Despite Everything. Gabriela Tagliavini. 2019. ☆☆☆☆★★
I went on a holiday for ten days, and then I had a cold for a week, so I’m way behind on my Netflixes. I seem to have eight movies to catch up with…
Well, that’s doable this weekend.
Let’s get started.
Hm… Oh, this is a Spanish movie? And it’s one of those modern, breezy Spanish ensemble comedies (with sudden pathos)? I like those.
Aand… Wow! This is one of those high concept movies, with a central conceit that so “MOVIE” that it makes your brain splode. Totally shameless. It reminds me of plots from 40s screwball comedies… although they wouldn’t have chosen exactly this plot. (Trey risque.) The scene where they explained the plot made me laugh out loud.
It get the formula almost exactly right: The four sisters go on a journey of discovery (and self-discovery) and do all the requisite things (like smoking pot in the car and singing along to a song) they have to do on the journey.
Like I said, it’s shameless, and I like that. But… For such a pile of clichés to work, it has to snap and pop, and some of the scenes are a bit on the limp side.
It’s perfectly charming and a fun way to spend 80 minutes.
This post is part of the NFLX2019 blog series.