It seems his fans have heartily accepted that Aga Muhlach is better off being paired with younger leading ladies like Claudine Barretto, Kristine Hermosa, Angelica Panganiban and now, Anne Curtis in "When Love Begins," since his movies with them do well at the tills.

But although Aga still manages to maintain his boyishly handsome looks, it can’t be denied in his scenes with Anne that he’s much older than her.

And even if the age gap between them is not really much of an issue, this must be the reason why writer-director Joey Reyes has put this scene where Ronaldo Valdez as Aga’s dad asks him how old Anne is and he replies: "23 turning 24 soon." To which Ronaldo quips: "Aba, di hamak na mas bata pa yan sa bunso mong kapatid, a. Ang tanda-tanda mo na."

The movie starts with Aga as Ben looking sad while sitting alone on the white sand beach of Boracay . Then the story flashes back to one year earlier and it shows how Ben gets to meet Anne as Mich.

Ben gets attracted to Mich the moment he lays eyes on her and they finally meet when he helps her after she steps on a sea urchin while swimming.

Ben used to be a lawyer, but he got disillusioned with his profession when he won a case for someone who turned out to be really guilty and he only made the defendant’s victims suffer. He now works with a non-governmental organization, Mother Earth Movement, that aims to protect our environment like the underwater corals off Boracay.

Mich is the carefree "balikbayan" daughter of a rich real estate magnate and she works for her dad (Christopher de Leon.) She has also had several boyfriends before. She and Ben get close to each other and they once sleep side by side on the beach. But when Ben wakes up, Mich is gone. She has returned to Manila without even leaving him her phone number. They meet again later and it’s in Manila that their relationship develops and fully blooms.

They start as friends. Everything is very tentative as they’re both scared, particularly Mich who prefers a relationship that has "no commitment, no expectations, no responsibilities." But later, Ben becomes more sure of his feelings and introduces her to his family, with Ronaldo and Boots Anson Roa as his caring parents, and Mandy Ochoa and Dimples Romana as his supportive siblings.

Those who go for films with convoluted stories will be disappointed as this movie is more character-driven than plot oriented. But a major complication does occur when Ben, as an environmentalist, helps a group of farmers, whose land will be displaced by a new subdivision, in their legal against a real estate developer who turns out to be Mich‘s dad. Mich learns about this early on but chooses to keep it from both Ben and her father, leading to some hurt feelings.

Mich desires to leave Ben and goes back to the States. But hopeless romantics need not worry since this is a Star Cinema movie, so they can rest assured that there will be the usual epilogue where the estranged lovers will eventually be reunited, just like in other Star Cinema romances such as "Kailangan Kita," "Don’t Give Up On Us,’ "One More Chance" and many more..

The movie is also not far from the past romantic films made by writer-director Joey Reyes about two very disparate persons who fall in love despite their differences. He follows the same formula he has used before, including familiar elements like the major characters having closely knit families and friends. In "Kung Ako Na Lang Sana," it’s Aga’s dad who is shown passing away. Here, it’s his mom who steps into the great beyond.

Aga has played before the role of the problematic and easy-going hero who has difficulty coping with the people and situations around him in such films as "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal" and "Kung Ako Na Lang Sana." But now, the positions have been reversed and it’s his leading lady, Anne, who portrays that kind of role and she does it exceedingly well. Anne perfectly captures the insouciance of a bratty and impulsive girl the role calls for.

She is totally convincing even in the flippant way she delivers her lines casually, like when she blurts out to Aga: "Sosyal ako!," "You can kiss me" or "I’ll see you when I want to because I decide." Her acting has really improved vastly, considering that she used to have difficulty delivering long lines in Tagalog before and buckled a lot. We first noticed her improvement in "Maging Sino Ka Man" where she handled with aplomb the role of Celine, the girl called a slut who answers back: "Yes, but I am the best slut in town!" Anne also displays her seductive figure in various bikini scenes. She absolutely looks gorgeous and no doubt this makes "When Love Begins" really her movie.

In all fairness to Aga, he’s aware that Anne has the more flamboyant role and he gives way to allow her to shine. A lesser actor would have felt very insecure. But he does have his own quiet moments where he is made to effectively convey feelings mainly through his eyes. He and Anne have a very touching parting scene where they say they’re both hurting. We wish, though, that he’d also be given more demanding roles later and enough of this playing safe by doing only romantic movies that actually fail to fully explore his talent as a convincing actor.

All in all, "When Love Begins" is a very light confection that you quickly forget as soon as you get out of the moviehouse, but Joey Reyes still deserves a pat on the back. His material may be quite familiar by now, but he still makes an effort to transfer it on the big screen in an entertaining manner through his crisp dialogue and with his glossy, gorgeous shots of the Boracay setting and the high rise apartments and homes that rich people inhabit.