Luna de Avellaneda

A group of people from a neighborhood come together in the midst of their many troubles in order to attempt saving a sports and social club which they have been a part of for most of their lives. Things get complicated as the economy takes a hit and people fight through their own struggles on the side. Juan Jose Campanella places us, the viewers, right in the middle of the many problems which exist in the lives of all the people who share the commonality of being on the board of the CLA. Each one of the characters is both emotionally torn due to family or relationship issues, and in big financial need. Although the club is a large part of the reason for so much financial instability, it also seems to serve as the fountain of energy and inspiration for all of the characters. The story demonstrates clearly how society has changed and how difficult it is to move past economical issues, even when it means throwing a lifelong tradition to the side. Furthermore, it does paint a beautiful picture of finding hope and passion in the memory of how things used to be and how they could be once again with some time investment and sacrifice.

I have seen the movie at the Montreal Film Festival. I am not Argentine and don't speak Spanish. It is, however, one of the ten best movies I have seen in my life. Argentines can rest assured that this will be as powerful abroad as it seems to be down there. Rarely have I seen an audience enjoy a movie so much, the

laughter, the emotion, the high sense of humanity. It is certainly one of the most, if not the most, popular movie in the Festival. Intelligent, timely, human,

incredibly witty, deeply emotional. A movie that makes you happy to belong to the human race.

Please, wherever you are in the world, if this movie shows up in your local

festival, DON'T MISS IT!!! Anybody can make movies about war and misery and

poverty, but a movie that creates so much warmth and drama from small every

day situations is a gem. It had me crying and laughing and crying and laughing again. The applause at the Festival was thunderous, and so were the reviews.

I have not seen "Son Of The Bride" which was a big hit here. I do not want to miss it now. It is refreshing to see that somebody gives us the pleasure to go back to the movies to learn and enjoy life. It's been five days since I've seen it, and I still can't shake it off my mind. I find myself laughing and tearing up in the oddest situations.

One of the best movies I've seen in my life.

Campanella is great! The simplicity and humanism of this film really got to me. I have watched many movies starring Ricardo Darin and most of them I liked but with Campanella's direction he shines even more (same as Valeria Bertucelli who I believe to be the best argentine actress since Norma Aleandro). I strongly recommend it. I wish there were more films like this one. I also wish Campanella would direct more often since everything I've watched from him I liked a lot (El Hijo de la Novia, Vientos de Agua, etc). I see he's been directing or writing scripts for House M.D., 30 Rock, Law & Order, etc. I would like to see him directing argentine movies more often instead. Greetings from Cordoba, Argentina.

"Luna de Avellaneda" it's a good movie. Sometimes it reminds some Italian ones where "nostalgia" was used. The idea of the movie -talking about a social and sports club as a symbol of the Argentinian situation during the 90's is good, specially if it takes human feelings to explain the loss of some people values in the last decade. Exploring in feelings and contradictions of the human being is one of the best characteristic of Campanella's movies. Ricardo Darín, Mercedes Morán y Eduardo Blanco are very good in their characters specially Blanco. It's not a depressing movie although the topic can be sound like that. Actually, it has a hopeful message that tell us: "Never say that everything is lost". Nevertheless, "Luna de Avellaneda" isn't the best Campanella's movie. It repeats some concepts we saw in "Son of the Bride" or "Same love, same rain" -perhaps the best one.

DON'T MISS THIS BEAUTY! This is, first of all, a first-rate film and probably one of the best movies to be remembered in the 21th Century. On the other hand, it certainly is Juan Jose Campanella's BEST film till now (his last of three). You simply cannot get any better than the acting (absolutely everyone!). The film is, true, very local. It depicts a very special segment of a nearby Buenos Aires (Argentina's Capital)city, the city of Avellaneda. The perfect dosage of drama and comedy (up to the hilarious, at times) mixed by Campanella is stunning. Probably, this film will be much more felt and appreciated by those living around the "Cuenca del Plata" ("River Plate Basin"), i.e. Montevideo (Uruguay), Bs.As. (Argentina) and Asuncion (Paraguay) where I was born and live. Ricardo Darin is simply put, one of the around eight best actors in the world, just like that. Some of the best moments are just a close-up of his face switching from doubt to joy with a smile and eyes getting wet. Furtheremore, I strongly recommend the DVD since with the Director Commentary on, Campanella talks profusely about his film, all along, with every possible technical detail of both his director and his writing. I wouldn't know whether the Director's Commentary is included in a USA or non-Latin America issue.