La familia perfecta

Belén Rueda plays Lucía, a middle-aged, upper-class woman who believes she leads a model life and has a perfect family, with a wealthy husband (Gonzalo de Castro) and an obedient, lawyer son (Alfonso Ramos). But everything falls apart when she meets her son's girlfriend (Carolina Yuste) and her family, leaving her to question what a perfect family really is. When she meets her potential future relatives, a lower-class family, her world changes, since they are not at all what she imagined for him. Things take a turn for the worse when she has a romantic encounter with the girlfriend's father, Miguel (José Coronado).

The second feature film by director Arantxa Echevarria after the multi-awarded "Carmen y Lola", which also stars Carolina Yuste. A star-studded cast led by Belén Rueda, José Coronado and Gonzalo de Castro in a story with brief dramatic touches, full of entaglements, plot twists, misunderstandings, snobs, 'chonis', and a slap in the face of personal, family and social reality. The main starring is Belén Rueda , who gives a decent acting as the perfectionist, narcissistic and domineering mother who hides, beneath her haughty facade, a deep insecurity. Belén continues to prove herself one of the best actresses in Spain, with each film she appears in -although somewhat older, already in her sixties- , but she is capable of displaying great versatility, knowing how to give each role her innate elegance and utmost talent. Belén is an expert actress in mystery and horror movies, although she has not ruled out other genres, such as comedy, as demonstrates in this one "The perfect family". She has starred in blockbuster films such as: "Los ojos de Julia (Julia's eyes)", "El Orfanato ( The orphanage), "Durante la tormenta", "El Pacto (The pacto), "El cuaderno de Sara (Sarah's notebook)", "Órbita 9", "No Dormirás", "The Body (The body)" or recent, "Caída Libre (Free fall)". The movie also features performances by Gonzalo Ramos, Pepa Arniote, and, of course, Carolina Yuste, recent Goya winner for her acting in "La infiltrada".

The motion picture was professionally directed by Arantxa Echevarria, although it has some falls in rhythm, and the comic situations that arise are hampared by being too artificial, lacking spontaneity. Arantxa has also directed "Carmen y Lola", "Chinas", "Politically incorrect" and the multi-Goya winning film "La infiltrada", alongside her favorite actress Carolina Yuste. Score: 5,5/10. Acceptable and passable movie, recommeded for fans of Belén Rueda, José Coronado and Carolina Yuste.

Movie builds on a time tested idea of two worlds colliding, where people from different backgrounds start to date and their respective families are very different. It was done with race, religion, culture and of course class.

So here we have a man from a well-off family dating a woman from working class. Prim and proper vs rough around the edges and no filter.

Entire thing is mostly predictable in the first half, but then movie takes a turn and moves away from goofy comedy into more "finding yourself" territory as parents start to interact and their outlooks start to rub on each other.

Some people would see that as false advertising and not what they wanted, but I think it's kind of neat as jokes based on initial premise start to wear a bit thin.

Good enough movie to kill an evening and then quickly forget about.

Which some may call ... not perfect actually. Having said that, there is a lot of comedy and a lot of actors I have seen in other stuff. So this spanish movie really got a few things going for itself. It has some high points when it comes to dialog and it has an almost ridiculous family dinner scene towards the end - but it all is told and edited in a neat and good way.

The movie, like the relationships of those involved, is anything but perfect. But that is not a bad thing and not something to be too mad about. This is decent family entertainment with a few high points and a lot of drama. Almost as much as there is comedy actually - sometimes the mixture of both is not the best it could be ...

When the film begins, it seems that it is a comedy about a mother trying to ruin her son's relationship because she didn't like his girlfriend.

The son of a wealthy family falls in love with a girl that lives in a not so good neighborhood. When the son asks his parents to meet his girlfriend and her famiy, the parents realize that the girl isn't what they wish for their beloved son.

But.... the movie is so much more (!!!) than a mother-in-law fighting daughter-in-law parody.

Actually, the movie is not at all about the relationship of the son, rather than the discovery of the inner feelings of the people surrounding the couple, especially the mother.

It is a touching and emotional comedy with funny moments. Definitely worth watching.

Sweet production. Good actors. Many good ideas. But 1 hour 45 minutes is a bit too short for all the interesting storylines and all these good actors. I really would have watched like 12 episodes of this.