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Springfield, MO 65806
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A wealthy businessman hires a famous filmmaker to help make a smash hit film.
(R, 114 min.)
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In search of significance and social prestige, a billionaire businessman decides to make a film to leave his mark. To do so, he hires the best: a stellar team formed by famous filmmaker Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) and two renowned actors, both enormously talented, but with even bigger egos: the Hollywood actor Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) and radical theater thespian Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez). Both legends, but not exactly the best of friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric challenges set by Lola, Felix and Iván must face not only each other, but also their own legacies. [Metacritic]
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez
Director: Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn
Language: Spanish
Genre(s): Drama, Comedy
"A work of actual genius."
— David Fear, Rolling Stone
"A coy satire that makes welcome use of biting meta-commentary and self-reflexive critique."
— Sarah-Tai Black, Los Angeles Times
"Seeing Cruz and Banderas show off their comedic chops is definitely a pleasure, and the farcical final scenes will leave viewers on a high."
— Nicholas Barber, indieWire
"A sly satire of cinema that also manages to be a showcase for the comedic chops of its stars: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez"
— Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
"Every line delivery is immaculate, and Cruz in particular, with her ginger frizzy locks, proves that she is a comic behemoth who has too long been laid dormant."
— David Jenkins, Little White Lies
"Official Competition is a sharp black comedy that skewers grandiose wealth, egocentric artists, and how quickly art is swallowed by money and celebrity."
— Tara Bennet, IGN
"Banderas and Martínez play their catty thesps dead straight to generally hilarious effect, while Cruz cuts loose as a fiery artiste prone to dancing the floss in moments of stress"
— Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
"If awards season gets up your nose, with its self-congratulatory speeches and luvvie back-patting, this playful and wildly entertaining Spanish satire on the filmmaking process is the perfect antidote."
— Phil de Semlyen, Time Out
"Cruz plays their aggressively eccentric director with a perfect blend of oddball, hauteur and deadpan. One of the many joys of this send-up of filmmaking is that, for all the director’s looniness, she is so often right"
— Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail
"At the heart of the smart and spiky “Official Competition” is the question of what makes art “good,” as well as the futility of applying such a banal label to something that can be moving, transportive or challenging."
— Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
"Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat (who also collaborated on the script) have a sharp eye and brilliant timing, and often manage to wring laughs just from the sight of a character picking up an object, or leaving or entering a room."
— Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
"Cruz is the film's MVP as Lola, kookier than she's ever been, and playing well into the character's question mark of a persona — is she a true auteur or a hack? You never really find out, but watching Lola become increasingly disillusioned with the whole project makes her the closest we get to a relatable character in this whole heightened satire."
— Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
