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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Torremolinos 73

EMAILPRINTFirst Run Features

Torremolinos 73 reviews
62
7.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Foreign

Written by: Pablo Berger

Directed by: Pablo Berger

Release Date:
Theatrical: April 15, 2005
DVD: February 21, 2006

Running Time: 87 minutes, Color / B/W

Origin: Spain / Denmark

Summary

RATING:

Starring Javier Cámara, Candela Peña, Juan Diego, Malena Alterio, Fernando Tejero, Mads Mikkelsen, Ramón Barea, and Thomas Bo Larsen

In Franco's puritanical Spain of 1973, a struggling encyclopedia salesman named Alfredo and his wife Carmen change their fortunes overnight when they agree to make their own Super 8 erotic 'educational' films to be sold in Scandinavia. (First Run Features)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

This delicious little period piece from Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger is like one of those really expensive chocolates, where you start out expecting a brief sugar buzz and end up surprised by the sophistication and delicacy of the flavor.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It's a bawdy farce done with real delicacy, a charming adult comedy that ends up with unlooked-for emotional heft. If that doesn't cover all the bases, it certainly comes close.

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75

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Slyly funny.

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75

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

The result is a highly amusing folly, rendered with a surprisingly gentle affection.

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70

The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder

Such a joyous celebration of sex and filmmaking that viewers will forgive its director for taking time out to enjoy a little of both.

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70

TV Guide Ken Fox

Raunchy without ever devolving into flat-out prurience, Berger's oddly sweet comedy perfectly captures the naivete of the era and the unexpected wholesomeness of some of its adult entertainment.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Possesses a lighthearted quality that makes it rather enjoyable.

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70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Though never unpleasant, thanks largely to Cámara and Peña's warmly convincing performances, Torremolinos 73 only really takes off when it deals with the filmmaking process.

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70

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Starting out as a wacky little comedy about a mousy Spanish couple who become unwitting porn stars, Torremolinos 73 suddenly morphs, during the third act, into a far more sober and tender story about the lengths to which a man will go to give his wife what she wants.

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67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Deepened by the socioeconomic undercurrent that suggests the lengths to which workers are forced to prostitute themselves to survive corporate downsizing.

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60

Empire Patrick Peters

This is a gentle, camp but nonetheless revealing satire on how a nation circumvented the social strictures imposed upon it by Franco's fading fascist regime.

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60

Variety Jonathan Holland

Somewhat wacky tale, based on real events, is kept anchored in reality through attention to detail and by first-rate central perfs.

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50

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

Its Saul Bass-y credits suggest an Almodóvarian flamboyance, but this impotent '70s-set comedy mostly skimps on discoteca stylishness.

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50

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Has the dubious distinction of being just about the mildest porno comedy ever made. It's like something the teenage Pedro Almodóvar might have written to shock his 10th-grade creative writing teacher.

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50

LA Weekly Kim Morgan

Pablo Berger's subtle satire Torremolinos 73 is almost there. Almost.

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50

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

All this and not a glimmer of General Franco makes for a surreal – and sporadically inspired – comedy of Spanish mores back when naughty was nice.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Has the slapped-together, cheesy look of a porno movie. While this could be distracting, the shoddiness sets the mood for a humorous spin on the European porn industry circa early 1970s.

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40

Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton

Camara and Peña are perfectly cast as the bewildered couple, and early on Berger gets some laughs from the one-note premise. But the material grows increasingly stale as the film drags on to its unintentionally creepy finale.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ed K. gave it a7:
Torremolinos 73 is a quirky, light-hearted take on the hopes and dreams of two average people in 1970s Spain. The characters are vivid and easily recognizable, and the plot is just convincing enough to be believable but bizarre enough to keep your attention. I enjoyed it. (But Torremolinos 73 is definitely not a good movie for a first date, as you can probably imagine from the general subject matter.)

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