Canallas

A far-stretched comedic story line that is entertaining even if a bit uneven, filled with characters whose each individual act comes across as improbable yet their overall conduct feels authentic. If you were blessed or cursed with people like these running their orbit near yours, you will find depth in this story - if not you should see it as an educational piece.

I gave it 6 stars, plus a bonus for the lead actor who is especially authentic and engaging: no wonder, he plays himself (meaning he is not a professional actor, but a professional con man - that twist almost propelled me to 8 stars, but I reserve that for true art which this movie falls a bit short of)

Fun comedy with touches of irreverence and full of entertainment, ¨Cañi¨ humor and sheer amusement . Urban comedy of rogues that began with a meeting between old crooks who resume their forays from their adolescence (Gerard Torres, Darío Loureiro , Miguel Herrán) to devise strategies to live without working . Joaquín (Joaquín González), Brujo (Daniel Guzmán) and Luismi (Luis Tosar) , three neighborhood slackers, reunite after twenty years. Brujo and Luismi are still out of work, each with a side hustle here and there, whereas Joaquín has become an important and well-known businessman. At least that´s what he thinks. Joaquin actually lives in apartment 9B, above his reality . At forty-seven, Joaquin is still living in the Orcasitas neighborhood with his mother, Esther, his yo-yo champion daughter, Brenda, and his younger brother Chema, a Wing Chun master. Joaquín González beset by debts, wants to live off his alleged businesses but still lives at his retired mother's house with his brother and daughter. One day he meets two friends from his youth, Brujo and Luismi , who propose a business agreement that ends badly and leads to dangerous contacts with Bulgarian gangsters and various scammers. Having the poor wretch person subjected to his vital "bad luck" in different contexts, both family or criminal.

This action comedy contains lots of humor , messes and amusement . The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable, with more traps the viewer resists any kind, and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . The journey of the protagonists is so repetitive and the most part results to be rich in absurdities and implausibilities . Daniel Guzmán seeks the peculiarity in characters with comical situations of "everything goes wrong" , resulting to be a street comedy and politically incorrect . Sympathetic performance from Joaquín González, the non-actor who plays Joaquín González himself , is, apparently, like his character appears here, a guy certainly endowed with a probably involuntary comedy, with many airs of grandeur but mostly with no effectivity . About that operetta role , a really unhappy man who connects with the tradition of the rogues of the Golden Age , one could speak of Lazarillo of Tormes or the Quevedo's Buscón Don Pablos , two of the most unfortunate of those scoundrels , as director Guzmán mounts his crazy film, trusting him all in the supposed comedy of the character, who is in turn the same person, adding a lot of craziness , silliness and doses of fiction. The film is inspired in Joaquin González himself, Daniel Guzmán's good friend from forty years ago , a man who tells he's a successful entrepreneur but he lives all day long at her mother's house , while attempting to do fake busines . And joining professional actors : Luis Tosat , Zahera, Villagrán ,or Miguel Herrán along with non-professional as the own Joaquin Gonzáles and his real family : his mother Esther , his brother Chema and his daughter Brenda , accordirnf to director Guzmán , this particularity gives to the film a certain authenticity and conexion to ordinary public. In the case of the non-sense humor, this does not transcend well , ending up being rather tedious, following the tricks of these three brainless, plus the love story of Joaquín's old mother and the old man doesn't work . The story presumed a socioeconomic contrast in the evolution of the three main characters, but what it does progress is to resume the youthful adventures of the trio with the purpose of deceiving the staff and using others for their own enjoyment. The plot is very irregular , as director Daniel Guzmán trying to look for the trail of Luis Garcia Berlanga and Rafael Azcona , although he ends up looking more like a nonsensical comedy with several goofy roles, relying heavily on the character of Joaquin González who results to be very tiring and piffling . The film takes from the Spanish comic tradition of the picaresque entanglement and the grotesque in the vein of "Pedro Lazaga's Los Tramposos" or ¨Antonio del Real's Trileros¨ (2003) with traces of the absurd , satire and caricature ; however , falling in Mariano Ozores or a film by Pajares and Esteso style crossed with Javier Fesser . Adding a certain social look, because of the family of humble extraction and the three fools looking for a big score to get hits in their lives, but it seems , at times, that this social tone is more accesory than a premeditated message or intentionality. Interpretations are decent with a nice starring trio such as : Joaquín González , Luis Tosar , Daniel Guzmán , accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Miguel Herrán, Carlos Olalla , Luis Zahera, Juan Carlos Vellido and Julián Villagrán.

It displays colorful cinematography by Ibon Antuñano , as well as lively musical score by Alfred Tapscott. The motion picture was regular y professionally written/directed by actor/writer/filmmaker Daniel Guzmán . Daniel Guzmán was born in 1973 , Madrid, location where he often shoots his flicks and shorts . Daniel began working in cinema in the 90s as a secondary actor , filming shorts and writing screenplays , being his big hit ¨A cambio de nada¨ (2015) . He is a nice writer and director, but especially actor , known for ¨A Golpes¨, ¨Mia Sarah¨, ¨Rewind¨ , ¨El Grito En El Cielo¨ , ¨Extasis¨, ¨Eso¨ , but usually working for TV : ¨Velvet¨, ¨La Familia Mata¨, ¨Aquí no Hay Quien Viva¨, ¨London Street¨ , ¨Policias¨, ¨Severo Ochoa¨, among others . Rating : 5/10 . Average.