Official Competition, the first film of our 78th season achieved an overall appreciation score of 80%. Many members found this excellent, enjoyable and a great choice to start the season, while some found the film overly long and disappointing. Some of the comments submitted:
- This was a bonkers film but a fascinating insight to actors egos & behaviours. Great character portrayals from the cast. Especially found Penelope Cruz’s character easy to dislike. Nice nod to an ageing man’s last wishes to be remembered for something else other than business. Lots to take away from the film.
- Amazing. One of the best, most intelligent films, I have seen.
- Highly enjoyable and entertaining film. Stellar acting and dark humour.
- Brilliant start to the film season – thanks for putting this on! Funny, charismatic and unique in its watch ability.
- I enjoyed this film very much indeed. I particularly liked the different layers to the storyline, the social observations and also the geopolitical comments. It was a wonderful mini push back from Argentina to the West, very funny.
- Entertaining. At some stages gave insight into directing with attention to detail in reading process. At other stages noir humour. Overall one to watch.
- A light hearted comedy yet tightly scripted piece that provoke the audience to deconstruct the film for themselves. It highlights the tension between authenticity vs pretentiousness, ego vs dissolution of ego, mortality /need for meanings vs absurdity – all in a humorous fashion.
- A great way to start the season; funny, engaging film with broad appeal.
- Great opening film for the new season, and my first as a member of the society. Very funny and the lead actors were brilliant, sending up both the film industry and themselves.
- Good actors, lovely cinematography, clever ideas and some good twists in the plot. A bit too long though.
- Better a B but not quite an A. A very entertaining film, with outrageous characters but I got a bit fed up with them in the end!
- Penelope Cruz was mesmerising!
- It is sometimes easy to forget that other nationalities have a sense of humour and satire.
- The film improved considerably when the chap went over the balcony! The ending was very clever and gave some insight into what had been going on previously.
- I should imagine directing a farce is one of the most challenging type of film to make. For me a farce to hit the right spot needs to be hilariously funny whilst making a serious point. Jennifer Lopez was sensational in this film but the jokes and plot twists were so predictable, drawn out and disappointing. Overall, I felt this was a film for those in the acting profession who would appreciate the competitiveness, pretentious nature and power games played by those engaged in this profession. I did find one scene very funny, when the director makes the actor repeat the same banal line over and over again, to discover its “emotion.”
- The film was mildly comical, but I didn’t find myself laughing. The attempt at satirising the film industry didn’t materialise for me. It was boring and predicable, and simply reproduced unfunny age-old stereotypes. At one point it stopped and I found myself thinking about what I had to do the following day. That’s a firm indicator that the film hasn’t done its job.
- Feeble jokes, boring film. Sexist treatment of women.
- I wasn’t expecting much with Banderas and Cruz in the major roles. They acted poorly as usual and the script was awful. No redeeming features.
- The dead hand of Almodovar is all over it. A long, glossy TV commercial for something or other – Ferraris, big hair, monstrous houses? And, it seems, actors are not always truthful and people aren’t very nice. Who knew? A long-winded and shallow love letter to self-love. If it is not The Cherry Orchard or Wild Strawberries, why do they bother?