I (was) so excited...

So, here I am: piña colada in one hand, crisp and dry in the other - yes, I have arrived at the Festival de Cannes...I may, of course, be following it from the Cote de tosseur (or Bournemouth as it is known in more worldly circles) but still - at least I won't risk running into Brigitte Bardot (who gives children nightmares...)

The main gossip so far (courtesy of Guardian Film - no, not a partner of film/beef/hash#...) is that Baz Lurmann's Gatsby is shite. I could have saved them the Ryanair fare - Carey Mulligan??!! PUR-LEASE!! The trailer alone reduces one of the most fascinating pieces of 20th Century literature to an, admittedly epic, fancy-dress car park rave. I have, of course, yet to see it but to be honest, it's not one I'll run to see. 

Whilst on the subject of disappointments, I went to see 'I'm so excited' last week. It would be fairer to surmise that I was so excited...

I'm a massive Almodovar fan, particularly of his earlier films which are tremendous, pant-wet tingly hilarious affairs with a nice dollop of black humour for good measure. I know they don't appeal to everyone...but to those people I reply - what's not to like? Great dialogue, some of Spain's greatest acting talent, incredible detail and a fantastic eye for colour. He's not afraid to poke fun at any aspect of life and will often turn it around to create extremely moving portraits of family life. 'I'm so excited' was pretty thin in comparison to his other films. The story follows a group of wacky mile-highers on their way to Mexico and the way in which Captain and crew attempt to calm them down when the plane runs into trouble over Toledo leading them to land in the abandoned La Mancha Airport (a mere notch on Spain's list of colossal financial cock-ups) 

It had some funny moments, but not enough to sustain it. Admittedly I missed the first 5 minutes due to a pint of beer, which bothered me. In my defence, it had been a hot day and I had been training in a call-centre, a fact which would justify the consumption of an entire bottle of vodka in my book. Back to the film...there was nothing wrong with the acting but I got the feeling that the dots didn't connect as far as character development and interaction as concerned. I seemed pretty random, even by Almodovar's standards. You never got the feeling that they were travelling in a plane. There was a deep sense of them being trapped in a Madrid studio which had been tarted up to look like a plane. In brief, I wish that I, like the characters, had been high on mescaline as it would have improved this mediocre offering no end. Sorry Pedro. I still love you!