Cuerpo de élite

Though many people may think that all movies that foreign countries make are art house dramas, some countries do make populist cinema, Spain being one of them. This particular Spanish effort is a comedy, and you may wonder if it manages to be funny. Well, a lot of the humor may fall flat for people outside of Spain, because often the movie's humor depends on the viewer knowing a lot about Spanish culture and history. And there are some obvious gags that I think fall flat no matter what culture you come from. But while there are a number of misfired gags, there are still a number of gags that, while not laugh out loud funny, will have you smiling or chuckling a little. The actors in the cast are likable, the movie does click along at an acceptable pace, and there are no boring bits. While I wouldn't say this movie is funny enough to actively seek out, if you come across it on Netflix on a slow day as I did, it does pass the time in an agreeable manner.

You don't often see these sub-titled.

After the failure of an elite squad sent into the container depot at night, Minister for the Interior Areces (the lead in BALLAD FOR A SAD TRUMPET) recruits a new team of diverse law enforcers - traffic cop Esparbé (THE ONE EYED KING), a Basque hard man, a Catalan, an Equadorian who passes himself off as a super Spanish patriot and the winning Signora Leon who only had the choice of being a whore or joining the Gardia Civil in Andalusia.

Can they prevent the destruction of Madrid? Think POLICE ACADEMY with better production values.

The cast are appealing and the film making spot on so we can forgive HEROES WANTED for all the jokes that misfire.

Level 1: A slap-stick, physical comedy of surprises, cleaver dialog (including cleaver english subtitles), engaging characters all well presented by the director and actors. Level 2: Lots of insider jokes, characterizations and situations for those familiar with cultural and political aspects of today's Spain. (As an American, I made good use of watching along with someone who knows a lot about Spain.) Level 3: A shockingly non-PC movie for the American viewer. The extent of political correctness in the U.S. would make it impossible to make a movie like this in the U.S. and provided this American viewer with a distinct reminder of the enjoyment factor of freedom. Refreshing! Americans should see this film even if they have to use this fast-paced presentation to learn of the seemingly conflicting cultures within Spain at the same time enjoying the rusulting humor.

I rarely laugh out loud watching a film at home. It happened many times with movie. Many times I went back to see the joke again--some were so funny, shocking and refreshing.

I found this one on Netflix and was in a "whatever works" mood. So I decided..porque no..Watch this one. It is a silly movie and overall I actually enjoyed it. I did not know what to expect, because I rarely watch Spanish movies. It is not the world's greatest comedy/nor acting, but I still think they managed to make it enjoyable. So - if you are in the same mood as me or just want to watch something easy going, this might be a good option. It is somewhat a low budget movie, but that also makes it silly. What I do like about movies (lets say from Spain), is that the actors are unknown for me (even if they are well known from TV etc in their own country)..and thats a good thing. I cant even tell you how fed up I am with the same overused actors in movies. No names mentioned, no names forgotten.

Try it and you might find yourself enjoying yourself for 1.5 hour=)

Irreverant, in the tradition of Airplane. It would be hard to describe without giving too much away. It's been in my to watch list for ages, because it was in Spanish and I needed the practice for my Duolingo. So glad I watched it in the end on a rainy dull day because the laughter lightened my mood.