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12 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Mexican period Bu-uel engages viewer gently sans surrealism, 18 January 2004
Author: mosoul from San Francisco

This Mexican film from Bu-uel's low profile commercial period is a comedy of manners, Those expecting the more caustic or iconoclastic subtexts of his famous films may be disappointed. I found it well made and quite enjoyable. Part of its value is in its conventionality. Seeing that he was capable of creating well crafted "popular" entertainments is a plus in his favor. Perhaps he was only working to pay the bills, but I think he may have actually enjoyed making this film.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Bunuel meets Capra, including a woman with a moustache!, 18 November 2007
7/10
Author: fuzon from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

More reminiscent of the Hollywood comedies of Frank Capra or the plays of Kaufman and Hart than Bunuel, this is a pleasant enough film about an affably drunken business tycoon (shades of Brecht's Puntila) whose family conspire to trick him into believing he's gone broke when his health (and potentially his wealth) begin to fail. He discovers their ruse and turns the tables.

There's very little surrealism on display here, although the scene where the old man wakes to discover himself in a nightmare of poverty row surroundings has a touch of the Master's usual dreaminess; and, for the most part, the social critique is soft-hearted, although a poor man who loves the tycoon's daughter is allowed a speech railing against the rich who think that poverty is a "learning experience".

The best section of the film is probably the opening 20 minutes, as the lazy parasites of in the wealthy family are exposed one by one, almost as condemnatory a picture of upper class fecklessness as The Exterminating Angel. There's some nice Groucho-like comedy between the tycoon and the moustachioed bourgeois mother of a slimy fortune hunter, and the whole thing moves along at a sprightly pace.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
In order to get a man to stop getting drunk every night, his family convinces him that he has been in a coma for a year... but he turns the tables., 24 February 2008
8/10
Author: michael_chaplan from Japan

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A completely original film. A man's family tries to stop him from drinking himself to death by pretending that his drinking has driven them to the poorhouse, and that he has been in a coma for a year. When he finds out the ruse, he turns the tables on them. He convinces them that he really is bankrupt, and that they will have to continue with their odd jobs in order to make ends meet. His daughter, the only member of his family who is not a layabout, discovers that a poor but hardworking boy who lives near the hovel the family lives in now is far more worthy of her than the rich fiancée/gold digger she had abandoned. The closest this sort of storyline has come to being made into a movie is "Trading Places," but this story is a lot more original... and more interesting. While it certainly isn't typical Bunuel, any director would be proud to have made it. Surprisingly, all of the loose threads are tied up tight.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
there is plenty to enjoy here, 19 August 2008
6/10
Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London

Enjoyable knockabout movie that is ultimately more complex than the simple plot outline would suggest. There is not much of the Bunuel we have come to expect but then this is his first effort for almost twenty years and he must have been keen to get back into cinema. Clearly a pragmatic man he must have been aware he could soon enough get back to making what he wanted, once he had satisfied the money men he was bankable. Nevertheless there is plenty to enjoy here as much fun is had with the notion of being rich and lazy making you ill and poor and hardworking the opposite. Then there is the love interest and whether you can marry above/beneath yourself. There is a marvellous line towards the end when the said young lady is justifying going with the rich scoundrel instead of the poor, honest boy. She tells of how one may love her for her money but then the other hates her for it. As would be the case in subsequent Mexican efforts Bunuel paints an affectionate picture of the locals and is clearly happy in his surroundings.

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4 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Buñuel masterpiece, 28 January 2008
5/10
Author: taybey666 from Turkey

this is not an classical Buñuel film he does not use any metaphor. film belong to comedy genre but i thought that it was not funny and it was not a good movie if the director is not Buñuel this film get a point like 3 or 2.sparazitoiler*the story was very basic its about a rich man without desire of living and people surrounding himself that are parasite. one day brother of that man decide to do show how real life is going on and the games begin.* as i said before very basic story and you can add to rich poor love in it. we can think that is 195O but there are a lot of good movies in that time. in conclusion this film is not good.

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