El otro lado de la cama

First of all, I love musicals, but I like to know beforehand that that's what I'm getting myself into. Ummm... we were enjoying this one as a fun romantic comedy when all of a sudden the male lead breaks out into song and a bunch of dancers appear out of no where!?! Not that it's bad, it's just that, well, NOTHING was mentioned about it on the packaging [again,do the people who write the blurbs actually watch the movies??]... The songs are in keeping with the overall tone of the film, and the dancing quite funny [hopefully intentionally so], but it's just that when you're not expecting them it can be one of those "Oh...my... we've rented a musical!?!?" It's a fun and funny movie, just be warned.

An engaging song and dance musical about two couples who get off with each other's partners. All very light hearted feelgood adult stuff in the style of many a light Shakespeare or Mozart comedy, but updated to include lots of nitty-gritty. The cast are drop dead gorgeous, they have mottos like "there's not enough f*cking in the world" and are ultimately tolerant enough about each other's misdemeanours and tendency to be economical with the truth. All politically correct, with lots of mixed sexual orientation to keep it bubbling, a private detective who gets it all on video (after solving the mystery of how JFK committed suicide and how Marylin Monroe never really died), unexpected exposures and reverses, and it all turns out happily at the end like some Oscar Wilde farce. Not to be missed.

Lightheaded romantic comedy about two couples who changes partners and find their own way to happiness and understanding. The movie has the charm, witty and vitality of Latin movies (especially movies produced in Argentina and Spanish) but is far from be a great achievement on the genre or even a memorable piece of work. Mixture of love story, comedy and musical, 'Otro lado de la cama,El' give us a good work from the director, some ingenious scenes (like the scene in the theather, where Pedro(played by Guillermo Del Toro)appear as the 'Melon Kid') and a sympathetic cast, where you cand find the beauty of Paz Vega and Natalia Verbecke. In fact, the movie is a good amusement but don't expect to find the same intensity and impressive ideas thay you can fin in movies directed by Almodovar (at least, some of them) or Alejandro Almenábar.

I give this a 6 (six).

An engaging song and dance musical about two couples who get off with each other's partners. All very light hearted feelgood adult stuff in the style of many a light Shakespeare or Mozart comedy, but updated to include lots of nitty-gritty. The cast are drop dead gorgeous, they have mottos like "there's not enough f***ing in the world" and are ultimately tolerant enough about each other's misdemeanours and tendency to be economical with the truth. All politically correct, with lots of mixed sexual orientation to keep it bubbling, a private detective who gets it all on video (after solving the mystery of how JFK committed suicide and how Marylin Monroe never really died), unexpected exposures and reverses, and it all turns out happily at the end like some Oscar Wilde farce. Not to be missed.

This movie is very reminiscent of American sit-coms such as Friends, with only minimal character development and some halfway decent comedy, but then someone decided it would be a good idea to make it into a musical.

Why, oh why?! Quite apart from the badly-choreographed, fetishised female dancing sequences, the actors can't sing! The songs seem to encroach on the plot rather than aid it, and the fact that the songs are often shot in a different location (with completely different lighting, mise-en-scene etc) from the preceding and following scenes makes the film as a whole seem disjointed.

The time spent on the musical numbers would have been better used to provide a little more character development - after all, the film boasts an impressive cast, but sadly their talents are not exploited to their full potential.