Chilean filmmaker Che Sandoval’s new film, Soy mucho mejor que vos, concerns the midlife crisis of Cristóbal (Sebastián Brahm) a 40-something two-bit entrepreneur and family man whose wife has won an important scholarship to study in Spain and decides to accept it, with or without him as a companion.
You can infer their marriage was already sinking before this, but nonetheless it does get worse now because Cristóbal can’t take so much success on her part, so he never shows up at the airport to grant permission for the kids to go overseas.
Anyway, his wife boards the plane and leaves the children. So over the course of one long night, Cristóbal thinks he can make her pay for “abandoning him” by sleeping with as many women as possible. He now sees himself as a macho man and a womanizer, but in fact he’s nothing but a loser. Likewise, Soy mucho mejor que vos sees itself as a biting, mordant dramatic comedy (with more light drama than good comedy) but in fact it’s nothing but an exposé of commonplace and stereotypes (and not in a good, playful way).
Granted, a few scenes do work out because of the colloquial text and its authentic musicality; there’s also an imprint of realism because some performances are seemingly unrehearsed. And there’s a certain nerve-wracking rhythm in the film that gives it an electric pulse. But leaving aside some partial assets, Soy mucho mejor que vos as a whole is neither gripping nor convincing.
Perhaps because the lead character is so overacted by Sebastián Brahm, or perhaps because he’s so obnoxiously stereotyped, it’s quite hard to relate to what happens to him at all.
For that matter, the rest of the characters (his son, an occasional girl, a group of street punks) fall into the same category: entities solely designed to utter lines with no genuine presence of their own. So no wonder everything becomes so repetitive and automatic.
And, of course, there’s a contrived subplot involving father and son, that is, hopeless and lost father seeking to make contact with angry and neglected son who, nonetheless, loves him dearly. Like you haven’t seen all this before. And in much better shape.
Production notes
Soy mucho mejor que vos (Chile, 2013). Written and directed by: Ché Sandoval. With: Sebastián Brahm, Nicolás Alaluf, Catalina Zarhi, Antonella Costa. Cinematography: Eduardo Bunster. Sound: Gonzalo Ulloa. Music: Miranda / Tobar. Editing: Manuela Piña / Andrea Chignoli. Produced by Caleidoscopio and Don Quijote Films. Distributed by: Tren. NC13. Running time: 88 minutes. Limited release: BAMA - Arte Multiplex.
