The Other Side Of The Bed
(2003)
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Sex, love, lies, bed-hopping and mistaken identities abound in this pop musical-comedy set in Madrid. The gorgeous Paula (Natalia Verbeke) breaks up with perpetually glum Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) in order to take her affair with Javier (Ernesto Alterio) to the next level. The immature Javier however, is unwilling to break up with Sonia (SEX Y LUCIA star Paz Vega) or confess their affair to Pedro, who happens to be his best friend. Things get worse when Pedro hires a private detective to find out who Paula is sleeping with, and Javier tries to absolve his guilt by finding him a new girlfriend among his own exes. When Javier and Sonia go off on their own for a romantic weekend, Sonia and Pedro get together to comfort one another, and more complications ensue. Director Martinez-Lazaro sets the comedy, angst, and sexuality to a frothy boil in this crowd-pleaser; it was a big hit in his native Spain. For fans of bedroom-hopping farce and goofy, high-spirited Latin rock musical numbers, this will undoubtedly prove a lot of fun. Vega and Verbeke are amazingly lovely and Maria Eleve is fun as a much-too-talkative girl in love with Pedro. The goofy musical sequences occur in bars, museums, and health clubs; and feature choreography by Pedro Berdayes. |
With Ernesto Alterio cheating on Paz Vega with best pal Guillermo Toledo's girlfriend Natalia Verbeke, the plot of Emilio Martínez-Lázaro's romantic comedy couldn't be more formulaic. But, such is the eloquence of the dialogue, the aptitude of the good-looking cast and the action's slick shifts in tone and pace, that it's easy to forgive the familiar round of suspicions, accusations and excuses. However, it's harder to comprehend the decision to interrupt the farce with a series of second-rate song-and-dance routines, which smack of gimmickry rather than a genuine attempt to provide wry psychological insights. A bold concept, but, overall, a disappointing outcome.
