Seres queridos

I knew nothing about this film, and 'Spanish comedy' was not a genre I was familiar with or had particular expectations of. But this turned out to be the funniest thing I have seen for a long time. It has pure farce, played with impeccable timing, with such unlikely props as a tub of frozen soup and a duckling. It has wild satire both of religious fundamentalism and of amoral sexual behaviour and several other things in between. It centres on the relationship between a Jewish woman and a Palestinian man, and although it casts no profound light on their situation, it manages to portray them without excessive stereotyping and to include one quick fire debate which contains a potted history of the entire conflict without losing comic momentum. Yet it leaves all the characters with some shreds of human dignity, in spite of their farcical characteristics.

This film is an interesting comedy that explores all the differences between Palestinian and Jewish people creating several situations that make not only people laugh but also think about how close these cultures are in fact. The story begins when Leni, a Jewish girl, decides to introduce his fiancée, a Palestinian boy, to her family. After being shortly shocked with these news, Leni's mother decides to support their wedding, blessing their engagement. Then, an accident caused by Rafi gives rise to several comic situations that will keep you laughing all the time. Doubtless the cast is very good, but I would like to mention Norma Aleandro's performance.

This is a Spanish film (subtitles) about a Jewish girl who brings her Palestinian boyfriend home to meet the family. This is not a serious social or political commentary. It is a farce in the vein of Opera Buffo and a long tradition of Spanish farces. It's hysterically funny and well done, but it is what it is. I enjoyed it tremendously. The bathroom scene with the fiancé and the grandfather had me laughing so hard I needed cpr.

The dialog is well done and tight. There is one scene towards the end where the girl and her boyfriend are having a fight and they go thru the entire Israeli/Palestinian conflict in about 3 minutes. It's really an accomplishment.

A good film about a subject that desperately needs some humor, especially these days.

The funniest film I've seen in years, "Only Human" is a comedy about Leni, the daughter of a eccentric Jewish family, who brings her fiancé home to meet her relatives for the first time. Dinner is planned, and all is going well, until Leni reveals that her fiancé Rafi is Palestinian. Of course the reaction is hysterical, and Rafi retreats to the kitchen to help in preparing the meal. He offers to take care of the chicken soup, but in removing the frozen soup from the container, it accidentally falls out the window, landing on the head of a man outside and knocking him out. To make things worse, the man may be Leni's father, and the soup may have killed him. Things really take off from there... With a cast of talented comic actors and a truly funny and irreverent screenplay, Only Human gave me more honest laughs than any film I've seen in ages. The characters are definitely oddball, but they are treated with respect, and there is no low humor or mocking of the characters' weirdness. It's good to see a comedy that takes it's humor from the situation and the personalities of the characters, rather than making them look stupid for a cheap laugh. Highly recommended. 10/10

Thoroughly enjoyable tale of a woman in Spain bringing her Palestinian boyfriend home to meet her Jewish family. Needless to say all sorts of stereotypes and clichés pop up but it's all done in a reasonably realistic yet funny way. It's all played very much for laughs and this works as it is certainly one of the funnier movies that I have seen this year. It is also a victory for the basics of cinema. There are no special effects, no big artist soundtracks and as it was a foreign movie for me, it translated well and had no big stars. The story moves along perfectly and we see all of the characters that we need to see for the purposes of the story. If I had one criticism it would be that the end slightly over simplifies certain issues raised and feels a little too tidy given what has gone before. I felt that there either should have been one last joke to end on or perhaps an edgier/darker resolution to the issues raised. Nonetheless, it remains an amusing insight into the fact that families will drive you mad, no matter what!