How to Win Enemies

Showings

Cinearts at Palo Alto Square Wed, Jul 27, 2016 6:00 PM
Castro Theatre Thu, Jul 28, 2016 6:30 PM
Piedmont Theatre Sun, Aug 7, 2016 8:45 PM
Film Info
Director(s):Gabriel Lichtmann
Editor(s):Agustin Rolandelli
Principal Cast:Martin Slipak
Javier Drolas
Inés Palombo
Cinematographer:Nicolás Trovato
Country:Argentina
Year of Production:2015
Running Time:78 min.
Language(s):Spanish w/ English subtitles
Categories:Narrative
Premiere Status:Northern California
Genre-Subject:Crime
Thriller
mystery

Description

Co-Sponsored by Robert and Judy Aptekar.

Take a classic antihero with all the wit and neuroses of Woody Allen, add the intrigue of an Alfred Hitchcock suspenser and a strong dose of Argentine sex appeal, and you have this comic, poignant, smart feature from Gabriel Lichtmann. The director of Jews in Space, Lichtmann shows the complicated family relations of Lucas, a young lawyer in Buenos Aires whose brother (and boss) Max is about to marry their gorgeous coworker Paulina in a traditional Jewish ceremony. In the midst of wedding preparations, Lucas is robbed of $50,000 in cash he had withdrawn as a down payment to buy a house. Lucas is a mystery buff; he has a dog named Sherlock. Convinced he has been conned, he draws up a list of suspects, including his best friend, played by Sagrado Sebakis, a kind of Argentine Seth Rogen, except funnier. At first, Lucas’s amateur detective work feels like the pitiable daydreams of an overgrown adolescent. Travel buffs will love how his adventures take him all over Buenos Aires. But as he unravels the mystery and finds the truth, he is confronted with difficult issues concerning family, betrayal and love. Lichtmann paces the movie exquisitely, letting the camera linger on the cafés and streetscapes of the city as well as on his matinee idol cast. —Emily Kaiser Thelin