a
history professor, and then he turned into a chef. The transition from an academic life to a
culinary one was not convincingly established in the plot, which becomes a flaw because Ginny
apparently left Marco for Spain because she thought he was not growing and fulfilling his dreams.
That part of the plot remains questionable.

Cinematography

This criterion looks into the quality of camera work, angles, and lighting. The movie used
appropriate lighting that emphasized the different times and moods of each scene but utilized
basic and typical camera work to present perspective. The movie’s cinematography was generally
naturalistic but stylized in the flashback scenes. Moreover, common in romantic comedies is the
use of flat lighting, wherein there is a slow fall-off, or a gradual change from light to shadows,
and that technique was also used in the movie. In the flashback scenes, the images were more
yellow or orange in tone, which helped the audience distinguish between the past and the
present.

The movie also used different intensities and color tones in the lighting to dramatize the
emotions in the scenes. An example would be the scene where Ginny confronts Marco as to why
he would not approve her project proposal. To accompany Marco's coldness toward Ginny, the
lighting was a dull grey overcast. Another example is when Marco was begging Ginny to stay,
where there was a stark contrast between the dark background and the orange light illuminating
Piolo Pascual's face. The movie also used directional lighting, which focused the audience's
attention on an important aspect in the scene. This helped highlight the relevance of, for
example, the e-mail that Marco was writing or that Ginny was reading. The lighting of the altar,
which was the brightest part of the scene, against the dark night, also showcased its significance.
This was where Marco proposed, and Ginny turned him down.

Aside from lighting, camera work was also studied for cinematography. According to
Nicholson (2010), the closer the character is to the camera, the more the audience identifies with
him/her. This was probably the reason why whenever the camera is on Ginny or Marco, it is more
close-up, rather than how the camera captures Patty, which is, most of the time, through another
screen. The effect of this was less sympathy toward Patty, and a higher level of identification for
Ginny. Furthermore, some camera angles would be at the eye-level of Ginny, like the time she
would see Marco again after four years and during the proposal scene. This allowed the audience
to see the events taking place from Ginny's perspective.

Acting

Acting refers to the technical performance of the main cast in a film or series. The main
actors were able to portray relatable characters, although there were some scenes with overly
dramatic performances. Based on the book "An Actor's Craft" by David Krasner (2012), inferior
acting leaves one bored and uninspired, while quality acting "compels you to watch and listen,"
and this is what the cast did in the serious, dramatic, and confrontational Scenes. An example of
this was during the breakup scene, where Piolo Pascual held the audience's attention when he
was begging for Toni Gonzaga to stay in the Philippines. Furthermore, Naremore (1988), in his
book "Acting in the Cinema says "the actual work for people who appear in movies or television
seems to involve a compromise between 'obviousness and doing nothing.’” This is why the acting
in the movie can be described as natural, wherein the lines that the actors were saying seemed
to be their own, and the emotions they were showcasing seemed genuine to their characters.
Additionally, Ms. Salvador from PEP wrote that "the pair's contribution to the film is split right
down the middle–Piolo makes viewers swoon, while Toni makes them laugh with her crazy
antics." However, in the beginning of the movie, Toni Gonzaga's performance was a bit over
dramatic, especially when she was shouting her love for "Sir Marco" everywhere. Her facial
expressions in the beginning, when she was crying over Marco choosing to "marry" Ms. Lala in
the booth during school fair instead of her, and when she was not chosen for the role of Mama
Mary, felt unnatural.

Lastly, Gedduld (2014) says that a good actor must be vulnerable. In the movie, the actors
were able to expose the vulnerability of the characters, both literally and figuratively. Literally,
the facial expressions of the actors really showed the emotions of the characters, even if it meant
not looking their best. Figuratively, the actors showed the ugly side of the characters they were
portraying. For example, Toni Gonzaga showed how her character could do things looked down
on by society, such as being a third party.

The movie's rating is generally positive considering the plot, cinematography, and acting.
It stood out because of its attempt to deviate from the typical plot and fairytale ending.
Accompanied by realistic acting and appropriate cinematography, the movie proved to be a box-
office success and the fact that it was received positively by the Filipino audience could speak
about the possibility that the audience could be more open to more fearless and literary story
lines in the Philippine movie industry in the future.

Reference:

Lumabas, M. M. (n.d.) Not your typical love story: A critical evaluation of Star Cinema's "Starting
Over Again”. In Cayog, R. T. & Datu P. A. (Ed.), LEAP: English for academic and professional
purposes (pp. 38-41). Phoenix Publishing House.