ME, TOO
Written & Directed by Álvaro Pastor & Antonio Naharro
Produced by Alicia Produce, Promico Imagen, Manuel Gómez Cardeña, Julio Medem & Koldo Zuazua
Released by Olive Films
Spanish with English subtitles
Spain. 103 min. Not Rated
With Lola Dueñas, Pablo Pineda, Antonio Naharro, Isabel García Lorca, Pedro Álvarez Ossorio, Consuelo Trujillo, Daniel Parejo & Lourdes Naharro
 

There’s something freeing in the way Me, Too ignores all the feel-good Hollywood nonsense that accompanies films about the developmentally disabled. Where all those triumph-of-the-human-spirit films end with brass bands blaring victory for all the hardships overcome, lessons learned, and ignorance dispelled, this instead ends quietly with a small win for Daniel (Pablo Pineda). The film hints at a slightly bolder direction for his life, but that smidgen of an uplifting end merely camouflages his heartbreak.

Daniel has Down syndrome. Unlike Hollywood award-baiting performances full of accolade-hungry actors adopting their best developmentally disabled gait, Daniel is played by Pineda, who actually has Down syndrome. Though highly intelligent and “normal” in most respects, Daniel doesn’t necessarily fit in with the developmentally disabled, but not completely “normal,” he doesn’t fit in with larger society. He lives a lonely life, though filled with his attentive and loving family, but he lacks any real intimacy, both emotionally and physically. As well, his frustration for his friends who also have Down syndrome coalesces around their desire not to be treated as children and for their desire to love and to be loved to be acknowledged.

His co-worker Laura (Lola Dueñas) is “normal,” but she has problems of her own—estranged from her family, running from an abusive past, and, for intimacy, preferring one-night stands. Like Daniel, Laura feels alienated, and it’s this feeling that bonds them. As their relationship grows stronger, Daniel develops deeper feelings for her, though she doesn’t reciprocate. The drama comes from Daniel’s desire for Laura, her demurral, and the strong friendship that nevertheless bonds them together.

However central this drama is to the film, it’s never made forceful enough. There’s a lot of interesting things about Me, Too—the fact that it ignores standard handicapped tropes and its upfront outlook eschews the sappy and maudlin—but there’s no real dramatic tension. You kind of know the arc, what must happen and when it’s going to happen, and the film does its best to unfurl the narrative to meet those expectations. But there’s no tension, nothing to keep one involved. Daniel’s resentment is played too subtly, and though the subplots, such as a runaway Down syndrome couple, are there to feed into this theme, they never ignite it in an affecting manner. Daniel’s chemistry with Dueñas is good, and there are some real moments between them. However, none of this is enough to carry the film. The narrative is too heavily choreographed for it to be anything more than a dotting of I’s and crossing of T’s. While Daniel and Laura’s relationship is intriguing, it can’t overcome the sluggishness of the plot. Andrew Beckerman
November 21, 2010