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9/29/2024

I'm So Excited!/Los Amantes Pasajeros (2013) - Almodóvar flees with unfavorable comedy

 

A colorful, simply animated poster for Pedro Almodóvar's I'm So Excited! that spells fun and debauchery

A flight with a series of colorful characters on it and a crew that work on a mix of sleeping pills, tequila and drugs takes off but experiences problems in the air and has to embark on a risky emergency landing.

 

I'm So Excited! is written and directed by Spanish master filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Folle... Folle... Fólleme Tim! (1978)) whose 20th feature it is. The original Spanish title translates to 'the fleeting lovers' or 'the passenger lovers'.

Almodóvar, who at this late point in his career had turned more permanently towards drama, it seemed, here presents a tequila-chucking, (the amounts one of the characters drinks is just ridiculous), lip-sync-dancing round of light doodling mid-air, as if the master attempts to transport himself back in time, back to his wacky, drug-enamored, anarchistic early pictures. The attempt is pathetic and unfunny.

It is neither risque, sexy nor fun that the stewards drink like louts, do drugs or are vulgar in today's world. At least it isn't in this film. I'm So Excited!, with its light-hearted tone, is up against a time that is not light-hearted anymore, and it loses. But it is also a horny picture, a trait that deserves salute, although this generally is a failed recess for Almodóvar.

 

Related posts:

Pedro Almodóvar:
2019 in films - according to Film Excess  

Pain and Glory/Dolor y Gloria (2019) - Almodóvar's 8½ 
The Skin I Live In/La Piel que Habito (2011) or, Almodóvar's Extreme Make-Over
Broken Embraces/Los Abrazos Rotos (2009) or, Mysteries in Love and Life

Talk to Her/Hable con Ella (2002) - Almodóvar's beautiful coma love drama 
Live Flesh/Carne Trémula (1997) or, A Spanish Fix

The Flower of My Secret/La Flor de Mi Secreto (1995) - Paredes star turn in charming Almodóvar work 

High Heels/Tacones Lejanos (1991) - Superficially worthwhile Almodóvar crime melodrama 
Labyrinth of Passion/Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) - Sexual mix-ups in screwball Madrileña style 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. €, approximately 5.58 mil. $

Box office: 21.2 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.79 times its cost)

[I'm So Excited! was released 8 March (Spain) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 2012 in Spain, including in Madrid. The film opened #33 to a 97k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #32 and in 99 theaters (different weeks), grossing 1.3 mil. $ (6.1 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were Spain with 6.5 mil. $ (30.7 %), France with 3.7 mil. $ (17.5 %) and Italy with 2.4 mil. $ (11.3 %). The film was nominated for 2 European Film awards, among other honors. Almodóvar returned with Julieta (2016). Javier Cámara (Madrid, int. (2020)) returned in Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed/Vivir Es Fácil con los Ojos Cerrados (2013); Pepa Charro (Mai Neva a Ciutat (2019, TV-series)) in Esposados (2013, TV-series) and theatrically in Presentimientos (2013). I'm So Excited! is rotten at 48 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


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