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There's not much substance to this short, but I certainly enjoyed watching beautiful people in a prettier-than-a-postcard setting. Victor likes the new American friend Rachel that his gang of friends has brought into the fold during their summer vacation. The problem is that Rachel knows no Spanish and Victor knows almost no English. To make matters worse, one of the guys in the gang is good-looking and speaks very good English. So how does our charming if tongue-tied protagonist connect with the pretty American?

Nothing profound nor anything complicated in this short. The reason to watch it, in my opinion, is the deft comic touch and boyish charm of Quim Gutierrez, who plays the somewhat bumbling romantic lead. "Vale" is fluff, but we all need a bit of pleasant fluff every once in a while.

Final note: the short was sponsored by a brand of beer, and the product placements are constant throughout the 10-minute short. It never gets annoying, but if you know to expect it, it's probably easier to ignore.

I would have given this 2-part TV movie just one star but for the really good performances by two of the leads, Tamar Novas who plays Julián and Patricia Vico who plays the police interrogator. The rest, oh boy, where to begin. First of many flaws, "La ira" runs almost 2h20m yet could have easily been edited down to 90 minutes or even less. A lot of scenes run way too long, bogged down in repetition, and some are altogether unnecessary. "La ira" starts with a young woman who is captured and interrogated by the police for her role in a horrible crime. The next 2+ hours delve into why and how it happened. I stuck with it despite the plodding pace because I was curious. When all was revealed, I couldn't care less. Don't waste your time on this.

I gave "Niños robados" an 8 out of 10 relative to other TV movies. Don't think of "Citizen Kane" as a 10 and this is an 8 in comparison. It's a good, engaging TV movie, but don't expect transcendent art.

"Niños robados chronicles two fictional cases of newborns stolen from their young unwed mothers and sold to wealthy families. Apparently the practice was all too common in Spain up until about 1980. The two- part movie focuses on the deceit and corruption of the theft of infants while the second half focuses on one adoptee's search for the truth. The dishonesty of the Catholic Church, or at least some members of the holy orders who deluded themselves that they were doing God's work, and the medical community is startling, but it also explains how the black market for stolen babies ran so rampant in Spain.

I watched all three hours in one sitting, and "Niños robados" held my attention throughout. The acting, script, and production are all quite good, If the subject matter interests you, "Niños robados" is definitely worth watching.