Clandestinos

Thriller? Drama? No way! This is a quirky, totally unbelievable but totally charming little romantic comedy about an extremely dumb, naive but earnest gay kid who wants to impress his middle-aged terrorist ex-lover by blowing up a flagpole in Madrid, but he gets just about everything wrong.

If you watch this expecting a thriller, you'll be badly disappointed. If you take it seriously AT ALL, you'll be badly disappointed, especially at the end. But if you let Israel Rodriguez's devastatingly sexy and sweet and clueless Xavi get under your skin and work his magic on your imagination you'll have as good a time watching this delightful little movie as I did.

I had seen Rodriguez before only in a short called Doors Cut Down, when he was about 17; it was okay, but not great. Man, has he aged well! The long hair is incendiary, and he's turned from a cute, skinny kid into one of the sexiest men on earth. On top of that, he's smart and he's a great actor. Where are the American actors like him? Answer: There aren't any.