Promedio rojo

Chilean comedies seem to have a great flaw: they're either dull or vulgar: this one is both. Quite influenced by the Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia, this movie imitates his style, including his faults. The story is very silly and there's nothing original in it. It concerns high school nerds in their sexual awareness and the attempts to have their first experiences (does that sound familiar to you?) It certainly looks quite old fashioned,with the most recurrent stereotypes of the American youngster comedies of the sixties like "Porky" and all its sequels and imitations. The humor is rough - kind of vulgar actually - and the interpretations are quite elementary. It was quite popular in Chile but it faded away a few months after being released.

The movie has some good comic material, but the editing is horrible, the jokes go a little overboard and lack subtlety, and the director seems to care more about the unnecessary plot than the deliverance of humor. However, it is still an improvement from the usual archaic, unsophisticated, corny Chilean Comedy.

The editing makes me feel like I am watching a 90s sitcom. All the movie lacks is the live studio audience in the background and a catchy theme song in the beginning to be a perfect candidate for a spot on the WB's prime time programming. Another annoying thing about the editing is the childish fart sounds used for comic relief. Truth be told, some jokes in the movie are actually funny. The audience doesn't need a whoopee cushion sound to let them know they have to laugh. The comic material in the movie had some backbone but was crippled by the editing.

The humor revolves mainly around sexual innuendos, as most of Chilean humor does.I am not saying that this is a bad thing, just that sexual innuendos and vulgar remarks seem childish without the appropriate deliverance. Subtlety is the key word here. The writers should have spent more time thinking of the subtlety of the delivery of the joke instead of working on the plot and substance which have minor importance in a comic film.

As a comedy, the film should have focused mainly on making people laugh, instead of revealing social taboo topics. I mean, the audience of a porn film do not care about the troubled life of the characters, but rather what type of penetration scenes will be in the film. In the same way a comedy/romantic comedy should not focus on relevant social issues, but rather on delivering well developed comic scenes and a worm happy ending. In fact, most great comedies have subliminal plots such as a crazy night in Vegas, a 40 year old virgin, or a day of skipping school. Needless to say, there have been many comedies that have incorporated relevant topics without loosing their humor, however this is not one of them.

Not all about the movie is bad. Both characters Papitas, and the professor are quite entertaining. I could definitely see a modern sitcom revolving around these characters. Also, the movie shows some of the first usage of sarcastic and cynical comedy in Chilean cinema, which is an advance from their usual immature comedy. The beginning of the movie is quite entertaining (besides the Nickelodeon editing) and the film does manage to express some irony about idiosyncrasies of upper class Chileans. Maybe it's the strong influence of the catholic religion, the lack of Jewish immigrants, or that most of their television revolves around soap operas that make Chilean comedy so old fashion, but one thing this movie does show is that the entertainment industry in Chile is evolving, 10 years behind the rest of the developed world but still, evolving.

Chileans should be embarrassed that their country is polluting the environment with toxic waste like this. The director obviously thinks of himself as very "modern" and "irreverential", but the truth is, this film is the most conservative, right-wing and predictable trash I've seen in a Latin American film. He must be a relative of Pinochet or something. As for the comedy, let me just say that it makes the Police Academy movies look like the complete works of Billy Wilder. Sorry, guys, it's just not funny. If you feel like watching what some loser director did as an excuse for a movie so he can pick up girls, lose his virginity and stop masturbating after losing his hair, then this one is for you. The rest of us should just avoid it like the plague.

It's a laugh feast! Satirical, fast-paced, imaginative, savvy, wonderful performances lead by a director who knows what he is doing. Main character Roberto is a geek, but a talented comics artist, and the film weaves the real-life situations into the black&white comics book he is creating. Through his eyes real-life events are exaggerated and surreal, like when he wonders through a mall feeling a huge heart-ache for Cristina and all he sees at every step are young couples glued to each other kissing. Scenes with depraved grandfather who he adopts as mentor are hilarious. All scenes have an unexpected turn-around. Fine black-humor. A classic not to be missed!

I saw promedio rojo with very low expectations (may be that's why I liked it). When I saw this movie, I first thought it was going to be the typical teen movie with the nerdy kid getting the good looking girl at the end. But instead I got Nicolas Lopes crazy world. What I really like about this movie is that the set up is basically a comic about the main character, which gives more freedom to switch from the characters imagination and reality. Also I liked how it poked fun of every teen movie, and also other big Hollywood hits (star wars, lion king, etc). Unlike every teen movie, the ending is not a happy one, and it leaves the viewer waiting to see what's going to happened. I really enjoyed this movie, and I recommend it to anyone.