Official Competition

The trailer for Official Competition made me laugh out loud and that was enough to convince me to see it last night at the Broadway.  Humberto Suarez (Jose Luis Gomez) is a wealthy businessman contemplating his legacy after turning  80.  He briefly considers building a bridge so that it can be named after him but then decides to finance a prestigious art house film.  He acquires the rights to a Pulitzer Prize winning novel at great expense, which he admits he has not read, and hires a brilliant but eccentric auteur named Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz) to adapt and direct it.  She chooses Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez), a pretentious legend of the stage known for his extreme method acting, and Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), a vain but insecure action movie star, to play two estranged brothers and requires them to join her for several weeks of rehearsal where she subjects them to several increasingly bizarre and seemingly irrelevant exercises to help them discover their characters' motivation.  Both Ivan and Felix let their egos interfere with their performance as they compete with each other over whose acting technique is most effective and chaos ensues. This is a biting satire about the creative processes involved in making a film and it is absolutely hilarious because it totally rings true.  Lola reminded me of many of my favorite directors, especially when she spends seven hours picking out fabric for a sofa to be used in the movie (Wes Anderson), when she reacts with hostility to a question posed at a film festival press conference (Ridley Scott), and when she has the actors read a line of dialogue over and over until she is satisfied for no discernible reason (Noah Baumbach).  It also calls to mind the ridiculous lengths to which some actors will go in preparing for a role (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the outrageous demands big stars make on set via their personal assistants (Tom Cruise).  Cruz, Bandaras, and Martinez give pitch-perfect performances and watching the three of them spar with each other is so much fun.  I can't remember when I have laughed so much during a movie and, if it weren't for a few pacing issues and a somewhat underwhelming ending, this would definitely be one of my year-end favorites!  I recommend it to all fans of independent film.