All relationships are to some extent transactional, but none more than that between employer and employee. One provides capital, the other labor. This dynamic would be symbiotic in a perfect world since one can’t exist without the other: a boss cannot acquire the means necessary to run a business without workers on the ground; those workers cannot live without a job with which to earn a steady wage. Even so, the disparity between them has grown exponentially throughout the past few decades. Executives reward themselves for no longer having to risk getting callouses on their fingers while laborers have become the casualty of a warped system of occupational supply-and-demand that’s subsequently transformed them into the product being bought and sold for perpetually cheaper prices.
The result is a fabricated veil of empathy to acquire that which each side desires. Bosses feign interest in their employees’ lives and promise...
The result is a fabricated veil of empathy to acquire that which each side desires. Bosses feign interest in their employees’ lives and promise...
- 7/9/2021
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- "Heartlift" displays Argentinean filmmaker Eliseo Subiela working in a more accessible mode than usual, to uneven results. This comedy/drama about a middle-aged plastic surgeon who discovers a nonsurgical path to youthfulness via a passionate affair with a much younger woman has moments that are affecting and funny, but the overall tone is too disjointed for it to be fully satisfying. The film recently screened at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Antonio Ruiz (Pep Munne) is a famous and hugely successful plastic surgeon who prides on the fact that he "makes the best tits in Spain." He is happily married to the vivacious Cristina (Maria Barranco), and despite the fact that he's in his fifties, he has more than kept his dashing good looks.
This gets him into trouble when he attends a conference in Buenos Aires, where his assistant turns out to be the gorgeous Delia (Moro Anghileri). Soon, she's teaching him the intricacies of the tango, and one thing leads to another.
When Antonio returns home, he finds that he can't get Delia out of his head, and he soon pretends to be attending another conference so they can reunite. Meanwhile, Cristina, devastated at the knowledge of her husband's infidelity, begins an affair with her sleazy shrink Jean Pierre Noher), who in handy fashion keeps a bed in the back of his office.
The film, which uneasily alternates between sensitively examining middle-aged angst and farcically depicting the complications of Antonio's affair -- the two couples meet up accidentally in a restaurant in a scene that could have come from "I Love Lucy" -- can't quite overcome the artificiality of its elements. Not helping matters are cutesy bits like the frequent appearances of a philosophy-spouting cab driver, the type that one runs into only in bad movies.
Still, "Heartlift" has its pleasures, most notably the affecting lead performances by Munne and Barranco, which demonstrate that the young have no monopoly on sexiness.
Antonio Ruiz (Pep Munne) is a famous and hugely successful plastic surgeon who prides on the fact that he "makes the best tits in Spain." He is happily married to the vivacious Cristina (Maria Barranco), and despite the fact that he's in his fifties, he has more than kept his dashing good looks.
This gets him into trouble when he attends a conference in Buenos Aires, where his assistant turns out to be the gorgeous Delia (Moro Anghileri). Soon, she's teaching him the intricacies of the tango, and one thing leads to another.
When Antonio returns home, he finds that he can't get Delia out of his head, and he soon pretends to be attending another conference so they can reunite. Meanwhile, Cristina, devastated at the knowledge of her husband's infidelity, begins an affair with her sleazy shrink Jean Pierre Noher), who in handy fashion keeps a bed in the back of his office.
The film, which uneasily alternates between sensitively examining middle-aged angst and farcically depicting the complications of Antonio's affair -- the two couples meet up accidentally in a restaurant in a scene that could have come from "I Love Lucy" -- can't quite overcome the artificiality of its elements. Not helping matters are cutesy bits like the frequent appearances of a philosophy-spouting cab driver, the type that one runs into only in bad movies.
Still, "Heartlift" has its pleasures, most notably the affecting lead performances by Munne and Barranco, which demonstrate that the young have no monopoly on sexiness.
- 12/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.