#Spanish simple comic movie#
#Spanish simple comic plus#

The first thing you notice, itвЂ™s true, is her hair: a deep-russet explosion, reminiscent of the great mane that was sported by a leonine Whitney Houston in the video for вЂњI Wanna Dance with Somebody.вЂќ Then there are the cheroots that Lola smokes, plus the eccentric majesty of her dress sense, the standout being her loosely shimmering gold pants. In short, вЂњOfficial CompetitionвЂќ is nicely balanced, and the poiser-in-chief is Cruz, whose portrayal of Lola goes way beyond simple wackiness. The film that Lola devises, on the other hand, though we see not a single frame of it, is something for which I might actually buy a ticket. As a rule, movies within movies are little more than excuses for a plot the hokey Biblical epic that is glimpsed in production during the Coen brothersвЂ™ вЂњHail, Caesar!вЂќ (2016) would, one suspects, be a fairly limp creation. Duprat and Cohn find more to tease than to hold in contempt, and one sequence, near the end, in which FГ©lix and IvГЎn practice the brothersвЂ™ climactic encounter, is played completely straight. A pattern is thus established LolaвЂ™s methods may be excessive, with a smack of cruelty, but sheвЂ™s not a fraud or a windbag, unless you count the scene in which she sprawls on the floor and chants into the snaking hose of a vacuum cleaner. Immediately, however, despite the apparent silliness of her demand, we realize something important: sheвЂ™s right. If this were a tale of motherhood, the whole thing would take place in a prenatal class.ДЄt the initial read-through, IvГЎn is asked by Lola to recite his second line of dialogue-вЂњGood eveningвЂќ-seven times, to guarantee the perfect intonation.

#Spanish simple comic movie#

(At one point, because FГ©lix and IvГЎn will be playing brothers trapped in a long-standing feud, Lola has them bound together in plastic wrap, like a couple of chicken drumsticks.) What sets the new film apart is its specificity: instead of attending to the action on and around a movie set, as in вЂњSinginвЂ™ in the RainвЂќ (1952) and вЂњDay for NightвЂќ (1973), or to the toils of the screenwriter, as in вЂњ MankвЂќ (2020), Duprat and Cohn focus on the enjoyable madness of rehearsals. Not a hard target, you might say, and one that is crying out for snooks. One of the pleasurable chores of вЂњOfficial Competition,вЂќ which is directed by GastГіn Duprat and Mariano Cohn, is to cock a snook at the world of filmmaking. In another coup, two lead actors of opposing dispositions are brought on board: the global superstar FГ©lix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), who rolls up in a flame-colored Lamborghini, and IvГЎn Torres (Oscar MartГnez), the doyen of serious theatre, who comes in a taxi. Desiring only the best for his project, Humberto buys the rights to (but does not read) a novel by a Nobel laureate entitled вЂњRivalry.вЂќ He hires the dauntless director Lola Cuevas ( PenГ©lope Cruz), whose work has been festooned with prizes. Now eighty years old, he yearns to leave вЂњsomething that lastsвЂќ and decides that, rather than build a bridge, he will finance a movie-a curious choice, given that most movies are about as enduring as a sandcastle, but still.

At the start of вЂњOfficial Competition,вЂќ we meet a rich Spanish businessman named Humberto SuГЎrez (JosГ© Luis GГіmez).