OFFICIAL COMPETITION

The movie has got a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but I prefer my satires a bit less obvious and infinitely more biting.

Ever since Robert Altman's The Player fuelled my teenage love for movies I've had a weak spot for films that satirize the movie business. I do prefer my satires a bit less obvious and infinitely more biting than Official Competition though.

The Spanish film, which premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival, chronicles the rehearsal process of a vanity project that stars two equally prominent yet diametrically opposed actors, played by Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez, as they are directed by a woman with a singular vision, portrayed by Penelope Cruz.

The movie has got a couple of laugh-out-loud moments in it and the interplay between the three main actors is mostly excellent. Yet Official Competition is never more than a series of elaborate sketches that keep on hammering the same tired nail: that all artists are vanity personified.

Too boot, the picture shoots itself severely in the foot with a denouement that is at first soapy and then becomes irritatingly pretentious. The final two minutes of Official Competition alone thus cost the picture its second star.

release: 2021

director: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat

starring: Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martinez