Desafinado

It is the story of three operatic tenors who performed all over the world together, until a disastrous performance in Mexico City, where they split for good. Now, they are getting together at the French Villa for the wedding of one of the three to the daughter of another. To further complicate things, the bride's (Ariadna Gil) mother is married to the third trio member now. The father of the bride, who has fallen on hard times, hires a hooker to accompany him, and help with his plot to reunite the trio as performers. The groom-to-be has a son, who isn't really his, and who secretly has the hots for Gil.

The entire film takes place at the French villa amid preparations for the wedding, and revelations about who has slept with whom and when. The cast includes Americans Danny Aiello, George Hamilton and Joe Mantegna as the three tenors. The film was simply not my kind of humor, and I often like romantic comedies. I was relieved to see the ending credits roll.

not available in region 1

Scoop's notes: this is the same director who did Why Do They Say Love When They Mean Sex?, a truly twisted comedy which I liked - probably the world's raunchiest chick-flick, and Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health, a mainstream estrogen comedy which is rated 7.9 by female voters at IMDb.

The Critics Vote

no English reviews online

nominated for the Goya for Best Costume Design

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 4.5/10

with their dollars: it has not been released in the US as yet, having screened theatrically in Spain and Italy.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, I can't give this more than a C-. Technically, it was fine, but the script didn't provide enough material to make a comedy.