Carretera y manta

Amusing Spanish comedy in which four peculiar characters played by good actors become involved into improbable situations . Funny and bemusing comedy with brief touches of sex and full of entertainment , humor and sheer amusement . It deals with two fifty-years-old men , a middle-aged inmate named Felix (Jordi Bosch) , and Concha (Carmen Maura) who does as the energetic cook , now without employment , that wants to force her man on a weekend leave from prison to escape to Brazil with her . The two born-losers on the brink of despair , both of whom are caught up in trouble when their car crashes . Then a yuppie couple , Luis (Eduardo Noriega) and Marta (Natalia Verbeke) , stopping to pick them up on the road . In their vicissitude , the dropouts will be accompanied by the strange marriage as Luis suffers from illness apprehensions . In pursuing its objective the losers will face several misfortunes , mishaps who do not seem willing to Concha and and Felix are off the hook . Meanwhile , the motley group travels across Northern Spanish throughout Pais Vasco until Fuenterrabia , being their aim to arrive France and ulteriorly Brazil .

This action comedy contains lots of humor , road movie , entertainment and amusement . The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable , with more traps the viewer resists any kind, and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . The journey of the protagonists is so repetitive and the most part results to be rich in absurdities and implausibilities . Sympathetic performances from Carmen Maura as an obstinate ex-cook who has planned to get out of the country along with his sweetheart well performed by Jordi Bosch , Eduardo Noriega as an apprehensive financier and gorgeous Natalie Verveke as a likable medic . Agreeable support cast gives nice acting as Ramon Barea and Aitor Mazo ; furthermore brief cameo by singer Mikel Erentxun as a driver . Colorful photography with juicy atmosphere by Kiko De La Rica , Alex De La Iglesia's usual, deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Lively and atmospheric musical score by Lucio Godoy , he is a good musician who has composed superb jobs as Blackthorn , Girasoles Ciegos , Mataharis , Cachorro , among others . The motion picture was professionally directed by Alfonso Arandia , being his second and last film , though has realized several TV episodes for known series such as Los Protegidos , Gavilanes , El Comisario , Chica de Ayer , Sin Tetas No hay Paraiso , among others . Rating : Acceptable and passable . The picture will appeal to Eduardo Noriega and Carmen Maura fans .

Crossed this film unexpectedly on TV, and was nicely surprised. On his theatrical release, reviews were very poor, and, I feel, totally unmerited. It's a comedy with a couple of very original turning points, and Carmen Maura does a superb job as the energetic cook that wants to force her man, on a weekend leave from jail, to flee to Brazil with her. He wants to return to jail but she has a thorough plan...that backfires completely in a few minutes. They are forced to improvise. They hijack a rich young couple of a doctor (Eduardo Noriega) and spouse (Natalia Verbecke) and take them in a road trip that begins with hostility and finalizes with a strong understanding among them. Entertaining and well worth watching, Carmen Maura and Natalia Verbeke are in good form, Noriega does a good Job, specially considering he is not too often seen playing comedy, and Jordi Bosch as, Maura's husband is also correct.The production is over the average Spanish stuff, and although the direction is not brilliant, the results are entertaining.

This is a road/Spanish/film not very interesting and poorly directed. There are two great performances: Natalia Verbeke and Carmen Maura. The Eduardo Noriega's character is not credible and the plot not have much sense. 5,5/10.

The story is about a petty criminal in Spain who is given a weekend leave to visit his girlfriend, and takes advantage of it to escape with her. The objective is France, where he has a friend who he thinks can help him, but he has been in prison so long he does not know that there is no longer any border control and so he kidnaps a couple to help him get across to France.

The story revolves around the contrast in attitudes between the escapee and his girlfriend and the kidnapped couple, who are upper middle class, snobbish, sexually repressed and unhappy with their own relationship. The storyline is a bit weak but it is entertaining. The acting is rather good all round. Noriega's character is unusual but is indeed believable given his "problem" and emotional immaturity.

Worth a video rental if you have an afternoon with nothing else to do...