Oct. 26, 2022: Official Competition

Wednesday, October 26, 2022
7 pm @ Galaxy Cinemas, Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat
Spain/Argentina 2021
Spanish; 115 minutes
Rated: R for language and some nudity

When a pharmaceutical tycoon decides to finance a great work of cinema, he buys the rights to a Nobel Prize-winning novel and hires Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) as director. She casts two stars who couldn’t be less alike: Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez), a legend of the stage with high ideals, and Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), a global star consumed by his own celebrity. Awash in egomania and absurd hijinks, Official Competition is an ingenious satire of Hollywood.

An uproarious comedy that’s also deliciously well-performed… this Spanish-language gem cleverly gets away with being both roast session and sneaky celebration at once. Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph (UK)

[Cruz] has rarely been stronger on screen, as an idiosyncratic martinet who nonetheless finds moments of genius and tenderness between her leading men. A blast. Kevin Maher, Times (UK)

This movie-making industry satire is witty, intelligent and saved from potentially unbearable navel-gazing by the warmth, talent and sheer charismatic chemistry of Cruz and Banderas. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro.co.uk