6/10
A nostalgic and attractive comedy with a splendidly veteran all-star-cast
15 September 2022
Comedy about five pensioners (Fernando Fernán Gómez , Tomás Zori, Alfonso del Real , Manuel Alexandre and Luis Escobar, one of the elderly at the nursing home, who died a bit later on) in a residence that take on the sponsorship of the soccer team in the neighbouring orphanage . Later on , another sad old man appears , he's retired Don Anselmo (José Luis López Vázquez) , saddened by the abandonment of his family, relunctly entering at the nursing home. His companions, far from being inactive old men, belong to a soccer team that results to be imaginary. That is because each old man identifies with one of the boys and lives as his own the plays , goals and fouls that occur on the field of play. When the ex-policeman Anselmo arrives , at the beginning he is reluctant to join the group but subsequently he makes friends . Then the disconcerting group of unlucky people carry out a heist to get money that allows them to buy the kids everything they need to continue feeding their dreams and resulting in unexpected consequences . Meanwhile , they are harassed and pursued by a demanding nun (Maria Asquerino) .

A good feeling and charming comedy with brief dramatic elements concerning a beloved group of characters , as a band of unfortunate elderly underdogs planning a bank robbery that goes awry . The motley group of bungling old people join and all of them decide to rob a Madrid bank . This agreeable picture made in similar style to classic ¨José Maria Forqué's Atraco a las Tres¨ , resulting to be a likable and fun parody about bank robbery sub-genre with offbeat as well as likable characterizations. There are some nice jokes in the film and the excellent cast , playing eccentric characters , make a cosy fit . It takes a simple concept , a peculiar group of elderly men who with good intentions , attempting a bank robbery , being schemed , planned and proceeded by botcher people and in the wake of Italian/Spanish vintage films . This is a comical and sometimes non-sense account of a team of pensioners from a philantropic and personal perspective , because needing all of them , urgently, amount of money to resolve problems of their children's soccer team . This film packs good-natured roles , sympathetic situations , craziness , enjoyable friendship , comradeship ; but it especially contains catching touches of humor and irony . Fernando Fernando Fernán Gómez directs and co-writes -along with José Truchado- the script for this sweet comedy-drama starring great names of Spanish comedy from several generations including the following star-studded cast : José Luis López Vázquez , Fernando Fernán Gómez ,Tomás Zori, Alfonso del Real, Manuel Alexandre, María Asquerino as a bossy nun , furthermore short appearances from Eulalia Ramon, Tina Sáinz, Antonio Gamero, Juan José Otegui , Jose Maria Escuer , Lola Lemos , Alberto Fernández , Gabino Diego . And Actor Luis Escobar, who plays don Alfonso died in January 1991, eight months before the film was released, the reason for the final credits there's a dedication in memory of him.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez , though it has some flaws , gaps and shortcomings. It had some prizes and nominations : Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 1991 Winner CEC Award Best Screenplay, Original Fernando Fernán Gómez José Truchado ; Fotogramas de Plata 1992 Nominee Plata Best Movie Actor Gabino Diego. Prestigious writer/director/actor Fernán Gómez appeared in more than 200 films , directed another 20 and wrote novels , plays and poetry . He was a member of the Spanish Royal Academy and one of the best actors in the film history . Along with Icíar Bollaín , he's the only person to have been nominated as performer (El Abuelo (1998), director (El Viaje a Ninguna Parte (1986) and writer (Lázaro De Tormes (2001) for three different movies at the Goya awards . He actually won in every category at least once . This prolific and important actor also directed a few films , such as : ¨Lazaro De Tormes¨ , ¨Fuera De Juego ¨, ¨Mambrú Se Fue a La Guerra¨ , ¨5 Tenedores¨ , ¨5.000 Dias Juntos¨ , ¨Ninette¨ , ¨Venganza De Don Mendo¨ , ¨El Extraño Viaje¨ that is today deemed a real ¨Cult Movie¨ and , of course , his greatest success ¨Viaje a Ninguna Parte¨ .
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