Luna de Avellaneda

Luna de Avellaneda is a 70 years old club, in the good ol' days it had more than 8.000 members. There they teach ballet, you can play basketball, you can chat with your friends... In short: it's your family out of your family. Now, times have changed, things are getting hard and people don't have much money. The club has nowadays less than 300 members, and has lots of debts. They're going' to have to sell the facilities, they say they're gonna build a casino, they say there will be a job for everybody, they say prosperity will be back in town... they say...

This is such of a metaphor of the whole Argentinian situation. He uses this club to represent the reality of a country that's been hurt very deeply, surrounded by looters and sick of promises. A country which uses the sense of humor and the sarcasm as a medicine.

Two hours of rage, love after love, and tons of hope... (we really need that) *My rate: 8/10

A superb movie, the best Argentine movie I've seen. The entire plot (the attempt to keep the neighbourhood social club going) is an allegory for Argentine recent history, and each character represents a strand in that, eg the old Don, the Spanish immigrant who came to Argentina so full of hope - like many - but whose time has passed. Despite the light relief and clever humour it's ultimately a tragic tale, as any good tango. I'm not sure how well it would play outside the country ie if it would resonate with people who didn't understand the allegory, but for anyone with an interest in Argentina it's a definite don't miss.

Campanella is great! The simplicity and humanism of this film really got to me. I have watched many movies starring Ricardo Darin and most of them I liked but with Campanella's direction he shines even more (same as Valeria Bertucelli who I believe to be the best argentine actress since Norma Aleandro). I strongly recommend it. I wish there were more films like this one. I also wish Campanella would direct more often since everything I've watched from him I liked a lot (El Hijo de la Novia, Vientos de Agua, etc). I see he's been directing or writing scripts for House M.D., 30 Rock, Law & Order, etc. I would like to see him directing argentine movies more often instead. Greetings from Cordoba, Argentina.

DON'T MISS THIS BEAUTY! This is, first of all, a first-rate film and probably one of the best movies to be remembered in the 21th Century. On the other hand, it certainly is Juan Jose Campanella's BEST film till now (his last of three). You simply cannot get any better than the acting (absolutely everyone!). The film is, true, very local. It depicts a very special segment of a nearby Buenos Aires (Argentina's Capital)city, the city of Avellaneda. The perfect dosage of drama and comedy (up to the hilarious, at times) mixed by Campanella is stunning. Probably, this film will be much more felt and appreciated by those living around the "Cuenca del Plata" ("River Plate Basin"), i.e. Montevideo (Uruguay), Bs.As. (Argentina) and Asuncion (Paraguay) where I was born and live. Ricardo Darin is simply put, one of the around eight best actors in the world, just like that. Some of the best moments are just a close-up of his face switching from doubt to joy with a smile and eyes getting wet. Furtheremore, I strongly recommend the DVD since with the Director Commentary on, Campanella talks profusely about his film, all along, with every possible technical detail of both his director and his writing. I wouldn't know whether the Director's Commentary is included in a USA or non-Latin America issue.

I am a great admirer of Juan Jose Campanella's films and this was the main reason why I decided to watch this film in first place. I did watch Son of the Bride and The Secret of Your Eyes, both great films. Ricardo Darin was another reason why I decided to watch it. I think he is now the greatest actor in the Hispanic cinema. It's amazing how the Capanella-Darin contributions worked so well in this "trilogy".

What is really cool about those films is that Campanella can create from a different situation many parallel stories. Like here for example, the main plot in "Luna..." is the administration board trying to save their beloved 70 year club from bankruptcy and to avoid the club to be sold and to build in his place a casino instead. From that plot Campanella shows not just the effort that the club employees do in order to save the club but he also shows the family and love relationships in the life of those people.

The trademark in the Campanella films is that he can balance the comedy with the drama. The soundtrack is beautiful as well like in all his films always with a great presence. The chemistry between Darin and Eduardo Blanco is always moving.

Although the film could it be a little bit shorter and sometimes the story does not develop as it should, its another great film by Juan Jose Campanella and Ricardo Darin that I definitely recommend it!