Please don't spend money on this.

Instant Favorite.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I got a deception with this one. Not because it was really a very bad film, but because something so much better could have been done here.I arrived at it because i've been interested in Spanish cinema, and this one could strike me as something worth watching though not the best Sapin has to offer.In comes in a line of Amenábar. Somehow closed thrillers, appealing to an inner search, resolving conflicts in abstract, living parallel worlds, parallel to a reality which is as "normal" as possible. It worked in "Abre los ojos" because of the dreamworld vs hell duality. Here the mixture is between various "strange" or "not normal" worlds: the always fascinating period of religious ceremonies in Spanish Andalucía.the "game" world, invented by Mollà's character, through which Simón (Noriega) will get at his inner struggle.Noriega, again playing his "abre los ojos" character, safe choice by the production, no risk This is a failure, due to several aspects: one related to direction, which has to do with not being able to "hold" interest until the end, the film dies completely as the historical Seville center is exchanged by the Expo92 site. this leads me to second aspect, picking up Sevilla, in the moment of its more visceral, more mediterranean moment of the year, and building there an absolutely inner abstract Amenábar kind of story is a failure by principle. No story can hold against those strong traditions. You either make a picture "about" Sevilla, about religion, and insert content on that basis (it was following that path for the first half) or you detach the story from any perfectly identifiable context (example once more: Abre los ojos) and build whatever you want in that abstract/normal/universal etc. space. And in this second,you have to hold the viewer with strong thinking and fine construction. The first chance s more documented in a way, more "earth-to-earth", the second may (or not) work out more intelligent.Anyway, trying to mix both was the failure here. OK, Amenábar's soundtrack, following Herrmann is good, works in the mood, there are good shots of Sevilla, exploring some places, and the overall production is quite good (Spanish is now and was already here in a great production level). But you have much better things to watch from this country. Anyway i'm still trying to find something worthwhile and which understands Sevilla, a fantastic city to which cinema hasn't been paying the necessary tribute.My evaluation: 3/5 (holds only for the production, some beautiful faces, and the other good elements i mentioned)

A good movie with an intriguing twist halfway through. A well written screenplay and an unconventional ending. The lead actor is perhaps a little too boring. The guy has very little charisma, and pretty much anyone else would have been better in the role. The villain is the best character of the bunch. Although considering the plot and how clever the villain was, the ending is perhaps a bit of a cheat.

Although similar to "The Game" this movie is far more believable . The storyline is clear, the action goes on gradually. Another good thing about it is that the actors are quite unknown (at least out of Spain !) which help to build efficient and believable characters.There are some minor flaws but the entire movie is not spoilt by typical Hollywood clichés. I peculiarly loved the cynical end, that was a fine way to close that film.Nice crafty work : 8/10

From the opening of the movie, a corpse with wood cross, to the end of the movie, Mateo Gil, the scripwriter of Tesis and Abre los ojos, both from Alejandro Amenabar, show us his young, yet great ability. There are many interesting points in the movie. We can think that we know somebody. But... do we really know it? How can you know if your best friend is just a normal person... or he is a brutal psycho that has spent one year on planning how to kill you. Another thing that made me think about, is: why do we do things in life?. The main character is living a boring life, seeing his life from above, waiting for something undefined to happen. How many of us do that in life? Living a slow, motionless life, waiting for the train of the great opportunity to appear. Would we accept the chance to live in one day with more intensity than the rest of your would - be life. I also liked the critic that it makes to the old custom of Semana Santa. There is a confrontation between the JASP generation and the 1000´s year traditions, a fight, in which the traditions have nothing to do against the use of modern day technologies and weapons. There are one minor flaw, that it relies in the female audience, showing a nice guy with women falling around him. In the middle of the movie, you can find many flaws (Why this has to happen this way and not this other, why did he have to do that?) that quickly fall with one of the most interesting switches I have ever seen in a movie To sum up, a really interesting thriller that has many question to think over.