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Tuesday, 15 August 2006 00:55 |
Written and directed by the husband and wife team of Dominic Harari and Teresa De Pelegri, the film depicts the cross-cultural collision that occurs when Leni (Marian Aguilera) brings her Palestinian college professor fiance Rafi (Guillermo Toledo) home to meet her family. Said group includes her sexually charged older sister (Maria Botto); the sister's precocious 6-year-old daughter; her brother, David (Fernando Ramallo), newly enthralled with Orthodox Judaism; her blind grandfather (Max Berliner), prone to such dangerous habits as sticking knives between his fingers; and her perpetually flustered mother (Oscar nominee Norma Aleandro).
The inevitable family conflicts ensue, aggravated by such bizarre flourishes as the baby duck who lives in the bathtub. But when Rafi accidentally drops a frozen soup out the kitchen window, only to have it land on and possibly kill a man who may or may not be Leni's father, the proceedings reach an even broader farcical level.
Unfortunately, that's about when the film loses control, as the proceedings degenerate to a level of silliness, much of it involving the father suffering from temporary amnesia and getting embroiled with a prostitute and her surly pimp.
Although it has its undeniably funny moments, the film sacrifices its credibility in its strained attempts to achieve a level of screwball comedy that requires a level of wit and pacing, not to mention some credibility, that is not reached here.
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