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Son of the Bride 2001 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Juan Jose Campanella
R, 124 min. (language) |
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Starring: Ricardo Darin, Hector Alterio, Norma Aleandro, Eduardo Blanco, Natalia Verbeke
Producers: Fernando Blanco, Pablo Bossi, Jorge Estrada Mora, Gerardo Herrero, Mariela Besuievsky
Screenplay: Juan Jose Campanella, Fernando Castets
Cinematography: Daniel Shulman
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Released: 3.22.02 (Limited)
(In Spanish with subtitles) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Son of the Bride, which was nominated for Best Foreign Picture at this year's Oscars, is a charming, delightfully satisfying
film from Argentina that harkens back to a time when movies were made with relationships at their center. It follows the life
of a middle-aged man during a midlife crisis that threatens to destroy everything he's worked so hard to build. With the
help of family and friends, he realizes what's really important in this life - family. Director Juan Jose Campenella has
taken a shaky screenplay and molded it into an involving storyline free of many burdensome clichés that hurt similar
Hollywood efforts. Son of the Bride has been called one of Argentina's greatest films, and with good reason. It spins just
the right web of believable performances and heart-warming catharsis to make almost every viewer appreciative of its
effort.
Rafael (Ricardo Darín) is a restaurant owner with a hectic life. He's a foul-mouthed workoholic, a forgetful father to his
estranged daughter (Gimena Nóbile), a poor son to his parents, and in the middle of a faltering relationship with his girlfriend, Nati (Natalia Verbeke).
Suddenly, his life catches up to him in the form of a heart attack. At age 42, Rafael quickly realizes that his life must
change, and now dreams of cashing out (his restaurant is attractive to investors) and moving to a more relaxed life in
Mexico. Stunned by his sudden candor, Nati, his ex-wife Sandra (Claudia Fontan), his father Nino (Héctor Alterio) and
Alzheimer's stricken mother Norma (Norma Aleandro), and childhood friend Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco), have
all balked at this idea. Compounding problems is the wish of his father Nino - to remarry his lovely but sick wife Norma
in a church (they bypassed it the first time around). Although he's satisfied with his decision to sell the family restaurant,
Rafael struggles to repair broken relationships that are a result of his own selfishness. Eventually, his own personal
journey takes him to a point of unavoidably tough decisions.
The second half of the film is clearly better than a conventional first half. After introducing the audience to average
characters, Campenella (who also co-wrote the screenplay) slowly moves the story into conflicting territory. Rafael
not only has his health to worry about, but also the unraveling relationships around him. The memory of a happy
childhood with his friend Juan Carlos and his beautiful mother's elegance at their family restaurant (she was a hostess
that everyone loved) begin to have an effect on what he considers to have true value in his life. It's when he
confronts his own feelings that things begin to fall into place.
The performances are memorable. Clearly, Darín's portrayal of a conflicted and troubled man is key to the film's
success, and his effort is effective. Their are nice supporting turns by Fontan and Verbeke, but the film's heart
rests in the hands of heartbreaking performances from Alterio and Aleandro. The older couple must deal with
fading memories in the face of Alzheimer's disease, and their portrayals are never forced or over-the-top. Alterio's
courage in the face of his wife's passing thoughts is clearly believable. Also, Aleandro plays the disease to near
perfection, never pandering to a sudden realization of where she is or what's happening. Instead, the reality of the
disease is painstakingly recreated in all its devastating results.
Son of the Bride is a feel-good film, but it is done so with intelligence for its audience. It's also a poignant story
of love and forgiveness, especially in the strained relationship between Rafael and his parents. A satisfying conclusion
is clearly the film's brightest moment, but is made evermore appreciated in the light of the misery that Rafael has
experienced up until that point. Interestingly, there was some talk that this film was robbed of an Oscar for Best
Foreign Picture, however, one would be hard-pressed to ignore similar arguments for Amelie and No Man's Land.
Nevertheless, Son of the Bride is a quality motion picture, one that should see some success at the video stores later
this year. It's definitely worth a few hours of your entertainment time.
© 2002 Jonathan Cornwell
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 |
 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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