★★1/2 This León de Aranoa is a very rare filmmaker. He has a talent for putting on the screen what is pertinent and for designing a mise-en-scène; he has a talent for directing actors and – even in the thick line – allowing them subtlety and halftone. But he also suffers from a defect: the religion of “the subject.” Here he lampoons an exemplary businessman, about to win an award, for whom the firing of an employee begins to cause problems. Problems that show that the “good boss” is unfortunate. Because, as is known, the rich are all miserable, they lack scruples and their feelings are feigned. This common place seems to be put together little by little, in a cheerful and subtle way. But no: at one point, the thing is thick and almost explicit condemnation, from comedy to grotesque advertising almost without interruption. Is this bad? Is it bad for a movie to shout out what its author thinks? No, of course: watch South Park-The Movie, which is great (we’re very excited, it’s true). What is bad is that a good performance and the remarkable work of Javier Bardem dissolve into a moral that is nothing more than a commonplace, sometimes real and, many times, not.
