Claysaba
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
deng43
if the comments were more evenly matched, fabulous vs. junk, i wouldn't bother, but there seems to be close to a consensus that this is a wonderful movie. not! the balancing pov is that this movie lacks any subtlety, has no nuance, keeps slapping you in the face when a little hint might have served to whet your appetite.i confess that i came to this film to see maura; her work with almodovar is grand, this is not. i can only blame the director here. he belongs to some school of heavy-handed slapstickish comedy. three stooges fans might enjoy it. i did not.the film's basic premise is well-used, but doesn't mean a fine movie couldn't be made from it. the screenwriter needed to calm down and stop shouting out what was going on. the director needed to stop directing the actors, asking for a bit more emphasis. the man needs to learn the meaning of nuance. don e.
mcquillanm
In every community there norms and rules. Some communities do not like it when a new person enters their community. If that person does not accept the rules, that person is not accepted into the community. In the movie, Commonwealth, by Alex de la Iglesia, if the rules are broken, people will die. Carmen Maura plays the role of the new neighbor, Julia. The combination of Julia and a large sum of money, is what destroys a normal community.Julia is an employee at the real estate agency. She moves into the apartment of one that she should be trying to sell. She moves into that apartment because it is much nicer than her own. When there is a leak from the floor above, she calls the firefighters in. She discovered the money that the man who lived there had left behind after he died. The neighbors discovered that she had the money and they all tried to get the money. Many neighbors dies because all of them were selfish and wanted the money for themselves. This plot is very different but interesting at the same time. I think that this plot is real, more or less, but a little extreme.The principal theme is that money can change a person in a very bad way. All the neighbors were mad with thinking that they wouldn't get the money. Nobody needed the money to live, but everyone thought that the money would make their lives better. This theme is very real and important. Many people today have the same opinion about money.There is a lot of blood and deaths in this movie. Therefore there are many special effects. The effects were necessary for the scene with the elevator, the fight between Emilio and Julia, the scene when Julia jump from her fall to the floor above, and the scene of the roof. I liked the photography of this movie. It was very easy to watch.I would recommend this film to my friends. I think that it was a very good and interesting film. The theme is an important lesson for everyone to learn.
ThrownMuse
Julia (Carmen Maura) and her husband are in their 50s and cannot find steady work. She finds herself doing temporary work as an apartment broker in Madrid. After showing a couple a lavish apartment, she calls her hubby over, thinking they could enjoy a night in the classy place. This romantic notion is killed when cockroaches fall through a crack in the ceiling. She calls the fire department and they go into above apartment, where they discover heaps of rotting trash...and a severely rotting corpse! After the scene has quieted down, Julia stumbles upon several clues that lead her back to the squalid apartment...and to 300 million pesetas! Now that she sees herself as a millionaire, she decides to take up residence in the fabulous apartment herself while pondering over what to do with the money.Everything is finally looking up for Julia.Until she stumbles into Darth Vader in the hallway. And why is her new neighbor bringing a large kitchen knife when coming to introduce himself? This terrific black comedy from Spain, finally released on DVD in the US, is a bit of a cross between "The Tenant" and "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Chockful of film references, "Common Wealth" (the clever English title, pun intended!) effortlessly blends and bends genres. It begins deceptively as a light comedy that turns dark abruptly. Then it glides into Hitchcockian suspense that transforms into all-out horror, all the while keeping its deliciously nasty humorous edge. The direction is top-notch and the camera-work fascinating. The main thing that makes this movie works is the exceptional ensemble cast of unlikeable oddball characters, led by the outstanding Maura (former Almodovar It-Girl).There are a few plot points that don't make sense and some of the pacing choices are rather odd, but the writing is witty enough to distract from this. There are also some action sequences that some might find ridiculous, but they fit in with the dark humor and inherent craziness and desperation in the story. "Common Wealth" is an excellent movie that is one of the best recent films from Spain that I've seen. My Rating: 8/10.
Infofreak
The last movie I saw directed by Alex de la Iglesia was the disappointing 'Perdita Duranga', which had very little of the inspired invention and originality of his brilliant horror comedy classic 'The Day Of The Beast'. It always felt like a bit of a compromise to me - Iglesia takes on Hollywood and loses. 'Common Wealth' sees the director back in Spain, and back in complete control, and what we end up with is a first rate thriller cum black comedy. Almodovar regular Carmen Maura leads a great ensemble cast in this hugely enjoyable movie. In some ways reminiscent of other "unexpected windfall" movies like 'Shallow Grave' and 'A Simple Plan', Iglesias then takes the basic plot premise in new, unforeseen directions. The viewer is left constantly surprised, and the film is engrossing right until the very end. Highly recommended!
