Crowd-pleasing romcom builds on generic formula, good chemistry between stars
POINTS: 6
Starring Adrián Suar and Valeria Bertuccelli, written by Pablo Solarz and directed by Juan Taratuto, the eloquent Me casé con un boludo (I Married an Idiot, roughly translated) is first and foremost an unapologetic crowd-pleaser, a conventional mainstream romantic comedy that goes for easy laughs and guarantees even easier audience involvement. Suar, Bertuccelli, Solarz and Taratuto previously teamed up in Un novio para mi mujer (2008), which became the most seen film of the year with some 1.4 million viewers.
Unpretentious and somewhat effective, both Me casé con un boludo and Un novio para mi mujer follow a predetermined, generic formula and don’t come up with anything new at all. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
In Me casé con un boludo, Fabián Brando (Suar) is an extroverted, narcissistic film star who’s shooting a movie with Florencia (Bertuccelli), an actress with virtually no experience, and worse, no talent to speak of. So at first their collaboration is rather difficult because of Florencia’s repeated mistakes. Fabián tries to support her and she tries to do her best, and but the results are not good.
However, what you can see almost from the moment they meet is that Fabián is infatuated with Florencia, and while she doesn’t open up to him, the truth is she’s into him too. Day after day and while the film is being shot, Fabián and Florencia fall for each other. Not only that, she also moves in with him. Sooner rather than later, Fabián asks her to marry him. Since she’s so in love, she says yes.
But Fabián and Florencia spend more and more time together and their everyday life begins to lose the spark. At least for her, as she discovers many not-so-nice things about him that turn him into an idiot (hence the title). Since she is no fool, it’s not long before she realizes that she had actually fallen in love with the character Fabián played in life — as opposed to the real Fabián. Of course, we all play out characters in our private and public lives, but Fabián is a consummate actor who just can’t stop acting. What is Florencia to do now that she realizes she sees the character and hardly knows the man?
The first part of the film, its general setup, flows easily as it hinges around reliable stereotypes, building up the story at a good pace, with good comic timing and some insights. Characters are introduced, their goals and motivations are stated, and a sense of time and space is ensured.
Then there’s the second part, in which Fabián’s tricks to get Florencia to love him back, and here romantic comedy gives way to situation comedy, with some amusing scenes. But at the same time you are bound to realize that you’re watching yet another mainstream comedy offering nothing new. And the third act, basically the ending, is the worst part. It feels forced, predictable, and too long.
On the plus side, Bertuccelli does a very good job as Florencia and you will identify with her right away. She has perfect comic timing, very helpful when the gags are not that funny. In fact, the gags are effective and they make people laugh, but they are hardly memorable. Suar is Suar, as usual, and you could say he’s good being that one more time. What works very well is the chemistry between the two leads, and that’s a large part of the film’s success.
Production notes
Me casé con un boludo (Argentina, 2016). Directed by: Juan Taratuto. Written by: Pablo Solarz. With: Adrián Suar, Valeria Bertuccelli. Cinematography: Julián Apezteguia. Running time: 110 minutes.
@PablSuarez
