Friday, August 10, 2018

Netflix streaming tip: take a chance on Vicente Villanueva's film of Laurent Baffie's TOC TOC


Making fun of folk who suffer from OCD? How politically incorrect! On the other hand, TOC TOC -- the Spanish film directed by Vicente Villanueva and adapted by the filmmaker from Laurent Baffie's French play of the same name -- is so wonderfully funny, and at heart as sweet as a cuddle from someone you love, that it will be very difficult, TrustMovies suspects, to hold any sort of grudge against it for very long.

Señor Villanueva (shown at right) has put together such a glossy, amusing, expertly acted piece of utter fluff  that the poster's tag line (above) -- which translates, I believe, as "An obsessively entertaining comedy" seems absolutely on-the-nose.

The situation here involves a half dozen different characters (shown below), each of whom has his/her own different disorder, who meet in the office of a psychiatrist who is said to be of great help with OCD. Unfortunately, the doctor is not in; he's stuck abroad and on his way back, so our patients will just have to deal with themselves and each other until he arrives. And so the fun ensues.

The disorders here are wildly different, and the movie's expert cast includes some of Spain's finest performers. What a treat it is to see Rossy De Palma once again, along with Paco Léon, Alexandra Jiménez, Nuria Herrero, Adrián Lastra and especially Oscar Martinez, who I would say steals the show expect that they all do at one point or other. What a delightful group of actors is gathered here!

And the way in which Villanueva and Baffie have tossed these folk together and then made such great good fun of their fumblings and self-education proves very different from almost anything you'll have so far seen. Thanks to Netflix for gifting us with this little gem.  You can stream it now, here.

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