No te fallaré

Tuna's comments in white:

No te fallaré (2001), or I Won't Let You Down, is based on a popular TV series, kind of a Spanish Beverly Hills 90210, called Compañeros (schoolmates).

It takes place three years after graduation, and the group is still recovering from the emotional damage caused when one of the group jumped off a cliff and missed the water, leaving him severely disabled. The story centers around Valle (Eva Santolaria), who is working as a go-go dancer. Her life gets far too interesting when she kicks a club patron who is fondling her while dancing, and he turns out to be a big Mafia head. She hides with her old sweetheart, Quimi (Antonio Hortelano), but he has a life and a girlfriend, so she ends up with the crooked club owner of the place where she works.

Scoop's notes in yellow:

Tuna hit the nail exactly on the head. If you are Spanish, you know what this is. If you are not, here's the premise:

DVD info from Amazon

full screen
the transfer is excellent for its photographic quality
there is a 20 minute "making of" featurette (in Spanish)

Imagine a Dawson's Creek reunion movie done three years after the show ended, showing all the main characters in brief cameos, but really only focusing on, let's say Dawson and Joey. Imagine that it is done in the style of a nighttime soap opera, throw in some moody lighting and sadistic gangsters, ala Miami Vice, add some breasts, et voila, you'd have an English version of this movie.

Eva Santolaria is attractive, but she's kind of a Spanish Laura Flynn Boyle in training - painfully thin except for a nice chest, beautiful but lacking in warmth.

Skip it. It isn't worth the watch.

The Critics Vote ...

Super-panel consensus: two and a half stars. Ebert 2.5/4, Berardinelli 2.5/4.

General UK consensus: two stars. Mail 4/10, Telegraph 4/10, Independent 4/10, Guardian 2/10, Times 6/10, Sun 5/10, Express 6/10, BBC 3/5

Rotten Tomatoes summary. 77% positive.

Metacritic.com. 64/100

movies.yahoo.com. average grade: B+

movie review query engine. 172 reviews on file

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 5.9/10

Box Office Mojo. It was budgeted at $47 million for production, and the distribution/advertising costs are estimated around $30 million. It did nine million in its first five days, in 2400 theaters. (On the average, the studios get about 55% of box office receipts, the theater owners 45%.)

Miscellaneous ...

Official page

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The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even 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. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). 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. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a D (both reviewers). Unimpressive, lightweight fare, like a nighttime soap opera. In Spanish with English subsitles.