Review: "I'm So Excited"

Director: Pedro Almodovar
Runtime: 90 minutes

Though by no means a masterpiece, Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited has, perhaps, been judged too harshly. It's hard to see anyone ranking the film as one of the Spanish auteur's best, but this is no disaster. Rather, it's a return to the camp(ier?) tone and style of Almodovar's earlier works. The results may be far from the director's top tier achievements, and it certainly doesn't linger long after the credits, but this is still a largely enjoyable endeavor from one of world cinema's top talents. It's disposable and lightweight fluff that only Almodovar could whip up.

After taking a sharp left turn into body horror territory with 2011's The Skin I Live In, Almodovar immediately announces his return to lighter fare in his new film's bouncy opening credits. Only minutes later, we've joined the crew and passengers of a flight from Madrid to Mexico City. Yet after only a few hours, the flight crew discovers that the plane is having significant technical difficulties that could force them to make a crash landing. Thankfully, the flight attendants are good at improvising, and knock out the majority of the passengers by slipping muscle relaxers into their drinks, leaving only the collection of oddballs in business class to entertain while the pilots (Antonio de la Torre and Hugo Silva), wait for news from ground control. 

Yet despite being a "bottle movie" (one where characters are confined to a single space), I'm So Excited is anything but stifled by its setting. In fact, the film's weakest stretch comes when Almodovar makes the unwise decision to take us back down to earth for roughly 15 minutes. All of the characters, as is to be expected, have their own secrets and scandals, but the character whose subplot involves seeing other characters on the ground is almost forgotten after the segment ends. There's so much fun interplay across the cast members trapped on the plane (stand-outs include Cecilia Roth, Lola Duenas, and Raul Arevalo), but the earthbound sequence nearly lets all of the air out of the narrative.

But even with such a considerable bump, the film is rarely short of enjoyable, even as its campiness is sometimes too broad for its own good. The cast are all enjoying themselves, playing everything from alcoholic attendants to clairvoyant virgins effortlessly. As secrets come to light, and the film becomes a flat-out sex farce, the story only becomes more of an over-the-top delight. The cast are all completely on point, playing up the heightened comedy and melodrama without ever becoming too serious or condescending towards their characters. By forcing the characters to interact with each other via the setting, there's hardly a dull moment as this herd of eccentrics comes to grips with their secrets and their possible demises.

The shadow of a calamitous death looms in the background of the entire film, yet there is never a heaviness to Almodovar's writing or directing. Leave it to the Spanish maestro to craft a comedy where even the chance of a fiery death never drags down the buoyant proceedings. If one was ever in doubt that the film could maintain its breezy atmosphere, Almodovar throws in a lip-synced musical number that has to go down as one of the liveliest and most enjoyable scenes of his entire career. As the trio of male flight attendants lip-sync along to the titular song, it's difficult to resist the film's infectious spirit. 

And, aside from that nagging subplot in the middle, it's hard to have much ill will towards I'm So Excited. The film is not so much defined by massive flaws as it is simply by never striving to be anything greater. Labeling the film as Almodovar on auto-pilot suggests that the director is barely trying. Rather, this mile-high sex comedy is simply Almodovar having a bit of fun. Its aspirations are limited, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do: provide a snappy, goofy, and delightful time. Just as the the flight attendants do their best to distract the passengers from the possibility of an untimely end, Almodovar and company seek only to provide a bit of fun that's never meant to be anything more than a light-as-a-feather diversion.

Grade: B-

The Month in Review: August 2010

Sadly, with the end of August and the end of summer, comes the last "Month in Review" until May 2011. I might still do shorter round-ups starting at the end of September, but now that I'm heading back off to school, the only films I'll be able to consider will be whatever I find time to see in theaters and whatever I'm shown in classes (if anything). So, to close out this segment (and consequently, the "What I Watched this Week" segment), here's a look at the best of what I saw in August:

Best Film (Theaters): Animal Kingdom

David Michod's stellar debut has been marketed as a crime drama, though it's filled more with character inter-play and story-telling than all-out firefights. The violence is limited to no more than two gun shots, and there's nothing remotely stylized or "cool" about it, causing each 'bang' shake you up a little more than the last one. And despite the steady pacing, Animal Kingdom works because of strong work from its cast (especially MVP Jacki Weaver), a story that avoids typical genre story plot lines, and hypnotic, ambient music that makes the simple moments as compelling as the main story.

Best Film (DVD/Rental): The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Before Philip Kaufman took a look at the madness of the Marquis de Sade in Quills, he made a surprisingly successful adaptation of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." Mixing sensuality, eroticism, political upheaval, and a surprising amount of humor, Kaufman's nearly-three hour film earns every minute. Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche as Tomas and Tereza are at the film's center, but the movie earns a great deal of heft from Lena Olin's performance as Tomas's on-off lover Sabina. In the film's best scene, Tereza and Sabina photograph each other nude, and the scene seamless moves from (classy) erotic, to magnetic, and finally, hilarious territory.

Best Director: Edgar Wright - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Despite an extremely talented group of young actors filling out the many roles of "Scott Pilgrim," the real star is director Edgar Wright. Wright has a talent for both sending up genre tropes while also indulging in them, to create movie experience that are both tongue-in-cheek and legitimately compelling. Every image is so dense, so packed with details and references, that it's hard not to be blown away by the obvious amount of time and effort Wright took to make sure that this adaptation (his first) transferred successfully to the screen without losing the spirit of the source material.

Best Actor: Robert Duvall - Get Low

For all that is ordinary in Get Low (most of it), Robert Duvall is anything but. While the screenplay leaves a lot to be desired in its exploration of the central character, Duvall's willingness to completely sink into the role, is what holds the film together, and helps keep it interesting, which it might not have been with a different lead.

Best Actress: Julianne Moore - The Kids are All Right

It's hard to pick which half of the lesbian couple in Lisa Cholodenko's indie smash is superior. Neither of them is "weak," so it really comes down to a matter of preference, and by just a smidge, I think I preferred Moore's Jules. Despite her character's actions, Moore keeps her real and likeable; she's the flightier of the pair, but she's never turned into an easy "villain" or a broadly written caricature. While a lot of this is due to the screenplay, Moore's charming and emotional portrayal takes it to another level.

Best Screenplay: Talk to Her

Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her and I got off on the wrong foot. While never bored, there was something missing in the characters and story telling that kept me from being as instantly swept up as I was in, say, Volver. And then, just when you think Almodovar is going to continue in this solid-yet-unspectacular vein, he ups the dramatic stakes considerably, and the movie soars to new heights all the way to its ending. A deserving winner for Best Original Screenplay, Almodovar's film gracefully explores a unique situation with tinges of soap opera, and the result is heart-stopping.

Best Ensemble Cast: All About My Mother

Women played an important role in Almodovar's life, thus the very feminine slant in his films. Along with Volver, no film exemplifies this better than his 1999 Best Foreign Language Film winner, about a group of women and their various maladies. Led by strong work from Cecelia Roth as a woman coping with loss, she's backed up by strong turns from Penelope Cruz as a well-intentioned nun, Marisa Paredes as a conflicted theater star, and Antonia San Juan as a raunchy friend from Manuela's (Roth) former life, in one of Almodovar's finest, most engaging ensembles to date.