Don't Believe the Hype

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

"Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed" (2013 release from Spain) brings the story of Antonio, a thirty-something English teacher. The time is 1066 and the place is Spain. Antonio is Beatles-obsessed, and as the movie opens we see him using the lyrics of "Help" to teach his class. When Antonio finds out that John Lennon is in southern Spain (to film "How I Won the War"), Antonio decides to drive down, determined to meet Lennon. Along the way, Antonio picks up two teenage runaways: first there is Belén, whom we later learn escaped from a nuns' caretaker place to go back to her mom in Malaga. A bit later there is Juango, a 16 yr. old who tired of his father's dictatorial antics. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see it for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from well-known Spanish writer-director David Trueba (he also brought us "Madrid, 1987"). Here, Trueba mixes facts (Lennon was indeed in Almeria, Spain then, and he did write the basis for "Strawberry Fields Forever" at that time) and fiction (the three main characters) to bring us a wonderful little film about the hopes and dreams of these three people who come to depend on each other more than they realize, and along the way find a renewed lease on life. The movie does a great job of establishing the insecurities and flaws of the main characters, without ever going overboard or falling into sentimentalism.Natalia de Molina (remarkably similar in appearance to Dakota Johnson) is sensational as Belén You'll enjoy the movie even more if you are a Beatles fan (is there anyone who doesn't like the Beatles?). At one point, Antonio laments the fact that the Beatles albums do not contain the lyrics to the songs. "John, give us a break!", he sighs, ha! Also, I don't know this for a fact, but I believe that the demo version that we hear in the movie of "Strawberry Fields Forever" is the same one that we hear (partially) on the Beatles Anthology 2 compilation0.I recently stumbled upon this movie while browsing the foreign film section at my local library. So glad that I picked this up! As the movie approached its conclusion, I so wished that it could've played just a little longer, as I was not ready to say goodbye to these three endearing characters. If you are in the mood for a top notch foreign movie, you cannot go wrong with this. "Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

"Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed" is a beautiful movie. The acting and direction are charming and fresh. I particularly loved the film and felt connected to it, even though I am not the greatest Beatles fan.The story is of an English teacher, obsessed with The Beatles, particularly with John Lennon. He is planning to meet John Lennon in person and ask him a bunch of questions, or maybe simply talk to him. Don't all of us dream of doing the same with our favorite celebrity? On his way, while driving his cute 60s car, he picks up two young hitchhikers.The story has a slow pace, focusing on characters rather than action. The pace allows us to get acquainted with the characters, know their stories and their purposes. The pace might be too slow for some people, I am pretty sure my boyfriend doze off for some minutes while watching.As for me, I loved the way the characters were developed, while the actors portrayed them beautifully. I loved the relationship between Antonio, a middle-aged guy, and the two young hitchhikers, one of whom is only sixteen: while he occasionally gives them some lessons about life ("no matter what you do, you cannot live in fear!"), he treats them as adults and respects their decisions ("you must have been an adult when you got into this situation, I'm sure you'll solve it as an adult").A gorgeous little gem to watch, it has a heart-warming feeling and some characters that are as human as they can get.

This is a quiet gentle movie full of humor and understanding about the sometimes painful but rewarding journey to adult hood.Of huge assistance to those young folk making this journey is a really talented teacher; don't just take my word for it - learn from the movie what Lennon did to assist the teacher in his quest.Also interesting to show what life is like living in a fascist state - fascism starts in the family and at school.The director David Trueba is clearly a talent to watch - he was a screenwriter on the much darker confronting but interesting Perdita Durango (Dance with the devil - 1997) - he clearly has real insight into human nature. This is a much kinder more thoughtful film and one for all of us.9/10 for me (there are no tens).

Predictable feel-good movie based on the true story of a school teacher in Spain in the 60's. It's a story of hope, perseverance, and coming-of-age, told through the road-trip of three sweet strangers. Nothing strictly wrong with that, although sometimes the predictability is just too much, and the feel-good vive gets way too cheesy. The story in which the film is based is actually an amazing one, and the movie could have benefited from that raw material in a better way. Instead, it is full of clichés and flat characters. Spain is depicted as if on a tourist guide from the days of Franco: Beautiful landscapes, naive peasants, pretty girls, and a closed, narrow-minded society. Parents are severe, children are rebellious, and... strawberries are eaten in Almería. The actors do a decent job, but the direction is almost embarrassing at certain points. Seriously, the girl who sings as she has sex?! The handicapped boy with whom everybody gets on really well just because? The tough guy who is plainly mean without a reason?? The whole thing could have felt more real, more natural, if only the characters and scenes were treated with a bit more depth. I learned that this movie has been selected to represent Spain at the Oscar's. OMG. But OK, considering the films that have been awarded in the past, anything can happen, I guess. And yet, where are the days when Spanish cinema would leave you breathless? What happened to the young Garci, the solid Medem, the brilliant Berlanga, the elegant Saura, the fresh Almodóvar, the audacious Amenábar? Ay!