The Other Side Of The Bed

Paula's fallen in love. Pedro is devastated. Pedro tells his best friend Javier. Javier is with Sonia. Javier doesn't want Sonia (or Pedro) to know he's the mystery lover. Daniel gets the blame. Except it couldn't be Daniel - "he's gay". But hey - "everyone's bisexual".

This is a comedy romance, where "everyone falls in love with their friends," where falling in love is like catching the flu ("You'll be over it soon") and where characters burst into song and dancers spring out of cupboards. Although the drama is played for real, this is also a feast of predictable surprises, sexual innuendoes and farcical romps.

The two main protagonists, Javier and Pedro are opposites in everything but for their taste in women. Pedro's unkempt but loveable gruffness is reminiscent of Gerard Depardieu. He laments the loss of Paula like an inconsolable bear. Javier is anxious and slick, desperately trying to maintain an appearance of serene indifference within the forest of deception he has created for himself, his permanently perspiring brow a dead giveaway.

As in all the best musicals, the potential for calamity hangs precariously throughout the movie. The best lines are reserved for the oily Private Dick, who has a penchant for conspiracy theories (Marilyn Monroe is alive in Rio), the misogynist taxi driver and the blonde stalker who talks like a dating manual.

There is a beautifully simple slapstick moment between Pedro and Javier on the tennis court that perfectly captures the cheeky buffoonery of the movie. Pedro, who has by this time found out the truth about Javier and Paula, aims a series of rocket serves at his tennis partner's (Javier's) arse. The scene ends up with a ridiculous schoolboy scrap and honour is somehow restored to injured parties.

The Other Side Of The Bed is like a hot salsa antidote to all those cornball American musicals. This is a low budget, high tempo love-in.

Take a friend. You might never see them in quite the same light again!