"Son of the Bride (El Hijo de la Novia)" is an Argentinian "It's A Wonderful Life" for baby boomers.
Because nowadays even George Bailey would be overworked, with sandwich generation responsibilities, and probably an ex-wife. Instead of an angel, here, it's a heart attack, the sudden appearance of a childhood friend, and his aged father who wants to give his mother the church wedding she wanted for the past 40 years, at least before her mind was lost to Alzheimer's.
What makes the movie enjoyable and not schmaltzy, as written and directed by TV director Juan Jose Campanella, is the charm of lead actor Ricardo Darin, the comfortably realistic dialog (with only a couple of missteps in the subtitles) and situations, and the very funny bits that shine through (which Hollywood will smooth out when it re-makes it in English), including boomer pop culture debates (but who is Dick Watson?).
Each of the characters has at least some individuality, even the male fantasy young girlfriend and the loving daughter.
I loved the penultimate line: that his father makes a loving long marriage "look like Fred Astaire."
(originally written 9/2/2002)
Because nowadays even George Bailey would be overworked, with sandwich generation responsibilities, and probably an ex-wife. Instead of an angel, here, it's a heart attack, the sudden appearance of a childhood friend, and his aged father who wants to give his mother the church wedding she wanted for the past 40 years, at least before her mind was lost to Alzheimer's.
What makes the movie enjoyable and not schmaltzy, as written and directed by TV director Juan Jose Campanella, is the charm of lead actor Ricardo Darin, the comfortably realistic dialog (with only a couple of missteps in the subtitles) and situations, and the very funny bits that shine through (which Hollywood will smooth out when it re-makes it in English), including boomer pop culture debates (but who is Dick Watson?).
Each of the characters has at least some individuality, even the male fantasy young girlfriend and the loving daughter.
I loved the penultimate line: that his father makes a loving long marriage "look like Fred Astaire."
(originally written 9/2/2002)