worldzen

We loved this film. Comedy is much harder than drama and comedy with some heft and a real story is very rare. This film is just that - a great story, full of all sorts of cultural references and nuance, with incredible characters and great acting and directing.

Yes, there is a touch of Argentine romanticism, but that is an inherent part of Argentina. On a daily basis things are happening that you think "if I wasn't witnessing it with my own eyes, I would believe it."

Argentina has an incredible abundance of acting talent and it was on display here from the main characters all the way down to many of the many minor characters. There is fantastic acting at every turn.

The directors making endless great choices and actually avoid many of the overly romantic tropes of much Argentine film. No doubt they have a great future ahead and we'll be watching for future films.

It is far harder to do comedy than drama... Driven by great acting and great writing, this film was a really pleasant surprise. I saw this on a long flight to South America and the people around me started looking over toward me with inquiring smiles as I was collapsing in laughter at certain scenes. On the return flight home, I suggested it to the guy sitting next to me as he began looking for something to watch. We had said all of 20 words to each other, but part way through the film he was slapping my arm as he shook with laughter at certain scenes. I recommended it to a few friends and they all had the same reaction. Especially for men of an age to have lived through (or at least be able to relate to) the age and life moments of the main male characters in the film, the film just hits on certain bullseyes with such punch and perfectly retrained nuance that it just lays you out. It's rare to see this sort of British restraint in American comedy, which usually takes things over the top. Really fun and I'll be recommending it for years.

While I wasn't familiar with the original Tangalanga pranks, oddly I didn't feel like the actual phone pranks were so central to the story. I have spent many years in Argentina and know the culture well. Comedy is much harder than drama and yet the Argentines do it so well because sharp edged humor is so deeply engrained in their culture and they have such incredible actors. All of that shines here - superb acting, some great story development and I also loved the set and wardrobe design, which creates a world that was amazingly stylized down to every detail (think Almodóvar or Wes Anderson). Absolutely recommend.

We loved this film. Often a film loses some of its punch when translated across language and culture. Maybe this is one of them. My wife and I both lived in Spain many years ago, so we were blown away by how perfectly the film recreated a specific cultural time and place in all of its details.

People who visit Spain today and just hit Barcelona, Madrid and then hang on the coast and party can't relate to the incredible journey the Spanish people have made from being lost in time under Franco to the cutting edge of hip. This film puts that on display with tremendous humor and we just loved the characters and the stories and had some fantastic laughs.

Kudos to those working on art, set and cinematography. Short of that this an almost comical waste of time. It feels like you are watching the product of a 19 year old film student given a huge budget and talented actors who has never left his suburban basement and has no idea what he's doing. Enter the adult crew who run around trying to save the poor actors from suffering eternal embarrassment by at least creating beautiful imagery. All of the one star reviews nail the adjectives - pathetic, pretentious, etc. Though I will say that this film would be great on mute in the background of a dinner party with some nice music playing: some great imagery.

This film was fantastic for so many reasons. First off, as a director she chose restraint where most American films (much indie film included) are afraid to do so. Many moments spoke for themselves and she didn't fall into the trap of needing them to be neatly tied or revisited.

She was not afraid of silences and visual poetry, which my wife and I enjoyed immensely.

For anyone lucky enough to have lived in Spain (we lived there and in Argentina for many years, seeing the effects of economic crises up close) it is clear that there is no forced attempt at dark comedy here - the combination of economic crises and rigid bureaucracy forces thousands to emigrate and leaves hard working, decent people in insanely complex isolation with no way out. Extreme choices result. Sometimes a little laughter is essential to survival in those situations! Through the small simple world she creates (undoubtedly on a very tight budget) she portrays this brilliantly.

And her Mom?! It appears this is the only acting she's ever done and she was fantastic!

Thank you, Amalia! We loved it.

Loved it. Fantastic acting, incredibly well directed, great script and great music.

It had the rare ability to combine humor and rawness. And, in fact, the director was able to bring you to the edge time and time again and then pull you back.

We actually went to the theater to see something else, ended up seeing this and we both loved it. Saw it here in Buenos Aires and it was very authentic in tone, context and, in many ways (though obviously dramatized) the reality of what so many people are dealing with day to day.

The characters seemed to leap right off the city streets. This is the kind of film that Hollywood can never produce, and US independent film usually bungles with excessive violence or trite plots in an attempt to have a commercial hook, or the acting just doesn't come up to this level. I hope the film gets seen widely!