An excellent film about the midlife crisis and the empty nest syndrome: Marcos and Ana powerlessly see their couple teared apart after the departure of their only son who joined Spain as part of his studies, as if their existence as a (wo)man and then as a couple were now devoid of any foundation. The script is without any surprise, it's even rather predictable with all the usual clichés. But the cast is excellent, especially Ricardo Darín and Mercedes Morán.
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avgalia11 August 2018Wonderful movie. The "not for everybody" is related to a comment overheard during the projection of the film. Somebody near to us said: "There is nothing going on!" I guess there will be people thay may said that, but the problem is that this is a movie that requires the spectator to adapt to the pace of the film. There is a lot going on during the whole movie but you need to pay attention and to have "feeling" for what is happening on the screen. The acting by Darín and Morán is superb, but it is not just them. Short appearances by Claudia Lapacó, Norman Brisky and Chico Novarro are memorable. The dialogues are credible and smart. If you go to the movies just looking for fights, chasing cars and the like, this one is not for you. But if you like to be moved by the story told on the screen, that may have to do with your own life, do not miss this one.
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hdirenzo20 September 2018A romantic comedy has a lot of cliches, that's the case in almost every film like this. But for local audience, in Argentina, this film has very good reception because we love these two actors and because we talk like they do. The conversations are sooo long, it made me wonder how would an audience from another country feel about this. I enjoyed the film. Not "the greatest" but it is rather good, has charm, excellent acting, dialogues and music. and they are supported by a magnificent cast.
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This film was OK, a little long maybe, but the lead actors were outstanding, which carried this one. The plot line was good, but there was not much in the way of development. One day, the couple's son leaves for college, a few minutes later they break up inexplicably. I mean we realize a void is created with the son having left, and other reasons was given for the breakup, I guess, but they were getting along great, and then all of a sudden they get divorced and start seeing other people. So, some of the scenes feel very rushed And between the two of them, the broken up couple have have like four relationships during the course of the two hour length of the movie. So, I feel this could have been a seven or eight star movie had better care been taken with plot development.
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greloy22 January 2019Not for anybody, it is for 30+ people. Funny and aspirational
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DimitriosD19 October 2019The film is too long , full of cliches, bad humor , no chemistry between the lead actors and so so predictable! We know from the beginning of the film how it's going to end .
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maria-ricci-19839 July 2023Ana and Marcelo are both high-middle class professionals enjoying a comfortable social standing. They have a nice flat, an only son who goes abroad to further his studies, and what could be described as a smooth, well adjusted marriage life, without violence or abuse, though with some hints of passive-aggresive daily fencing.
The «empty-nest syndrome» gives room for them to explore how they feel about each other and admit some boredom due to the predictability of common life, spiced with the little daily irritations and annoyances of a 25-year old marriage. Finally, they admit that they are «not infatuated any longer» with each other, and they don't feel confident about spending the rest of their future with that feeling on their hearts.
Thinking that divorce could relieve them from this weary feeling, they experience new romances (some scenes are funny), and they even form stable new relationships with new partners.
Some years pass by, and then a new crisis related to their son gives again room for them to find how deeply they miss the familiarity and shared history they had built together. They are still «no longer infatuated with each other», but they choose to rekindle their life together cherishing what they have crafted as a couple, rather than picking on what is missing.
If this unoriginal, much treaded story had been performed by other actors, the movie would have probably been boring and flat. Dialogues are long (Argentinean urban educated couples dialogue about themselves much in this vain, probably due to their popular culture of psychoanalysis), and the whole thing could have ended up in a pretentious theatrical babble, but Darín and Morán are such an extraordinary pair, so tremendously talented, that they make you empathize deeply with their predicament and feelings, adding reality and vividness to the film.
Kudos to the casting director: all secondary actors have been simply perfect in their roles. No part has been wasted, indeed.
In short, it is neither Bergman nor Nora Ephron, but it is enjoyable; it pulses a chord in those who have had long marriages, and the performances are really memorable. -
Ebert17 January 2023This movie has a great joke. With the book "The Origin of the Family and Private Property" by Engels in his hands, Ricardo Darin's character exclaims: "They need to make a film of this book!". In fact, all the "porteño humor" in the film is very good. The use of "lunfardo", the typical Buenos Aires slang, gives the film a characteristic humor that delights those who, like me, had the pleasure of living in Buenos Aires for a while. The main couple gives a show of interpretation, taking advantage of the excellent dialogues. It's not a classic, it doesn't have the depth of a Bergman, but it entertains and entertains with intelligence and humour. It's worth the ticket!
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The subject has been covered in al least a dozen recent films, both as comedy, drama or a combination of both (e. g. Things to Come with Isabelle Huppert, 2016). There is nothing in this movie that justifies one more try. The setting is imitation Hollywood. The script has moments of wit, but it is frequently boring, derivative and pretentious. Clichés abound, as in the the scene where Marcos teaches a class on Latin American literature. Some characters, such as those played by Juan Minujin and Andrea Politti are entirely built of clichés. Sense of humor is conspicuous by its absence.
To crown all, we are regaled with sappy songs in three languages.
Ricardo Darín and Mercedes Morán are good actors but struggle with a script that gives them few chances for real acting; also, the characters they play have not much charisma or many redeeming features.
The film is way too long for the subject; it needs cutting of inessential dialogue. On the positive side, production values are high (as typical in Argentine movies). -
theeroos19 October 2019I expected a predictable but hopefully funny feelgood movie about an older couple divorcing, going wild and then coming together again. Well, sorry to say it was neither funny nor feelgood. It was a lot of boring conversations between boring people who were funny nor interesting. It's never witty, intelligent or interesting. The husband and wife laugh, have sex, love eachother, have a great life together, so it's completely idiot when they split up. Why? Then they have stupid affairs. The husband finds a hippie girl in the subway, the wife ends up living together with a boring teacher. Why? This is the most terrible and completely predictable movie I saw in 2019, and I saw a lot... Don't spoil your precious time on this movie, unless you need two hours of sleep in the cinema, as my friend did.