NICO The character of Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco) is the most influential force in the life of his best friend, Rafael Belvedere. We see them both in the initial scene as little boys who went around getting in trouble and helping each other out. The next time we see the character together is after a surprise visit by Juan Carlos, where he pretends to be a detective and scares his friend as a joke. At this point we see how different of a person he is compared to his friend, as he displays much friendlier and relaxed characteristics. The next time Juan Carlos appears is at the hospital where Rafael is after a stroke. From here on out we begin to see this character a lot more as he enters the life of his friend once again and helps him during his troubled times.

Nick Dets 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.

Al Rodbell Son of the BrideWhen I read the short description of this Argentinean film, "Son with broken marriage deals with his dads desire to renew marriage vows with his wife with Alzheimer's" I hesitated to watch it. I down loaded it to my Tivo because of it's three star rating, but had no great desire to re--live my mothers long decline into that particular abyss.We had just started to watch "Out of Sight" a Hollywood product that had George Clooney meeting his co-star "cute" in the trunk of a getaway car. A contrived vehicle for brand name stars that delivered the audience and made a buck for the investors. That's the American way. We cut it off after twenty minutes and decided we may as well give this one a try.Nobody met "cute" in this film. There is a son with a broken marriage and barely tolerable relations with his ex whom he kept in contact with over the shared love of their daughter. The demented mother, was depicted with just enough realism to give a taste of the true sadness of this disease, while not overwhelming the film with despair. Maybe it was extra meaningful to me, since my Mother was like her, the rare person who did not suffer from her illness, but bathed in some blessed contentment.I will not try to go into detail why this film was so beautiful. When everything works perfectly, the writing, directing and the acting; all you have is the unfolding of the story on the screen. There is nothing to say about the people or their interactions--- they are just being themselves. In real life, we don't have heroes. The strongest people are those who can make the people around them feel good about themselves. If they are gorgeous they don't wear makeup to accentuate it. If they are rich they talk about a cheap meal they had a restaurant. And if they are very smart, they talk sports.So, by watching this film, you get to spend a couple hours with these people. Nothing will be more enjoyable. And stay through the titles that roll at the end, there is one final joke that completes the experience.

armstrongd_uk My wife 'found' this film, of which I hadn't heard, in our local video shop and I'm so delighted she did.The central performance of Rafael was a tour de force - this actor stands very strong beside the likes of Pacino, and I can imagine him in many of the earlier 'gangster with hidden depth' roles the latter excelled in. He was so believable as the 'godfather' neighbourhood restaurateur. The other principal actors were also brilliant, although in my opinion Eduardo Blanco as the comedic interest overegged and hammed a little too much in a couple of scenes, eg as bogus priest. But that is nitpicking in one of the most memorable romantic films I've ever seen.I totally agree with one of the reviewers who compared and contrasted to the dreadful film travesty made of 'The Notebook'recently which missed all the buttons around Alzheimers and real people with real believable feelings and reactions. I also agree that while if this product had been American with J Nicholson, etc it would have been a surefire Oscar winner, it would actually have been ruined by the Hollywood treatment...Thanks you Argentina, and I hope to see much more of Senor Darin before long.