From Pedro Almodovar, the undisputed king of high camp and high drama, comes this rather silly spoof of an airplane disaster movie : although in truth the only catastrophes that will befall any of the passengers are the results of the chaotic lives that they have temporary fled from on the ground. The action is set mostly onboard Peninsula Airlines Flight 2549 bound for Mexico but because two ground crew (very brief cameos from Penelope Cruz & Antonio Banderas) were distracted, the plane’s landing gear is now inoperable and so the Airbus is just going around in circles over central Spain until Air Traffic Control can find them a safe empty place to do an emergency landing.
All the passengers in the Economy section have passed out after the attendants had slipped muscle relaxants in their drinks, so all the activity takes place in the Business Class compartment where a small group of disparate very wound up passengers start to somewhat reluctantly share their stories once they learn that this Flight was in trouble. They include a dodgy Banker who is escaping the immiment collapse of his Bank, an aging famous actor fleeing a string of clingy girlfriends, a demented physic woman who can ‘smell death’ and is desperate to lose her virginity, a mysterious ‘security adviser’/hit man, a sex-crazed groom & his new hungover bride on honeymoon, and then there is Norma. In her day she had been a famous escort and extremely successful dominatrix, but now claiming to have incriminating files on all of her very important clients, she is just an impossible diva.
Not only may they crash, but even worse the entertainment system is not working on the plane. Quel horror. It’s a wonderful excuse for the three Attendants to do ‘one of their routines ‘ lip syncing to the Pointers Sister’s ‘Im Not Excited’ and they are totally fabulous. It is unquestionably THE highlight of this delightfully frothy movie.
This will certainly not rank as one of Almodovar’s best movies, but he is at least back doing what he really does excel at i.e. having a great deal of crazy fun. So many of the cast are regular Almodovar alumini such as Cecilia Roth, Antonio de la Torre, Blanca Suárez, Paz Vega etc. who not only turn in electric performances but equally important, seemed to be really enjoying themselves enormously too. The real star turn is another of Snr Almodovar’s favorite actors, Javier Cámara who as the imcompetant Joserra with a heart of gold, hams it all up so hilarously.
There seems to be lots of nods to many classic movie comedies in what is essentially an old-fashioned style screwball comedy. Except in this one there is a LOT of sex. And a great deal of drinking. And never one to pass up on a chance to comment on the political catrospheres of his country, the empty Airport that Penisula 2549 finally lands in is Cuidad Real International a very real deserted white elephant that the Govrenent built for a whopping 1.1 billion euros and was closed in April after only three years of service.
It’s a delightfully absurb romp that I thoroughly enjoyed, and if nothing else is a damn good reason to always fly business class.
