Jamon Jamon (1993)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A fun yet seedy, colorful yet dark, over the top yet on some level touching romantic comedy by Bigas Luna, of whom I have only yet seen the fantastically depraved titles 'Caniche' and 'Bilbao'. And, even if this one is not as great, it is certainly good enough. Penélope Cruz alone made sure of that.The (soap opera like) story goes well into overdrive as it nears the end. Fortunately, Luna keeps the humour, the cinematic side of things and the stinging social satirical comments fully intact. Although, that final scene... it's wáy out there, I'll give it that!A good 7 out of 10.

'Jamón, Jamón', made in typical Bigas Luna style, is an amusing mindf**k of an erotic comedy. So one can easily expect a lot of shagging, nudity, passion and vulgarity in this entertaining satire. The melodramatic acting goes totally in sync with the story that is full of playful sarcasm. Luna toys with ideas by 'making fun' of many aspects of the Spanish culture. His actors don't shy away from baring it all sans inhibition. Javier Bardem and Jordi Molla are very good as two lovers competing with each other. Stefania Sandrelli plays the part of a horny manipulative MILF very well and Anna Galiena is deliciously hot. However, it is the then 18-year-old Penelope Cruz who steals the show by displaying innocence and sensuality with equal doze. Bigas Luna also references to several movies that clearly have inspired him like Ken Russell's 'Women in Love'. In addition, there are numerous underlying subtexts concerning taboo themes such as incest and bestiality. 'Jamón, Jamón' clearly isn't everyone's cup of tea and many conservatives might find it downright offensive. But someone who might be interested in a cinematic carnal entertainment satire ought to see this.

I happened to catch this movie on cable last night and found it to be truly fascinating even though I had to concentrate on reading the sub titles instead of looking at the picture and listening. Miss Cruz totally owns this film but ALL the acting is excellent. The raw passion of the main characters holds the viewer's attention throughout. Jamon Jamon is only Penelope's second movie according to her film biography but she shows NO inhibitions in her portrayal of a young passionate woman seeking love and fulfillment. Even her mother and potential mother-in-law are steaming with sexuality and seeking passionate liaisons. The potential father-in-law also gets a bit of titillation from the character so beautifully portrayed by Miss Cruz.

The only reason I am giving this movie a three is because there are a few funny scenes in what is mostly a very poor film. You might object to the somewhat boring relentlessly and unthoughtfully stereotypical treatment of Spanish love relations, or to what is, in my experience, the most facile use of symbolism (bull=phallic=machoman) in film (which is saying quite a bit since, sorry, but film is still, as Werner Herzog remarked, "The illiterate genre"). The comic potential of the movie---for it does start out with a few possibilities---is wasted on a botched attempt at drama, which, oddly enough, is so bad that it is risible. Again and again I am surprised how film-makers can put together such complete rubbish---and with impunity. A waste of celluloid and time.