After the successful team up of dramatic actor Coco Martin and teen princess Julia Montes on the teleserye Walang Hanggan, it seemed like a logical next step to try their chemistry on the big screen and it was no wonder that Star Cinema, in partnership with Dreamscape Cinema chose the pair to headline their Valentines Day presentation, with a romantic drama entitled A Moment in Time. While it was not a clunker, I don’t think it will go down in my list of favorite local movies either.

Jillian (Montes) is a sheltered rich girl with only a few friends and music to keep her company. When Patrick, a charming artist forced to give up his dream because of the untimely death of his mother, enters her life, she easily falls in love with him. But their budding romance encounters a major setback when it is revealed that the two share a connected past that may affect their future happiness.

I think the beginning part, when Patrick was laying on the charm on Jillian was actually the main reason why viewers went to see the movie.  It is the season of romance after all and Coco plays the happy go lucky heartthrob quite well. In the movie, Coco is seen doing a lot of goofy stuff that his previous characters have not given him a chance to do. And since the chemistry between the two stars was already proven in their earlier pairing, there was no surprise when their scenes were met with a lot of smiles and approving whispers from the audience. The supporting cast also contributed to establishing the story.

However, it would seem that the conflict in the story was introduced too soon and this affected the romance angle of the movie greatly. The relationship between the two stars was not even fully established that the heavy drama was already injected into the story, testing the bond that was supposedly formed between them. This affected the entire pace of the story and feelings that went with it. The ending too, seemed a bit too simple considering how complicated the problem was presented as. It would seem that the bulk of the film was devoted to the drama that the ending seemed a bit forced in order to change location to Europe, which was breathtaking by the way. It did not seem realistic at all.

In all fairness, the chemistry was very strong between the two main stars and the acting was no less than superb. I was just having a bit of a problem with the depressing background music which fed to the tone of the film but other than that, it was a decent output from the studios. I just wished that the filmmakers were able to balance the romance and the drama aspects of the film better.