Handsome young widower in Buenos Aires rents a room from his co-worker at the factory--a randy but emotionally-detached bisexual who seduces him. Carefully (i.e., slowly) paced gay-themed drama from Argentina's Marco Berger doesn't have much to say on the subject of otherwise-straight men who find themselves in a homosexual affair (except to note that these feelings are repressed, mostly from shame). The widower, whose daughter attends second grade and lives with his mother, is shown to be dating a pretty girl and lives a banal, utterly ordinary existence. His roommate, who scratches his crotch 'absentmindedly' while standing in the room or uses his hands when he doesn't have to, seems to have more experience in this arena--yet both men spend an awful lot of time peeking at each other from the corners of their eyes or stealing glimpses into each other's bedroom. It's titillating, but not telling. Berger gives us a solemn male couple who don't get many opportunities to reveal much about themselves (neither at their job, where nobody speaks, nor at home). It's a very somber picture with a faraway soundtrack and supporting characters who slip in and out of the narrative without much clarity (coitus interruptus at its most benign). The sexual scenes (when they arrive, after much build-up) are uninhibited and quite passionate, but the characters themselves aren't much to get worked about. **1/2 from ****
Review of The Blonde One
