Well received vanity project, but not a vanity project in the usual sense. No, a film about vanity, specifically the vanity of four principles making a film: 80-yr-old pharmaceutical mogul José Luis Gómez, with an unread Nobel Laureate’s book he hopes will give him a cultural legacy; trendy writer/director Penélope Cruz, in fright wig; and the country’s two most distinguished actors: highbrow Oscar Martínez/lowbrow Antonio Banderas. A scabrous/satiric look at current moviemaking mores from writer/directors Mariano Cohn & Gastón Duprat promised as these four self-centered obsessives rehearse, strategize and go to absurd lengths to be top dog. But with nary a laugh or well-aimed dart showing up. See Cruz touch base with character thru extreme acting exercises. Watch our actors play buddy/buddy then try to lie their way past each other. How droll, you think before the reveal. One unintentional gag does land, it's when Cruz gives a speech at some pointless award ceremony and stops speaking at the exact right length. (Never has happened.) The only part of the production to come off is the stunning use of the office complex that serves as the film’s only location; call the design style Monumental Modern. Stunning. Perhaps we could order a better drama in a la carte. This one, neither funny nor insightful; and with sitting ducks for targets.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: 1935 Hollywood proves more trenchant and knowing on the subject of big-time movie production in a fun, underrated recent discovery THE STAND-IN. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2025/03/stand-in-1937.html
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