I think we might finally be getting somewhere, in terms of genre cinema. Last year, Mariano Mucci directed "Motivos para no enamorarse" after a screenplay won a contest nationwide. The film was produced by Daniel Burman and Diego Dubcovsky, and now the contest and the formula are repeated with "Música en espera". It's a different writer, Julieta Steinberg and Patricio Vega (a team); and a different director, Hernán Golfrid.
As an assistant director for Damián Szifrón, Golfrid must have picked up some important things that we can clearly see in his first piece. The script, not his, contains one of the most original ideas to come around in any genre of our cinema in years: Ezequiel (Diego Peretti), a musician writing the score of a film is in desperate need of inspiration, and unexpectedly finds a tune in the ringtone of the intern of Paula (Natalia Oreiro), a bank sub manager. He looks for her so he can listen to the tune again, and, you watch how, he ends up simulating he is her boyfriend. Oh, and Paula is pregnant; and her mother (Norma Aleandro) comes suddenly from Spain to visit.
It's not too much because the script takes the time to develop every situation and nothing feels rushed in Golfrid's hands. Inheriting the view that Szifrón brought to Argentine film and television, the director puts attention in the eccentricities of some of the characters; particularly in Paula's boss, the elements he collects; and two security guards that work at the bank and provide tenderly funny moments.
The team of "Música en espera", as in "Motivos para no enamorarse", means no harm and has no profound esthetic intentions or search whatsoever. Golfrid is clearly interested in telling a story that will generate something in the viewer. As the 'crowdpleaser' it naturally is, the film is better than 'Motivos' because it's less cheesy and dramatic; and because it works more cinematographically in terms of references (we can see a lot of Szifrón in this aspect, and in the use of dramatic entrances from characters accentuated with music; even some images resemble "Tiempo de Valientes") and sound mixing -a scene of musical recreation near the ending is simply brilliant -it's also better than "Un novio para mi mujer".
But not so much. It's not so funny and it lacks that capacity that a great actress like Valeria Bertucelli has to deliver one hilarious line after another. However, this could be discussed, because "Música en espera" is more about the story; more about welcoming something new and unexpected, something natural. Golfrid makes sure that the two main players understand this. Not great performers, but great at what their do, Diego Peretti and Natalia Oreiro (can she be more beautiful?), play the cards with pure human emotion and surprise. A moment in which Paula simply says "come" to Ezequiel, is a beautiful moment; a splash of the best American romantic comedy (one more time, Szifrón). On the supporting department, Norma Aleandro is a little bit overacted, and so is theater director Rafael Spregelburd; but believe me, the contrast functions perfectly.
It's a shame that, unlike 'Un novio
", the movie provides an ending with certainty after all the uncertainty that had signed the difference. But as the say, no one's perfect.
