This so-so film is somewhat hampered by its need to include too many far-reaching themes. Luis Bermejo (Magical Girl, Teresa, Un amor) is Norbeto and Adriana Ozores (Galgos, El Método, Los Hombres de Paco) is Maria, both are a humble couple from the neighborhood, who occasionally commit the odd armed crime in some stores. To do this, Norberto dresses as a woman and only in those moments, he truly feels who he wants to be. Norberto needs to make a change to feel alive, free, to feel like herself. An unexpected confession that will put her life in jeopardy. From now on, he will call himself Norberta and will constantly look like a woman, hiding it from his classmates and friends in the neighborhood.
A slightly funny and endearing story of love and solidarity about sexual identity. There are modern sexual concepts that are in vogue today, such as fluid genre, transgender and others. The film, as explained in the advertising promotion: it is inspired by true stories, it's a hymn to life and freedom, full of vitality, bravery, kindness and naturalness, which in its final part is reminiscent of some classics of Spanish cinema such as "Atraco a las tres". Regardless of the advertising campaign that surround the film, I think it fails on all levels, and that is because it tries to be a comedy when it dives more into drama, in such a way that it does not know how to choose which genre to adapt to. In addition, the central axis of the film is frankly ridiculous, trying to glorify a very mature married couple who carry out armed robberies. Not to mention the absurdity of a man who, at almost seventy, discovers his feminine condition and can't think of anything else but a sex-change operation, and to top off the ridiculousness, he teams up with other friends from the neighborhood who happily and enthusiastically act as accomplices to rob a bingo hall in order to obtain the money for this operation.
The film stars Luís Bermejo who gives a nice acting as Norberta. According to Bermejo himself, who explains: "Norberto is someone with a desire for change, while Norberta is that dream.". While veteran Adriana Ozores privided a fine acting in her usual acting as the suffering wife who unexpectedly discovers her husband's sexual identity and does not want to accept it. The unique humor of Luis Bermejo with touches of drama together with the sensitivity of Adriana Ozores elevate a film with no greater pretensions than to be on the side of its characters . I miss the acting of known supporting actors as it happened in the films of this genre of robberies in the past, which were usually full of familiar faces, veteran actors and cameos. Although 'Norberta' is supported by supporting actors who effectively fulfill their function, they are mainly unknown to the general public, such as: Mariona Terés, María Romanillos, Carmen Balagué, Adelfa Calvo, Maria Lanau and Ramón Agirre. The motion picture was mediocrely directed by Sonia Escolano, and Belén López Albert in their film debut, although the script is frankly terrible . Rating: 4.5/10.
