With a prestigious job and a loving family, Emilio (José Coronado) has the kind of life someone would kill for. But beneath it all is a horrible lie. Emilio's wife, Ágata (Adriana Ozores), becomes suspicious when Emilio picks up a guest pass to enter the Bank of Spain -- where, ostensibly, he works as an economist. But the house of cards starts crashing down when Emilio meets a needy college student, Rosana (Marta Etura), and begins an affair that proves disastrous.
Reviews
IMDb 6.9/10 ROTTENTOMATOES 3.8/5 A man's life, who is not what he appears to be, is about to change.I was very surprised when I watched the movie, because the viewer develops such strong and contradictory feelings for the main character while you witnessing his actions in disbelief.Tension is well build and the story is well told. Performances are good.The pace is slow at the beginning but it increases along with the suspense.Based on a true story.
It kept me on the edge of my seat. True, the story has a few plot holes, but the sheer tension of it, the way the director just keeps challenging the premise is simply fascinating.José Coronado and Adriana Ozores are two of Spain's best actors (see La vida mancha and Héctor) and here they appear as a happy upper-middle class couple. Beneath it all, the truth is that all of Coronado's life is a lie. He's not an economist, never went to college or does not work in Spain's Central Bank Reserve, as everybody else believes. We get a few insights as to how he kept up appearances or manage to do it, and while not very plausible it is still somehow believable.The inner-workings of the scam are shown intermittently, but it is credible because Coronado is a source of self-assurance and assertiveness. He not only believes in the scam, he also believes in the film premise, and therefore he carries it.Sure, it tests belief that a wife would not know the inner workings of a marriage's finances for almost 10 years, but again, since he's supposedly a brilliant economist.It has been said, in a nationalistic tone, that the movie is not "distinctively Spanish", as if that were a litmus test for good film. True, no castanets or odd cabbies in this one, just a taut thriller. You'll want to know how this story ends once you start watching.
I enjoyed the suspense, but I felt the movie to be rather clinical and Hollywood in style. It could have been set anywhere. There is nothing in the movie that gives me that 'made in Spain' sort of movie appeal, such as Almodovar movies do.
I just watched this movie at the Santo Domingo International Film Festival. While watching the movie I had the feeling that I have seen a movie with a similar story before...a movie with Ray Liotta but I can't remember much of it. Of course, this one is a lot more dramatic, especially at the end.This is the story: Emilio's life becomes a lie that he can not longer sustain. After 20 years lying about his entire life to his wife, son and all the people he knows, the truth is chasing him and there is nowhere to go. Watching Emilio make up lies is exiting and funny but after a while you get tired of the same thing...the affair with a young girl was supposed to ad something but it doesn't. Despite that the movie is still funny, exiting and involving. Either it makes you want to help Emilio with his lies or help everybody else catch him. I liked the analogies, photography and the good performances.7.5 out of 10.
