Racy romantic farce meets pop musical in Spain’s box-office
smash The Other Side of the Bed (El otro lado de la
cama), an effervescent comedy set in modern Madrid. The film
follows the intertwining and increasingly complicated love lives
of two couples, who give voice to their roiling emotions in spontaneous
bursts of song and dance. Award-winning filmmaker Emilio Martínez-Lázaro
(What Max Said, His Master’s Voice) directs a delicious
cast of acclaimed young performers, including Paz Vega (Talk
To Her, Sex and Lucia), Natalia Verbeke (Jump Tomorrow,
dot the i), Ernesto Alterio (Deseo aka Beyond Desire)
and Guillermo Toledo (Intacto), Alberto San Juan (Insomnio)
and María Esteve (Nada en la nevera aka Nothing in the
Fridge).
The Other Side of the Bed was one of Spain’s top-grossing
movies of 2002 and a great critical success. It received six 2002
Goya Award nominations (the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Award),
including Film and Best Director, as well as acting nods for Toledo,
San Juan and Esteve. The film also won three awards at the Festival
de Malaga Cine Español, including Best Picture, Best Director
and Audience Favourite.
In a small Madrid café, Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) tries to
convince his girlfriend Paula (Natalia) that her desire to leave
him is just a phase. Paula is apologetic, but there is no going
back: she has fallen in love with someone else. Stunned and despondent,
Pedro seeks comfort from his friends, Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and
his girlfriend Sonia (Paz Vega).
What Pedro doesn’t know is that Paula’s new man is
none other than Javier, his best buddy and tennis partner. Javier
promises Paula that he will soon tell Sonia the truth, but his resolve
quickly crumbles. Torn between two beautiful, vibrant women and
his oldest friend, Javier scrambles to maintain the status quo through
an escalating series of lies and ruses.
Days pass, and Pedro’s heart is far from healed. His buddies,
including Javier and the skirt-chasing Rafa (Alberto San Juan),
counsel him to forget Paula, but to no avail. Determined to learn
the identity of his rival, Pedro enlists the professional services
of Sagaz (Ramón Barea) a crackpot private eye who nurtures
some of the strangest conspiracy theories east of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, Javier tries to distract Pedro by fixing him up with
Pilar (María Esteve), a nonstop talker and obsessive romantic.
While Javier sneaks off with Paula for a romantic weekend, Pedro
enlists Sonia’s help in eluding the smitten Pilar. As Sonia
reassures the depressed Pedro about his desirability, her sympathy
evolves into attraction. The game of musical beds is about to get
even more complicated...
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