Ann, Jack, and I really liked this "thriller" about secrets and lies at a wedding in Spain. The acting is fantastic and the three headliners are easy on the eyes, as are most in the cast. I put thriller in quotes because Jack commented that it's the slowest moving [of this genre--he used a different word than thriller, but it's sort of a spoiler] he's ever seen.
Penelope Cruz (last blogged for Murder on the Orient Express) is Laura, mother of two, who has returned from Argentina to her small Spanish hometown for the wedding of one of her sisters. Javier Bardem (most recently in these pages for Skyfall) is her ex-boyfriend Paco, who runs what used to be the family's vineyard nearby. Ricardo Darín (last blogged for Wild Tales--I called him handsome there, too) is Laura's husband Alejandro, who appears after a while.
Iranian director/writer Asghar Farhadi began shooting this before The Salesman (Oscar winner for Foreign Film in 2017), stopped this one to finish The Salesman, and came back to this afterwards. He was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes for this but not for any of the awards that I've been tracking on my list.
Gorgeous photography of the beautiful people and glorious scenery are thanks to José Luis Alcaine (most recently in these pages for I'm So Excited).
17 minutes of Javier Limón's (scoring his sixth feature, though he's contributed songs to others) music can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music, all with lyrics sung in Spanish.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 74% are lukewarm and its audiences at 63 are luker. We liked it and are glad we saw it.
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