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ONLY HUMAN
Directed & Written by: Dominic Harari & Teresa De Pelegri.
Produced by: Mariela Besuievski, Gerardo Herrero & Javier Lopez Blanco.
Director of Photography: Danny Cohen.
Edited by: Fernando Pardo.
Music by: Charlie Mole.
Released by: Magnolia.
Language: Spanish with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Spain/Argentina/Portugal/UK. 85 min. Rated: R.
With: Guillermo Toledo, Marián Aguilera, María Botto, Fernando Ramallo, Norma Aleandro, Alba Molinero & Max Berliner.

This Spanish comedy tells a well known – perhaps too well known – story: girl introduces fiancé to her dysfunctional family during dinner, said fiancé has something to hide, and mayhem follows. In this case, the secret is very up-to-date: girl is a Jew living in Spain, boy is a Palestinian. And the girl's family is…interesting: the mother is a worry wart; sister Paula, a belly dancer, sleeps with everyone in sight; the (blind) grandfather likes to play with his Israeli army weapon; and brother David is suddenly practicing Orthodox Judaism and trying to convert Paula's six-year-old daughter – who says she is pregnant.

From the first moment, as the couple, Leni and Rafi (Marián Aguilera and Guillermo Toledo), ride the elevator up and the family gets ready, the fast-paced film delivers its comedic dialogue in a matter-of-fact and deadpan manner, which helps make up for the lack of suspense, which apart from Rafi's secret, involves the possibility that Rafi has accidentally killed Leni's father with a frozen soup he dropped out of the window. The actors also help. Led by Norma Aleandro as the mother, they are natural and yet believably crazy. The chemistry among the cast smoothes the inevitable clichés, making for some very funny scenes.

The main plot is cleverly, if not surprisingly, interwoven with each character's particular idiosyncrasies. There is the grandfather asking Rafi in what part of the Israeli army he fought, while he and Leni cringe; David’s attempts to follow the Sabbath traditions by singing in Hebrew and hiding cell phones (it is the Sabbath); and the mother thinking her often-absent husband is having an affair. Amidst the screwball and sitcom elements, there are also genuine moments of laughter, and even – dare I say it? – one or two moments for thought, or at least, thoughtfulness. Roxana M. Ramirez
June 16, 2006