Common Wealth

Starring:Maura, Antuna, Asquerino, Bonilla
Studio: Lolafilms Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Description

A lucky real estate agent... A decomposed body... A building full of greedy neighbors...300 million hidden in the cellar... Something smells rotten in this house. Julia finds 300 million pesetas hidden in a dead man's house while selling an apartment. She's a 40-ish real estate agent (played by Carmen Maura) now forced to face the wrath of a very peculiar community (of neighbors), headed by an unscrupulous administrator. Black humor gives way to suspense, closely followed by horror that doesn't take long in coming to a head in undisguised pandemonium

Customer Reviews:

If you crossbred Polanski's nightmarish 'The Tennant' with 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World'..........2007-06-04

you might get something like Spanish director Alex De La Iglesia's 'Commonwealth,' a delightful black comedy of greed and paranoia with an infectiously likable performance by the always engaging Carmen Maura, a gem-filled array of ooky supporting character performances, snazzy production design with a crumbling claustrophobic old apartment building as the centerpiece and deftly handled comic action sequences - with a satisfying interplay of humor and creepiness running throughout. This is the kind of lightweight movie Hollywood wishes it could still make, but hasn't been able to carry off in decades.

There are plenty of great middle-aged actresses out there who could carry a whole film with ease (as Maura does here), but how often are they given the opportunity? (I am dreading any news of a US remake - probably with Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman in the lead.) Maura is always charming, as her greed (and briefly, lust) battle it out with her common sense and survival instincts. We side with her Julia, even when she's doing things that are not strictly on the up and up. It's fun to watch her try to BS her way out of one tight spot after another (not without some skill - she is, after all, in sales), and we always know what Maura's character is thinking as she constantly plays right up to the edge for her shot at having her cake and (hopefully) living to eat it.

The director is a born filmmaker - a REAL filmmaker - who is criminally underappreciated in the US. He doesn't try to make "important" films, but his skill at crafting visually dazzling, frivolous and funny but dark-edged entertainments easily surpasses anything that I've seen coming out of the mediocrity mines of Hollywood for a long time. 'Commonwealth' may run into a bit of the same-old, wrapping itself up with an extended mechanical over-the-top comic-action chase sequence full of credibility stretching stunts - but even this is executed so beautifully that it can't be much of a letdown.

One of the things I always enjoy about De La Iglesia's films is his cinematic instinct for incorporating the sets and locations as participatory elements in the action. (See the pre-credits sequence of 'Day of the Beast' for a stunning example - if you can, that is, because that delightful and wickedly clever horror-comedy marvel is inexplicably unavailable in the US.) It is clear that De La Iglesia has learned a thing or two from Hitchcock, but Hitch might have picked up a couple of tricks from De La Iglesia if he were still around. There are a lot of very funny scenes with wonderful comic tension (Maura's near seduction by a way-too-smooth over-forty Cuban dance instructor sticks out in my memory - they both have more than sex on their minds), and these alternate with grisly, funny set pieces. (The moment I saw that nasty looking antique elevator in a De La Iglesia movie, I knew it would be put to evil use.)

I don't want to overhype this movie, because it isn't trying to change anyone's life - but it does provide value for your entertainment buck - and that's a lot more than can be said for most of the bloated exercises in overproduced tedium that have been stinking up the multiplexes for years. On it's modest terms 'Commonwealth' succeeds admirably. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it's solidly crafted and a lot of fun.

De La Iglesia also gives us yet another great credit sequence. I encourage (real) movie lovers to seek out this man's work. His films don't always work 100%, but they are always a gas to watch and genuinely cinematic in ways Hollywood films have long ceased to be. This one I found especially enjoyable - like a frosted cupcake with a surprise center that jumps out "OOGA BOOGA!" to startle you.

common wealth.......2007-01-19

carmen maura, without a doubt one of the best actresses of our times gives as amazing performance. this role earned her a goya award in spain(oscar) for best actress. the movie is funny and very almodovaresque with all its colorfull characters. a must see.

Pretty bad.......2006-11-06

After watching and enjoying Alex De Iglesia's "Crimen Ferpecto," I decided to check out some of his other films. This one was probably the worst of the bunch. "Common Wealth" is a fairly repetitive comedy about greed and duplicity that lacks the director's usual visual gusto. In the end he cranks it up for a finale that's heavy on stunts and physical comedy, but seems out of place with the rest of the film's tone.

A rare dud from Alex De La Iglesia.......2006-06-20

This is one of director Alex De La Iglesia's least provocative films. De La Iglesia, who is known for his subversive, wildly imaginative and unconventional movies, is saddled here with a tepid script that takes a familiar premise and adds little that is new or interesting to secnario. The plot basically revolves around a stash of money that a woman finds in an apartment building and how she tries to get that money out of the building while the scheming tenants try to stop her. If you like broad, over-the-top comedy, lots of boring exposition, and a lackluster attempt to tie up loose ends in a perfunctory finale, then this movie might be for you. Others need not apply.

A brilliant european film.......2006-05-31

If I hadn't been living in the US for quite a while now, I would have been puzzled by some American reviewers complaining about this movie as snail-paced, boring, predictable, etc. But that's right, fellas, don't waste your time with such superb, intricate, still very amusing European efforts. Stick with those unforgetable, all time classics such as Top Gun, Rambo, Lethal Weapon or the likes. They suit you.

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