It's been a long time since I've seen a Puerto Rican movie that had put a smile on my face. Maldeamores did just that. This is perhaps the best movie made in Puerto Rico since, "Lo que le paso a Santiago." Maldeamores tell three different stories of love in different stages of life. It explores how trivial people can be, how people fail to communicate their feelings, and how some people can become obsessive and dangerous to obtain love. It is filmed "Amores Perros" style, but in this case, neither the stories nor the character ever cross each other.
One story is about a couple on their way to funeral. The wife, eventually finds out that her husband has been cheating her with her own cousin. What makes this story interesting is the way she finds out, merely by accident, when her brother in law tells her and from there things just turn crazy.
The other story, and perhaps the weakest story, is about an unhappy young man that still lives with his annoying mother. He becomes obsessed with a lady bus driver and in desperation; one day takes the entire bus hostage, threatening to kill anyone if she doesn't marries him. This story in occasions is funny, but lacks development of characters.
The other story, which I consider the best of all, is the elderly couple. A woman asks her mother, Flora (played by Silvia Brito) to take care of her sick father, Pellin (played by Miguel Angel Alvarez) which was her first husband and had been divorce for 30 some years. The woman brings the father one day, but the funny part is that Flora still lives with her second husband, Cirilo (played by Chavito Marrero) and they had also been divorce for 12 years. In this story all the actors steal the show, and in my opinion, is hilariously funny but without being too obvious. The elderly men argue constantly and even play pranks on each other trying to gain the favor of Flora or Florita, like Pellin affectingly calls her. It's great!
This movie was well written and the slang is totally Puerto Rican. Even though this is a Puerto Rican movie, it identifies with the overall Latin culture that makes us unique. Although the movie is not perfect, this is an exceptional film, because is the best movie made in Puerto Rico in more than 20 years. I strongly recommend it and I can wait to see more films like this. Maldeamores definitely has brought a smile to my face.
