Official Competition: Film Review
I assumed that Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas had worked together several times but outside of a brief cameo together in I’m So Excited! and separate scenes in Pain and Glory, they haven’t. They have finally corrected this wrong with Official Competition, a wildly entertaining satire about the film industry.
The film follows director Lola (Cruz) as she makes her latest movie, The Rivalry, with prestigious actor Iván (Oscar Martinez) and self-absorbed movie star Félix (Banderas). The narrative focuses on the pre-production process and lengthy rehearsal stage, during which tension runs high as it becomes clear that the leads do not get along and have very different approaches to acting.
The title Official Competition refers to the fact Lola’s project ends up premiering at a film festival but also the dynamic between the actors, who portray warring brothers Manuel and Pedro in the movie-within-a-movie. Félix is very flashy, with lots of awards, box office clout, money and women whereas Iván doesn’t care about any of that and is a modest and humble actor. Naturally, they rub each other up the wrong way constantly and it’s entertaining to see that relationship unfold.
The character dynamics are even more interesting and juicy with Lola in the mix. She is a demanding auteur with some extremely unorthodox methods for getting the performance she wants out of her actors. Lola expects perfection right from the first table read and doesn’t take kindly to any suggested adjustments to her screenplay.
All three leads are written so well and the way they interact together is a joy to watch. I happily soaked up all the dialogue. It is very funny and takes the mick out of all the egos involved in filmmaking. It verges on farce at times with some of Lola’s outlandish tests for her actors (one of which you can see above). I didn’t expect the story to go as dark as it did but I like that it didn’t take the obvious path.
Cruz is incredible as the eccentric, outspoken director. She knows exactly what she wants out of her actors and refuses to indulge their egos (even though she has quite a healthy one of her own). I enjoyed Banderas as the self-centred and arrogant movie star desperate to prove he takes acting seriously, and Martinez as his opposite – the understated and reserved Iván.
I always love movies about making movies so Official Competition was always going to be up my street but I liked it even more than I expected and found this highly entertaining.
In cinemas from Friday 26th August