Amusing , acceptable but average comedy with top-notch actors , and being
middlingly made by the prolific Mariano Ozores . Silly comedy deals with the country man Jenaro (Alfredo Landa) who lives at an Extremadura village along with his mother Doña Balbina (Mari Carmen Prendes) ; then , he wins a fortune in a soccer pool and all young girls want to marry to him . Problems emerge when Jenaro has to leave his small place to go to the big city, Madrid , to get the money . Then the humble Jenaro becomes involved in compulsive buying by booking a five stars great Hotel and to rise his life style . While his friend (Juanjo Menendez) provides him all kinds of amusements and he attempts to take advantage of him . Things go wrong when the villagers (Francisco Pierrá , Valeriano Andres , Mari Carmen Prendes , Laly Soldevilla , Erasmo Pascual) , his mother , the priest , the Mayor , among others , appear at the capital to pay him a visit , creating extreme disorder , chaos and causing confusion at the flat in which Jenaro lives along with three bad-life girls (Maria Luisa San José , Morales , Josele Román) .
The film partially portrays the society of the seventies with the contrast between rustic civilization and urban one , and being full of frivolity , egoism , duplicity , and deceits . It is a nutty Spanish comedy that offers no intellectual stimulus whatsoever , though it has some fun and hilarious moments . Humor is sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty and picaresque situations . This hilarious as well as average film is full of humor , absurd scenes , and narrating the conflict between the traditional Spanish society and modernity . It is a simple , and humorous portrait of a time when the Spanish people live in the developing boom , including the consuming society and ambitious people . Its nostalgic look has some passable moments that reflect a Spain of the sixties and seventies : a poor country in economic developing during the years when the action takes place . It is full of typical Spanish topics , a simple plot and including atmospheric sets . This film is made to entertain , and this movie , especially for a good time and a pleasant entertainment , including bewildering happenings . The flick packs silly incidents , funny comical sketches , tongue-in-cheek , grotesque situations and above all , it especially contains catching touches of humor and irony . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylishly agreeable . There are some nice jokes in the film and the cast , playing eccentric characters , make a cosy fit . This is a fun and funny , though mediocre , Spanish comedy with the great Alfredo Landa as a villager who wins a football pool and he then will find that women who overlooked him are willing to wed him . Alfredo was one of the best and more popular Spanish actors and creator a cinematic subgenre : Landismo. His long career is formed by 110 films for forty years . In his first period through the 60s he starred secondary comical roles in notorious titles as El Verdugo by Berlanga , Ninette y un Señor de Murcia by Fernando Fernan Gomez , and No somos de piedra by Manuel Summers .After the successful No desearas el vecino del quinto by Ramon Fernandez , he performed over 30 comedies in Spanish style : "a la Española" , creating the "Landismo", including titles as Prestamela 15 dias , No desearas la mujer del vecino , Simon contamos contigo , Guapo heredero busca esposa , Dormir ligar todo es empezar , No firmes mas letras cielo , Vente a ligar al Oeste , Jenaro el de los 14 , Manolo La Nuit , Un curita cañon , El reprimido . His third period starts with El puente by JA Bardem , being directed by prestigious filmmakers as Jose Luis Garci in Las verdes praderas , El crack I, El crack II , Cancion de cuna ; Antonio Mercero in La proxima estacion ; Luis Garcia Berlanga in La vaquilla ; Basilio Martin Patino directed him in Los parasos perdidos , Jose Luis Borau in Tata mia and J.L Cuerda in El bosque animado . And standing out important characters in Los Santos Inocentes by Mario Camus , Don Quijote TV series and El Rey del rio by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon . Alfredo Landa is well accompanied by a great support cast . This ¨Jenaro el de los 14¨displays a very good secondary casting giving acceptable interpretations , such as : Josele Román ,Mari Carmen Prendes , Alfonso Del Real , Manuel Alexandre , Mirta Miller , Erasmo Pascual , Valeriano Andrés , Guadalupe Muñoz Sampedro , Mariano Ozores , Joaquin Roa , Victor Israel , Rafael Hernández , Juanjo Menéndez , Florinda Chico , Jaime De Mora y Aragon, Laly Soldevila , Fabian Conde , Ricardo Tundidor , Ricardo Merino and special appearance by presenter Jose Maria Iñigo .
¨Jenaro el de los 14¨ is a passable picture with some amusing moments , being professional but middlingly by Mariano Ozores in his usual style , getting big success in the Spanish box office and he made several flicks in similar wake . Mariano's family origin is into show business , being son of Mariano Ozores Sr and brother of José Luis Ozores and Antonio Ozores . Furthermore , uncle of Emma Ozores and Adriana Ozores who here appears briefly as a host woman . Mariano is a craftsman filmmaker and writer , in fact he wrote the fun screenplay , he recently won a Goya Award (2016) to his long and fruitful career . The latter made with these two famous comedians , -Fernando Esteso and Andres Pajares- several films , as they had various years partnership between the two leads , such as ¨Agitese Antes Usarla¨ , ¨Al Este Del Oeste¨, ¨Los Liantes¨, ¨Los Energeticos¨, ¨La Lola Lleva Al Huerto¨ , ¨El Currante¨ , ¨El Hijo Del Cura¨...these films are filled with humor that still holds up , especially for those not easily offended ; being sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty and picaresque situations such as sex jokes , adulteries , crazy events , nudism , absurd situations , jealousy , and erotic scenes . Plus , they partially reflected the mood and the reality of Spain in the immediate Post-Franco era , dealing with politic juncture about the post-Franquismo in similar style to other films from this period . Ozores has a prolific career , as writer and as director , especially in comedy genre such as : Disparate Nacional , Tahiti's Girl , Brujas Magicas , Los Presuntos , Cuatro Mujeres Y Un Lío , Tío ¿De Verdad Vienen De París? , Alcalde Por Elección , Ellas Los Prefieren... Locas , El Apolítico , Jenaro El De Los 14 , Manolo La Nuit , El Abuelo Tiene plan , La Llamaban La Madrina , La Graduada , Venta Por Pisos and many others . Being his ordinary actors , the followings : Alfredo Landa , Lina Morgan , Paco Martínez Soria , Antonio Ozores , Jose Luis Ozores , Juanito Navarro . Rating : 5.5/10 .
