I'm So Excited Review
I am a huge fan of Almodovar's work, so I leapt at the chance of seeing his latest screwball comedy I'm So Excited at an advanced screening. I went in with high expectations off the back of the absolute masterpiece that is The Skin I Live In, and was majorly let down.
I'm aware that Almodovar was attempting to go back to his roots, with this film reminding me of his earlier comedy works such as What Have I Done to Deserve This. While I appreciate his desire to go back to his roots in film making, his recent works such as The Skin I Live In and Bad Education were much more powerful pieces. This film in comparison seems frothy, light and overly camp, even for Almodovar's standards. The plot is based around a flight from Madrid to Mexico, when the landing gear fails the passengers must all face their problems in the confines of the first class cabin. It sounds like a brilliant idea, and it does work to a degree, the problem I found was that not enough time was given to each character to fully explore their situation, which in turn led to me not really caring what happened to them.
Much of the humour in the film is low brow, however its a very subtle low brow humour that Almodovar is known for, and the focus on sex and sexuality again plays a large part much like his previous works. Camp is a big feature of I'm So Excited, with the majority of the male characters being either gay or bisexual. This obviously leads to countless gay jokes, which are fine by me as long as they are kept fresh and funny, this cant be said for the camp humour in this film. It appears that the same jokes are reworded over and over, making all of the jokes pretty much the same, its a shame considering how much experience Almodovar has had with this genre. On the other hand there are some brilliant screwball moments and dialogue gags that made me chuckle, making up for the somewhat flat camp and sex jokes.
The film is absolutely beautiful, with Almodovar's signature crayon colour look in full force, something which was missing from The Skin I Live In. As usual the sets look wonderful, with brightly coloured fixtures and fittings mixed with a distinctly pop art quality to give a happy and joyful vibe. The cinematography is again stunning, with some beautiful close ups and expertly placed long shots, making the film a joy to watch. Its these elements which made up for the lack of narrative structure and flat humour, as seeing an iconic auteur like Almodovar at work is always a feast for the eyes and mind.
Delivering on the visuals front, its clear that Almodovar hasn't lost his touch, his narrative on the other hand has, and his next work must be more complex and meaningful for me to still consider him a relevant auteur in today's film landscape. That being said the film is fun to watch, its light entertainment, the kind you'll find watching similar Hollywood pictures like Hope Springs or the latest Hugh Grant rom-com. Its frothy, its light, and its shallow, but its also beautiful, above average and has had thought put into it. Taking all things into consideration I think its a perfectly fine film for Hollywood standards, for Almodovars standards however its a bit of a plane crash.
7/10
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