Vera (Macarena Sanz), Juan (Vito Sainz), are a married young couple with their time left on the clock, and along with their daughter Manuela (Aia Pérez) travel to Mallorca to spend a few days at an idyllic house facing the sea owned by Alonso (Jorge Sanz). The latter is a former work colleague of Juan who, after a sad event that happened, made him change the way he saw the world. Alonso, who after losing his wife has decided to retire, is assigned the role of judge to help them establish a fair agreement to avoid going to court and so they can emerge unscathed from the separation. This house will witness four days of Holy Week in which the couple will try to convince Alonso to help them in this delicate situation. Then, Alfonso becomes a kind and conciliatory judge, he seems to be the perfect candidate to solve their problems. This novelty, added to the difficulties of life as a couple, causes Alonso to have doubts and a little of vital anguish. Will he be responsible enough to be an independent judge?
This attractive but uneven comedy/drama (Dramedy) packs emotion , humor, simple incidents, interesting dialogues and entertainment. The film deals with thoughtful issues, the doubts of the married life, the need for understanding between the couple, guilt, forgetfulness, among others. An attempt with more heart than desire, in which the script full of conversations that aim to highlight how difficult and tumultuous a separation can be for a person feels as empty as it is apathetic. This is a marvelous ode to couple relationships with plenty of thorny elections, innocence , friendship, curiosity, comradeship among friends and family love. A film that aims to highlight the complexity of the human condition, distancing the protagonists of this dramatic comedy from archetypes and simplistic structures. The film displays human values through a couple's minds and their relation to a lonely man with a dark secret, who unexpectedly turned into a judge. Resulting to be a fun story dealing with the complexity of love and the setbacks in couple relationships. The film has only four characters and in it a divorce is at stake. Vito Sainz (¨Volvereis¨) and Macarena Sanz (¨Dejate ver¨) play the visiting couple well and they competently fitting to their roles. Jorge Sanz is pretty good as the loner man, and, Juan's former co-worker, who decides to lead a hermit's life in a small coastal house on the Mallorcan coast. Through the character Alonso, The Good Man, Trueba makes us reflec on topics, such as the idea of love, the blows in life, personal guilt and the possibility of redemption.
There're also sensitive songs , such as ¨Veles e vents¨based on an Ausias March poem, lyrics by Ausiàs March & music by Ramon Pelegero Sanchís, performed by Raimon and "Recuerdos" (1991) taken from the film "Amo tu cama rica" composed and performed by Michel Camilo. It also highlights the colorful cinematography by cameraman Ignacio Gabasa, although the wonderful landscapes of the island of Mallorca should have been used more, since only the Mallorcan house, sea, mountains and the cliffs around it are shown. The motion picture was well directed by David Trueba. Trueba shows some shots from Buster Keaton films, paying tribute to him, and especially to the movie: "The General". ¨El Hombre Bueno¨ was nominated Best Spanish Film, Golden Biznaga in Málaga Festival. After the success with the public and critics of "Saben Aquell", David Trueba returns to minimalist and "low budget" cinema with El hombre bueno. David Trueba was born (1969) in Madrid, location in which he often shoots his films. Married to Ariadna Gil , though nowadays separated and he is younger brother of Fernando Trueba and brother-in-law of Cristina Huete who along with Andres Vicente Gomez produced him a lot of films . David is a nice writer , such as : ¨The girl of your eyes¨ and ¨Perdita Durango¨ (1997). Known for comedies such as ¨The good life¨ , ¨Masterpiece¨ , ¨Madrid 1987¨ , ¨Welcome home¨ and , of course , his greatest hit : "Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed" in which Goyas landed in the laps of director David Trueba , as he film won best picture, director, screenplay, actor, new actor, and soundtrack . Rating ¨El Hombre Bueno¨: Better than average , 6.5/10 . Well worth watching The film will appeal to Jorge Sanz fans.
