Fin de curso

I enjoyed this movie. It is not for everybody, cause it is raunchy and a bit gross sometimes. American Pie movies are not serious stuff, so do not come here for any serious movie night. However, in my opinion, the movie, despite its simplicity, is a decent first attempt to make a Spanish teenage comedy a la American Pie. There are important differences. Here the plot revolves around a teenager that wants to go the extra mile for becoming popular in his school. I would say that a suitable audience for this movie would be teenagers and young people looking to have a quick laugh. It is also quite likely you will enjoy it more if you are Spanish or if you understand this language.

FIN DE CURSO is teenager comedy about a group of students that are planning a High school trip to celebrate their graduation; but they need to decide from two different destination's choices: Paris or Benidorm. One group of the class clearly prefers Paris while the other one prefers Benidorm. Between them there's JAIME (played by Jordi Vilches) which is a shy and hesitating boy (some call him "the invisible man") who doesn't know very well which side to choose… He's involved with both groups (and with people from both groups…) saying them both he wants to go on their destinations… He's in trouble, so…

The plot is nice, a great part of scenes are funny, but what surprised me the most was this "cinematographic alliance" between Spain and Portugal producing this movie… It's basically a Spanish film, though it was shot in Lisbon, the plot is developed in Lisbon, and there are a great number of Portuguese actors in the movie, performing secondary roles. However, if I appreciated this "alliance" in production and I liked the effort of putting some Spanish and Portuguese actors working together, I can't say I was pleased seeing so many Portuguese actors speaking the Spanish language! First, because I think it wouldn't be necessary to create this interactivity between Portuguese and Spanish professionals; Second, because they speak Spanish very poorly in most of the cases (the exceptions are probably just Guilherme Filipe and Pepe Rapazote!). OK that it was "covered" by the plot, because all the action is passed in a Spanish college in Lisbon, and OK, they probably would speak Spanish there… but even so…

As positive features I found: the nice and funny plot; the mentioned "alliance"; the girls; the soundtrack; and the movie's pace, which is a bit faster than Spanish and Portuguese movies use to be.

As negative features: the unnecessary dialogs of Spanish between Portuguese actors and some scenes where American teen comedies are imitated, as this movie would pretend to be an American PIE wanna Be.

Well, all in all I can say I enjoyed the film! Generally I think it's funny and pretty entertaining so I will score it 7/10!

Jaime is the loner of the class, the good guy that has any problem and claims no attention for good or bad. The day his teacher ask the class to decide where they want to go for end of course trip, battle starts. The rich ones want to go to the elegant and boring Paris, while the bunch of hippies yell to go to Benidorm, place of endless orgies and parties. The main problem is that they draw, and is Jaime's vote the one that will will decide where to go, so both teams will make the necessary to "convince" him. In the American Pie's style, this film tries to present a group of gross-humour funny jokes mixed with the hotness of teenagers and a little of sex. It is funny? Well I found it quite disgusting, at least, it is short.

A dumb, chaotic mess that tries to be wild but ends up with no spark or purpose. Jordi Vilches, one of the best actors of his generation, is sadly wasted here. The film feels like a noisy imitation of an American teen comedy, but without charm or structure.

The humor doesn't land, the characters are flat and forced, and some scenes are downright embarrassing. It throws in loud music, vomiting, screaming, and random chaos as if that alone could carry the film. Spoiler: it doesn't.

So much happens, yet almost nothing matters. What could have been a bold, fun ride ends up as a tiring mix of clichés and bad taste. It feels empty, like someone tried too hard to make something "cool" without thinking about whether it made sense.

Not funny. Not smart. Not worth it.

Fin de Curso aka "School's Out" is a teenage comedy which would be the equivalent of Loser, with Jordi Vilches in the part of Jason Biggs. It's well scripted, well directed and Jordi Vilches is amazing, as in all his movies (check out "Dos Tipos Duros"). Jordi Vilches is definitely a rising star of Spanish cinema and world comedy. The story line is bitter sweet: Jaime is the misfit, the loner, the loser in his school. His father is the local undertaker and his profession does not help Jaime's PR with the girls. Boys make fun of him and the girl he is deeply, madly in love with would not even consider talking to him... Until the teacher asks the class to decide on a destination for the school's year-end trip. Boys suggest Benidorm on the Spanish Riviera, kingdom of fun, parties and sex, whereas girls unanimously vote for a cultural trip to Paris. Jaime at last sees the opportunity he was waiting for: he lets the girls know he will vote for Paris too, thus possibly changing the outcome of the election in their favor... at certain conditions. The boys hear about it and fight to bring Jaime back to their camp. As Jaime becomes the center of everybody's attention, his life takes an unexpected turn... Photography is colorful, music rocks, the film is fast paced, the actors believable and funny, there are some steamy hot scenes (Jaime's fantasies are very hot) and some memorable and hilarious moments of gross-out humor which will rejoice the amateurs... The film is a spicy red hot pepper from Spain with sweet moments owing to the utterly lovable Jaime (Jordi Vilches).