Oviedo Express

Gonzalo Suárez is one of the most unique directors we have in Spain, capable of rare and fascinating pieces of work like "Rowing in the wind" (Remando al viento) or "The detective and the death" (El detective en la muerte), but this, his last work, is something that cannot be saved. The actors are great trying to catch some humanity of their characters (above them all, Jorge Sanz) but this is a weird and failed mix of literate dialogues and screwball comedy with no wit and no rhythm. It's like Suárez tries to justify this failure disguising it as a high comedy full of literate references, but this doesn't work, again, at all, though it didn't in other of his works.

What annoys me is how critics in Spain are behaving with this movie. Its premiere was at the Valladolid film festival (a grade-B festival which mostly brings the most awarded films from others, but which is quite comfortable and takes place in a beautiful city), and there only a few applauded (i got out of the movie past 30 minutes, this is something the people I went with told me). But, as it happened years ago with the terrible "Las razones de mis amigos", all the press lauded the movie in an unbelievable manner, and that is what is happening now. And this is, frankly, a fraud.

Watch the movie if you want to. But always keep your criteria to talk about it.

I'll keep it short. The "play within a play' scenario, can, if very well done, be among the most interesting plot basis. It profoundly elevates Hamlet; or if you into more current entertainment, the mummers episodes in Game of Thrones are great -- intelligently exploiting the irony of alternative point of view.

But sometimes it is an absurd, narcissistic and empty trope. It is here.