Seres queridos

Thoroughly enjoyable tale of a woman in Spain bringing her Palestinian boyfriend home to meet her Jewish family. Needless to say all sorts of stereotypes and clichés pop up but it's all done in a reasonably realistic yet funny way. It's all played very much for laughs and this works as it is certainly one of the funnier movies that I have seen this year. It is also a victory for the basics of cinema. There are no special effects, no big artist soundtracks and as it was a foreign movie for me, it translated well and had no big stars. The story moves along perfectly and we see all of the characters that we need to see for the purposes of the story. If I had one criticism it would be that the end slightly over simplifies certain issues raised and feels a little too tidy given what has gone before. I felt that there either should have been one last joke to end on or perhaps an edgier/darker resolution to the issues raised. Nonetheless, it remains an amusing insight into the fact that families will drive you mad, no matter what!