Son of the Bride (2002)

Undescribable Perfection

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Title: "Son of the bride" will take you through a ride By Alejandra MRecently, I saw the movie "The son of the bride" by Juan Jose Campanella and I would like to give a personal opinion of the movie. I was very satisfied with the movie and with the values and lessons the story tries to convey through an entertaining way. Romance, drama and comedy are all combined to create a fusion of genres in only one movie. Everyone has faced conflicts in life, perhaps conflicts in the family, and with relationships. In the movie, a hardworking man suffers from stress in his job and this is mixed with his personal life. His relationship with his girlfriend, a complicated relationship with his parents, and a conflict with his ex wife are all examples of what the movie story tries to express to the audience. The movie "The son of the bride" conveys a heartbreaking and at the same time funny storyline that will captivate your attention the minute you start watching it.The movie "Son of the bride" is an Argentinean film that takes place in a city of Argentina itself. The story revolves around the main character Rafael Valvaerde (Ricardo Darín) who suffers stress from his work. He owns a restaurant that he soon has to take the decision to keep or sell. His stress is mixed with his relationship with his girlfriend Naty (Natalia Verbeke). Rafael has to help his father Nino (Héctor Alterio) to accomplish his dream of re-marring his mother Norma (Norma Aleando). With the help of Padre Mario (Humberto Serrano), Rafael's friend, he tries to accomplish his parents' dream. Will he accomplish it or not? Through out the rest of the story, Rafael, faces different situations that change his point of view of seeing the world and is forced to change his ways of being.Rafael Valverde played by Ricardo Darin does an outstanding job in expressing his feelings and emotions to the viewers. His acting is very developed and he does a great job expressing his exaggerated actions effectively. Humberto Serrano does a fine job entertaining the viewers with his comical character and mood. He overreaches his comedy limits and brings the comical part to the movie. Both Nino and Norma portray a satisfactory role of playing elderly people. They express their role of elderly people through their actions and facial expressions. The acting roles of Nino and Norma are similar to those of James Garner and Gena Rowlands in the movie "The Notebook". The film is also similar to the genre of romance comedy and drama of the movie "No Strings Attached".The movie overall, was outstanding, regarding actions and scenes. Even though, there where specific actions that weren't done correctly. Norma over-acted her role of an elder woman with Alzheimer's disease, for example when she starts to cry in the bench with Rafael, her son. The action is not realistic and credible. In the case of Naty, she was a strong character but didn't get enough screen time to develop. She appeared in few scenes involving not much action. Ricardo Darin did an amazing job portraying Rafael Valverde. In the scene where he has a heart attack, he can really transmit the mood and feelings to the viewer.. In the scene of the wedding, Humberto Serrano does a great job being comic and funny but it seems that he is not acting, that his personality in real life is comic as he is in the movie. In the case of the scenes, I think most of the scenes where outstanding and well captured. Even though, there was one scene that wasn't clear enough. In the wedding scene, the characters are blocked by the plants and flowers hanging from the ceiling. The viewer is unable to see clearly the faces of the characters making it more difficult to appreciate the face expressions.This movie has a plethora of lessons and themes that are expressed through out the whole movie. The basic theme is the importance of relationships. Other sub-themes and lessons develop through the story. The first theme is the importance of family. The movie shows how it is important to have a good relationship with every member in your family in order to be happy. Another lesson is that you have to be happy with yourself first, in order to be happy with others. Rafael realizes that if he doesn't change his ways and isn't happy with himself, he will not be happy with the rest of the people. The importance of father to son relationship is also present in the movie. The movie demonstrates how Rafael has to connect with his father and tries to understand him and build a healthy relationship. A great and inspiring theme is that life is too short to waste it. Through out the film, Rafael realizes through experiences, that one can't take life for granted and to enjoy every moment in life. This movie is recommended to people who have the maturity to understand the real meaning of the movie but at the same time someone who can take in account the morals and values trying to be transmitted. This movie is not recommended to people who are looking for only drama or only romance in a movie. "Son of the bride" is not recommended to young children since the movie can turn out to be boring for them. The rating of this movie is PG due to some scenes that might not be appropriate for small children without supervision to view on their own ."Son of the bride" is a great movie. It really expresses strong themes and lessons through an entertaining, dramatic and even humorous way.Rating: 8 out of 10.Alejandra M is a high school student. She enjoys dancing and listening to music. In her future, she plans to study fashion design, interior design or architecture.

''El Hijo de la novia'' is a comedy about a stressed man called Rafael Belvedere that is full of responsibilities and problems in his life. He assumed the restaurant that his father founded and is always living in his shadow because of that. The restaurant also demands his entire time, making him almost not have time for his mother( who suffers from Alzheimer) his daughter and even his girlfriend. One day, Rafael suffers a heart attack that compels him to think better about his life, making him realize how wrong he was doing many things. He also reunites with his childhood friend Juan Carlos, that becomes an important piece of his story, helping him to deal with many things that happens in his life.I liked this movie because even having its predictable moments, deals with many themes in a more real way that many comedies usually does, like Rafael's and Naty's relationship or even his mother relationship with him. It is also a very sweet movie, since it is impossible to not like the cute relationship between Rafael's parents( Can you imagine how sweet is to be married for so many years and still be in love with the same person?).The only I didn't like very much, was the fact that movie has some very slow moments that helped me to feel a little bored, but this is a person opinion, so, maybe many people will not even notice or care.

I am always surprised when I find a movie that genuinely revels in the ordinary and keeps away from unrealistic, extravagant elements. I enjoyed Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing" for this reason, because the entire film never compromised realism for the "dramatic intensity" most dramas cheaply exploit. What surprised me most about Juan Jose Campanella's "The Son of the Bride" is that it took a very sincere approach towards a crowd-pleasing story.The last time I saw a crowd-pleaser, it was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and I was bored with its reliance on platitudes and I was annoyed with its constant cuteness. It wasn't until I saw Campanella's film that I remembered that the goal of a good crowd pleaser is to give the audience an optimistic perspective of life, not to bombard them with farcical whimsy and relentless, shallow cuteness."The Son of the Bride" is a remarkably honest movie about a man named Rafael who has been living the wrong life for years. He doesn't realize his disposition until it is almost too late, but circumstances allow him to reevaluate the choices he has in life. A story like this could have taken the lesser, "Greek Wedding" road, conforming to all kinds of crowd-pleaser clichés to create a naively positive tone, but "Son of the Bride" realizes that nothing in this life is absolute. Good moments never last forever, and life is never completely beautiful or completely ugly. The characters are all very realistic, because they doubt themselves and others, they sometimes contradict themselves and are therefore closer to feeling like real human beings than any character in a crowd pleasing movie I've ever seen.Watching "Son of the Bride," I was reminded of a little film I once saw called "Los Lunes Del Sol," which chronicled the ordinary plight of some unfortunate working men of Spain. I loved that movie, because it reminded me of the frustrations of my own family during hard times. "Son of the Bride" brought back those same sad memories, but also reminded me that its through pain and struggle that we grow up and are enabled to see things clearer. Nothing is absolute- yes, hard times are hard, but they are essential for growing and learning how to truly live.My only complaint for this frequently funny and touching epic of ordinary proportions is its opening scene. The opener is an unnecessary, not to mention corny, scene where Rafael is a little boy. It could easily be trimmed without effecting the movie in any negative way. This is a minor gripe, though. The movie is marvelously, but realistically, optimistic and is a new benchmark by which all crowd pleasers should be measured.

Any years ago one friend, tell me says me that this film is a good film, and a film for crying. After this comments I see others films "Luna de Avellaneda", and other of Ricardo Darin "El Aura" and "Nueve Reinas". All this films liked me very much.I'm a man that rarely I cry when I see a movie, and I don't like the cheaper dramatic films, but I will want to see this film because the director and the actor are good.I don't believe before to see this films, that I will see so intense. I cry when I seeing this film, the scenes of love between the fathers, It's are very beautiful.I see this film in a Dvix copy and I need buy yet the DVD.