I'M SO EXCITED (2013)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Coté Soler, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Carlos Areces, Raul Arevalo, Javier Cámara, Lola Dueñas, Carmen Machi, Laya Martí, Cecilia Roth, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Blanca Suárez, Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R21 (Homosexual Theme)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/imsoexcited/

Opening Day: 13 February 2014

Synopsis: When it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers of a plane heading to Mexico City look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.

Movie Review:

You’re probably thinking the Pointer Sisters’ tune and indeed, that’s the raison d’etre for the title of this latest Pedro Almodóvar film. Part of a running gag which sees the male flight attendants lip syncing to the titular song, it is but one of the sure signs that the Spanish director better known for melodramas like ‘The Skin I Live In’ and ‘Talk to Her’ is opting for a change of pace and tone. Indeed, this is the Almodóvar from earlier films like ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’ and ‘Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!’, though whether or not fans of the auteur will take to it is yet another question entirely.

Described by the man himself as a “very light comedy”, it is essentially built around the doomed Peninsula Airlines Flight 2549 from Madrid to Mexico City, which due to a fault in the landing gear, has no choice but to circle in the skies above Toledo, Spain while waiting for an empty runaway. But even as the passengers seem headed for certain death, you probably won’t realise that from the intentionally campy mood on board, as family secrets and romantic betrayals come to light in a bawdy comedy that plays like a gay version of the classic ‘Airplane!’.

Yes, gay, because the three exuberant lead characters in Almodóvar’s farce just happen to be of that sexual orientation, and as portrayed by Javier Camara, Raúl Arévalo and Carlos Areces, they are a hoot. In particular, Camara steals the show with his loose-libbed performance of the alcoholic and compulsively honest chief steward Joserra, who has an especially sharp and amusing monologue at the start where he reveals the sexual shenanigans of the pilot Alex (Antonio de la Torre) and co-pilot Benito (Hugo Silva). Ulloa (Arevalo) and Fajas (Areces) are also just as distinctive in their own ways, the former a sharp-tongued booze-and-pill addict and the latter a superstitious worrier who carries a portable altar with him all the time.

For narrative convenience, Almodóvar has the passengers in the economy class drugged by the stewards, so that basically leaves only six other awake passengers in business class. Each are made to be just as eccentric, though admittedly they turn out quite the two-dimensional caricatures - there’s a sex-obssessed psychic virgin, Bruna (Lola Duenas); Norma (Cecilia Roth), an uppity star hooker to Spain’s political and business elite; Senor Mas (Jose Luis Torrijo), a corrupt banker; a honeymooning couple carrying a pharmacy full of party pills (Miguel Angel Silvestre and Laya Marti); a mystery man dubbed a ‘security advisor’ (Miguel Angel Silvestre); and a soap opera star, Ricardo (Guillermo Toledo).

The latter provides the only time during which the drama unfolds outside the confines of the cabin, as the actor juggling several grounded lovers makes phone calls through the public address system to an unstable painter girlfriend (Paz Vega) and ends up being in contact with another former girlfriend (Blanca Suarez). Those expecting story and development will undoubtedly be disappointed, as Almodóvar seems content with letting the film unfold in a purely episodic fashion, padding out the runtime with a stream of raunchy sex and drug jokes while trading gossip about everyone else. In between, the Valencia cocktails are mixed and guzzled, mescaline is ingested, and attractions are even consummated.

To hold this against Almodóvar’s critically acclaimed ‘All About My Mother’, ‘Talk to Her’ and ‘Volver’ seems unfair for a movie which arguably had no such ambition; rather, ‘I’m So Excited’ sees Almodóvar in an unusually generous mood to bring cheer and mirth to his audience. The strain at some parts is obvious, playing like an unfunny Greek chorus that doesn’t quite know exactly how and when to hit the right notes; but there is an irrepressibly jovial and liberated spirit about the proceedings, reflected too in the candy coloured palette which Almodóvar has chosen. It’s not screwball funny in case you’re wondering, but if you are in the mood for some exotic laughs, this one just might hit the sweet spot. 

Movie Rating:

(A throwback to the his earlier outré comedies, this Pedro Almodóvar sex farce plays like a gay version of ‘Airplane!’ but with fewer and less sustained laughs)

Review by Gabriel Chong