Having seen most of Bernal's films, or at least everything available in the US, I've grown to like him greatly as an actor, thus explaining my motivation for renting this. The description given on the jacket, added with the blurb equating it with Memento (which was a very entertaining mind-boggle), talked me in. Call it a two-for-two deal.
Reading through the commentary left by others, I'm troubled by the negativity being attached. Exactly when did it become a crime to invoke plot-twists as a story device? The last I knew, filmmakers such as Hitchcock and Preminger relied upon them incessantly. A twist in plot, if carried off well, can satisfy viewers and fire the imagination.
Personally, I find the romantic drama as a genre in dire need of a wake-up call. Films such as this one, Closer, Unfaithful, Wicker Park, and very few others, are daring to attempt something original, whether it be a more frank look at relationships, a less clichéd or sexist view of infidelity, or a new take on the love triangle... and by new I mean new in both this film and Wicker Park. Rather than recycle Shakespeare, Jane Austen, or An Affair To Remember for the forty-billionth time, the director and cast broke new ground.
This is not a perfect film, and really, honestly, who gets entertainment from "perfect" films? Admiration, yes. Respect, yes. Are perfect films fun though? That's an argument for a forum... I gave this an eight out of ten, with two points off for those imperfections. The three leads are solid; the story is clever and solid enough. The two points to perfection can easily be forgiven.
I had fun watching this movie.
