Buena vida (Delivery)

Leonardo DiCesari's "Buena Vida" was a surprise when it was shown on cable recently. Argentine films are hard to come by, so it was a welcome relief from the mediocrity being shown. Argentina has gone through some rough times lately. Mr. DiCesari places his film among average people who are having a hard time trying to make a living, especially in Buenos Aires, where the story takes place.

Hernan is seen at the beginning of the movie helping his brother and sister in law as they are getting ready for the trip to Spain, where they are relocating. Hernan is left alone in a medium size house in a suburb. He seems to be a messenger delivering things out of a run down agency. One day, at the gas station, he gets to talk to Pato, an attractive woman working the gas pump. Hernan invites Pato to rent the now empty room his brother has vacated.

Pato is a mysterious young woman. She realizes Hernan likes her and she decides to go along in returning his amorous advances. Little prepares Hernan for the surprise that awaits him when he gets home one night. Pato's parents and her young daughter have moved in without a warning. The father, Venancio, an oily character, thanks Hernan, who thinks this is a temporary arrangement.

Well, little does Hernan knows that Pato's parents have come to stay. Dispossession laws in Argentina can take up to two years and they are costly. Venancio and his wife decide to turn the house into a small bakery making snacks that are sold on the streets. Nothing that Hernan does to get rid of the visitors that are occupying the house, until he decides to take matters into his own hands, thus scaring the invaders.

By that time, Moro, who is not able to have any sort of relationship with Hernan, is being pursued by a handsome young man, Jose Luis, a client of the gas station. By this time, Venancio finally understand he has overstayed his welcome. Moro realizes the great opportunity when she discovers that Jose Luis is more affluent than Hernan. In a brilliant scene we witness Venancio, his wife and the young girl appearing at Jose Luis' building. The next scene is brilliant, Venancio is seated at the dinner table thanking Jose Luis with the same speech he used to thank Hernan.

The movie is a metaphor for all what's wrong in the Argentine society. The unemployment after the crisis of the beginning of this century is rampant. People will do whatever they can in order to subsist. Venancio is a leech preying on innocent victims; at the same time, he has great ideas in how to become an entrepreneur that has no problems taking over whatever free space he can get. The sales people employed by Venancio gets are treated roughly by an implacable boss who couldn't care less what his workers excuses are. Venancio is only interested in the bottom line!

Hernan is played by Ignacio Tonelli, who does well as the unsuspecting victim of a wise guy. The attractive Moro Alighieri makes the best out of her portrayal of the devious Pato. It's Venancio though, who is the star of the film. As played brilliantly by Oscar Nunez, Venancio proves to have a knack for getting something for nothing.

Leonardo DiCesari makes an interesting film debut. He shows he is a voice to be reckoned with in the Argentine cinema.

Hernan (Ignacio Toselli) is a standard guy who works delivering with his little motorbike in the middle of the recent Argentinian crisis. His life seems to be boring and sad, now that his family moved to Spain. But he meets a girl, Pato (Moro Alighieri), at a gas station and he falls in love at first sight. She need a place to stay, so he offers to rent one of his rooms for her. After a while, they start a relationship, and Hernan seems to be living a dream. But the dream is about to get short, when he discovers that the girl has some secrets that he can't stand. Everything is going to become awkward when Pato's family moves in with them, and they don't seem to feel guilty about it. The greatest problem is that Hernan is to good to fight for what belongs to him, and in a couple of days, all the world seems to be against him. Pato is enigmatic. She has secrets everywhere, she seems to be too weak to stand all the problems and finds the easiest way. Sometimes she feel bad, but most times we don't know what the hell is doing. The movie has his best moments in the performances of Hernan, Pato and Venancio (Oscar Nuñez), and we get to laugh when Beto (the great Ariel Staltari of Okupas) and Seba (Pablo Ribba) appear. We are going to feel impotence from the beginning till the end, because of the problems that Hernan can't solve. Good acting, great script, marvelous reflex of the crisis in Argentina, where "good people like you (Hernan), we can't find anymore in this harmed country", as Venancio use to say. 7/10

The storyline was a little bit slow, ordinary and I thought predictable. But after 20-30 minutes of watching, started happening something unexpected for the main character. His life turned into nightmare. He thought that his life would be decent and peaceable when he met a girl from delivery service but she made him just troubles. What he was going to do and what happened next was interesting. This is a movie about ordinary people who were just trying to outlive another day in their way of life. The movie may had some flaws in direction and acting but don't worry about it. This movie is good and give it a chance. This is just good life drama with some elements of comedy.

When I read the plot of the movie I thought it had good potential so I gave it a go. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed by it because I found it not funny as I expected it. There are few good scenes like when Hernan finds out about the pastry machines inside his house, used by the parents of his girlfriend to continue their business, who moved in because homeless. The movie is more bitter than sweet, showing the hardship of life and everyday tough situations who many people have to deal with. I must say that it's a good portrait of a country like Argentina, which had a difficult economic problems in its recent past, but besides this I can't find any strengths of the movie.

This film, the first in De Cesare career, remember me on "Brutti, sporchi e cattivi" one of the greatest Scola films. It's a simply history of two young people of a suburban place in Buenos Aires. A simply "boy meets girl" one. But the family of the girl came to town and the plot developed to a "grotesco". The situations are growing to a intense drama and black comedy. De Cesare make the film so transparent, so simply and put his look on characters and relationships. He made it with a naturalist view, and a lot of great actor's works. Ignacio Toselli simplify the work and "Venancio" make me remember to Nino Manfredi in Scola's films. The script by De Cesare and Hans Garrino is simple and perfect at the same time. This film win the 19th Mar del Plata film Festival in Best film and best script.