Pablo Solarz's magical THE LAST SUIT opens -- finally! -- in New York and Los Angeles

When The Last Suit (El último traje) opened here in South Florida -- seven months ago! -- it had a hugely successful run, remaining in local theaters for weeks. It is finally reaching New York City, Los Angeles and elsewhere around the country, so a re-post for this wonderful movie is necessary.

There's no way to know, I think, as THE LAST SUIT (El último traje) begins, and an old and infirm grandfather gets into a very funny and bizarre conversation with his favorite grand-daughter, just where in hell this movie could possibly be heading. Before long it turns into a road trip, peopled with a host of wonderful characters brought to life by a splendid cast. At heart, though, it is a family saga/memory piece, by the finale of which, you may find yourself, as did I, in a puddle of quiet tears that have been absolutely earned by every moment that has come before.

Made by Pablo Solarz (shown at left), the movie boasts a filmmaker who has had quite an interesting history so far --  from the lovely little surprise, Intimate Stories (which he wrote), to A Husband for My Wife, a script that has been made into a film three times already, in three different languages: Spanish, Italian and Korean.

With The Last Suit, which works beautifully in every one of its many aspects, and which Solarz both wrote and directed, I suspect that this relatively young filmmaker may have a hard time topping himself. If he does, TrustMovies dearly hopes he will still be around to see the result.

What makes this movie work so well is how filled it is with empathy and compassion. This is neither overdone nor all that apparent for awhile, however, because its main character, Abraham Bursztein, played by that crack Argentine actor Miguel Ángel Solá, above and below, who is so damned perfect in the role of the nasty-but-needy grandpa that, were this an American movie, he'd be an immediate shoo-in for an Oscar nomination (and probably the award itself).

If Solá alone were all the film had to offer, it might be enough, so thoroughly has the actor nailed the infirmities and obscenities of old age, rolling them into a performance that -- via its combination of wit, humor and glum reality -- keeps you at bay even as it forces you to enter and finally empathize with the life of this man.

Fortunately, Abraham either meets or is surrounded by character after character who may initially seem gruff and unpleasant (and who would not be when confronted by a guy like this?) but who, once some understanding of the man and his need kicks in, warms up and comes to his aid. This would include the young fellow (Martín Piroyansky, at left, above) unlucky enough to be seated next to Abraham on a plane,

and the hôtelière (Ángela Molina, above, left) from whom he tries to con a "reduced rate" on his hotel room. What a pleasure it is to see one of Spain's great actresses on view here -- and singing, too! Best of all maybe are two characters our not-quite-hero meets along the way who come to his aid in ways both expected and quite not.

The lovely Julia Beerhold plays a German woman of the post-WWII generation who tries with all her might to both heal and make up for the sins of the past. (See the wonderful documentary Germans & Jews for a further and deeper exploration of this.) How Ms Beerhold's character honors Abraham's wishes proves memorable indeed. His last helper, a hospital nurse played beautifully by Olga Boladz, above, is the final enabler in bringing to a close Abraham's journey.

Along that journey, memory plays a major role, and Solarz's ability to infuse his images (as above) with the same beauty and compassion he feels for all his characters is rather extraordinary. Is The Last Suit sentimental? You bet. But the sentiment here is so earned and welcome, and the tale told so filled with humor, surprise and deep feeling that the result is a road trip very much worth taking, while Mr. Solá's performance is an absolute don't-miss.

From Outsider Pictures , in Spanish with English subtitles, and running a near-perfect 86 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, September 21, in New York City at the AMC Lincoln Square and the Kew Gardens Cinema in Queens, and on Friday, September 28, in Los Angeles in Laemmle's Music Hall and Town Center 5. To see if it will be playing near you, simply click here and then click on IN CINEMAS on the task bar at top.

DVDebut for a funny, French family movie: Laurent Tirard's NICHOLAS ON HOLIDAY

There's a lot to like about the smartly-made, 2014 French family comedy, NICHOLAS ON HOLIDAY (Les vacances du petit Nicolas) co-adapted -- from the children's book series by René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé -- and directed by Laurent Tirard. Set back in the 1960s and featuring a riot of colorful and nostalgic cars, clothes and set designs, the movie offers plenty of fun and frolic for the kids and eye-candy of all sorts for the adults who are likely to be watching with them.

From the opening credits that feature those used-to-be-popular post cards with resort town views (that come alive here in odd and funny ways) to the choice performances that M. Tirard (shown at right) draws from his excellent cast, the movie is full of energy, delight, and just enough of that typical French perversity to make it stand apart from any American film of this type. (Instead of mere fart jokes, we get a quite literal shower of shit.) Further, the movie explores themes such as the male gaze and how easily it strays, the female need for control via "love," and a wealth of oddball habits that distinguish one child from another.

The movie begins with the end of the school year and summer vacation in view, and from there it travels through the annual argument between mom (Valérie Lemercier, above, center right) and dad (Kad Merad, above, right) regarding mountain or seaside vacation, and finally to whether grandma (Dominique Lavanant, above, left) is to be allowed to join the family holiday.

In the role of young Nicolas, Mathéo Boisselier (above) is about as pert and adorable a young actor as you could want. Nicolas narrates the film and it is often from his point-of-view that we see and understand things. That POV is pretty funny, childlike and quite smart in its own way.

Tirard makes certain that his film is full of near-constant charming little touches that will draw out a smile, if not occasionally an outright guffaw. While some of the humor (the intentional change-of-plumbing-pipe incident and the kid who literally eats anything and everything) is pretty perverse, it is also pretty funny.

The supporting cast is made up of a nice array of ages and types, with Belgian actor Bouli Lanners (at left, two photos up) particularly effective as an old schoolmate of Nicolas' dad. M. Marad is properly glum and goofy, Ms. Lavanant's granny is also fine as the mother-in-law from hell, and Ms Lemercier gets her chance to shine in a scene involving too much champagne and a very funny dance number (below).

A kids' adventure that's also about adults having their own adventures, the movie culminates in a funny costume party, a pair of missing children, a fortress/castle dotted with WWII mines and other explosives, and mistaken identities involving gorilla suits.

Along  the way our Nicolas becomes "involved" with the girl next door (or maybe across the street), played by Chann Aglat (above, left, in one of our hero's wedding fantasies) and then with a girl named Isabelle (Erja Maltier, below, right), who begins as a member of some kind of French Adams Family before morphing into a very cute and loving kid.

All in all, Nicholas on Holiday ends up a sweet, funny and smart little movie. Kids'll love it -- if, that is, they can either speak French or read English subtitles, while adults who go along for the ride may be surprised at how easily digestible all this proves to be.

From Distrib Films US and distributed on DVD by Icarus Films Home Video, in French with English subtitles and running 97 minutes, Nicholas on Holiday hits the street this coming Tuesday, March 27 -- for purchase and/or (one hopes) rental.

Netflix streaming tip: Chris Kelly's smart dying-mom movie, OTHER PEOPLE

If the idea of viewing a film about a dying mother and the family that gathers around her sounds like a downer, the very first scene of OTHER PEOPLE, the much-loved Sundance movie that, as so often happens, died at the box-office, should easily set your mind at rest, even as your funny bone is alerted. That scene, in which immediate grief is interrupted by a phone call, is a low-key but hilarious surprise. And the rest of the movie follows along in similar style. Beautifully acted and written, and directed with unshowy precision, the movie is a quiet triumph.

The writer and director is a fellow named Chris Kelly (at right), who has earned his stripes writing for Saturday Night Live and elsewhere, yet the movie has none of SNL's often grating mediocrity and repetitiveness. Mr. Kelly knows what he's up to, and he does it very well. He has gathered a terrific cast to play those family members and friends, led by Jesse Plemons, as the son, and SNL alumnus Molly Shannon as his mom. Both are first-rate, revealing along the way levels of struggle and pain, intelligence and humor that provide a very nice mix.

The other cast members do fine, unshowy work, as well, and by the end of this 97-minute movie, you'll feel as though you've lived through something. And enjoyed it. The sub-theme here is of a young, gay man searching for family acceptance. While this ground has been tread numerous times already, thanks to Kelly's smart specificity regarding character coupled to Plemons' wonderfully rich performance, we see this struggle as though for the first time.

The characters here -- family members and friends alike -- all seem real and individual. Spending time with them proves alternately surprising and engaging, making Other People one of the year's loveliest oddball treats. The movie is out now on DVD and available to stream via Netflix.

Early, and most welcome, "Oscar" bait from Nat Faxton/Jim Rash: THE WAY WAY BACK

A coming-of-age-cum-how-I-spent-my-summer-vacation tale, THE WAY WAY BACK sneaks up on you. Moment to moment, it's as real as you could want, with interesting characters and situations, none of which are over-the-top in the manner of Little Miss Sunshine and Juno (two films with which it is being compared). In fact, it's rather ordinary. Yet it's this very ordinariness, served up remarkably well by a skillfully chosen and then beautifully calibrated ensemble cast, that makes it, at first funny and charming, finally important and moving, all without missing a beat or injecting a false moment. At this point in time, here's the movie to beat for Best Picture 2013.

The two men who wrote it -- Nat Faxon, at right, and Jim Rash, below left -- are the same guys who, with Alexander Payne, won the adapted screenwriting Oscar for The Descendants. This time the duo directs, as well, in addition to each man taking on a tasty supporting role in the film (both have acting resumes as long as  my legs). They do a sterling job in all three areas, and if I may say something a tad heretical, this is a bit better-directed film than is Payne's The Descendants -- which, in trying to cram so much into its less-than-two-hour time frame, occasionally seemed alternately under-cooked and over-baked.

Here, however, events are not nearly so momentous. Consequently everything and everyone moves along at a realistic clip, with nothing given a moment more than it deserves. This is how we create reality, movie-wise, at least. The plot of The Way Way Back concerns broken families taking a somewhat communal seaside summer vacation, in the same place yearly where neighbors know (and mostly look forward to seeing) each other during the season. The filmmakers take it for granted, as will most of us, that divorce is common, and so the kids of these families will have to piece together their lives with each parent separately, if at all. So it is with the three sets of families (two of whom have kids) who canoodle over this particular year.

Our underage hero is one, Duncan, played by up-and-comer Liam James, above, whose slightly Neanderthal appearance and behavior, seem just about perfect for that transitional age between boyhood and young manhood. Duncan, with his mom (another fine and properly toned-down performance from Toni Collette, below, left) comes to the summer quarters of mom's significant-other, Trent (a new kind of role for the increasingly versatile Steve Carell, below, right), and his older-than-Duncan daughter named Steph (an appropriately nasty Zoe Levin).

Pushy neighbor Betty (Allison Janney, below and excellent here) lives next door with her beautiful teenage daughter, Susannah (AnnaSophia Robb), and wandering-eyed younger son (a sweet, funny River Alexander).

Nearby reside friends Kip and Joan (Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet) who own a nice boat, which will later come into play. It only takes a night or two for the rondelay to begin, and this ensemble of first-rate performers does it proud.

Into Duncan's young life comes a life-changer named Owen, (Sam Rockwell, in another great performance that, this time, should lead to a nomination), who owns the local amusement/water park, and so we get another whole cast of characters from this venue (including the writer/directors, as well as Maya Rudolf, below, giving a quiet, gentle and lovely performance). All of this meshes so naturally and interestingly that TrustMovies, an inveterate clock-watcher, didn't once check the time during the entire film.

A problem with so many coming-of-age movies is that they jack-up the content with unnecessary melodrama. Not here. The beauty of The Way Way Back is how absolutely in keeping with the moment is each performance, each event, each bit of dialog. The situation might seem do-or-die to the protagonist, but audiences tend to know that it's really not, so any untoward melodramatics simply alienate us. We understand that all this is but one more step along the way in the game of growing up -- a game, by the way, that has rarely been depicted better than here.

In its final moments, which beautifully echo the manner in which the film began, a small action is taken. It surprises us, then overwhelms us, making the movie perhaps the most genuinely-earned, feel-good experience of the year.

The Way Way Back -- from Fox Searchlight and running 103 minutes -- opens this Friday, July 5, here in NYC at the AMC Empire 25, AMC Loews Lincoln Square, and the Regal Union Square Stadium 14; in Los Angeles, look for it at the AMC Century City 15, The Landmark and the Arclight Hollywood. It will simultaneously open this week in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC, and in the weeks to come will continue a nationwide rollout.

SCN: CARMINA OR BLOW UP--Paco León's unique celebration of a con-artist mother

TrustMovies needed to find a film among the recent Spanish Cinema Now batch to which he could take a very elderly, long-time friend who detests violent and/or hard-to-follow movies. From the press description of CARMINA OR BLOW UP -- "picaresque comedy," "love letter to mother" -- it sounded like it might do the trick. Yikes! But my friend was a good sport, and actually found the movie so unusual that she was relatively fascinated. She used to go to Spain yearly on business, staying in the better hotels and dining out in nice restaurants. "But I never," she explained with some surprise, "met anyone like this!"

Nor have I. Here we are on one of the lower economic rungs of the Spain's 99 per cent, with a woman who is said to be the director's mother. Or maybe an actress playing his mother, or maybe his mother playing a character somewhat like his mother -- for this is one of those new hybrids, a mish-mash of documentary and/or narrative, that combines, well, whatever works. Gloriously, almost everything here does.

Starting with the lead actress, a bundle of energy and quirks who goes by the name of Carmina Barrios, the movie marshals an array of smart, specific, bizarre performers and situations that bounce off each other and build to a hilarious and somehow just conclusion -- in the face of the fact that Carmina herself is a world-class scam artist who just wants to take care of herself, her family and friends.

These include the folk pictured above and below, beginning with her daughter, María León, presumably the sister of the filmmaker, a certain Paco León, who is shown above with his sis and "mom," and below with only "mom."

To call this guy a born filmmaker would seem too obvious; he's that and more -- if this near-sui generis movie is any indication. He and his cast grab us from the outset, particularly the zoftig leading lady who possesses such energy and certainty that she figuratively, sometimes literally, mows down all obstacles in her quest to provide sustenance for a confirmation/family reunion (below).

These would include her insurance adjuster, a bill collector, even some juvenile delinquents who steal the family truck, not to mention us poor viewers who are but putty in her very strong hands. The plot, if you can quite call it that, takes us back about a month from the movie's socko beginning, where Carmina sits at her kitchen table and simply fills us in on some history.

Then we move ahead in increments, as we learn more about the several robberies that have occurred of late at the family-owned bar. Seems Carmina and her husband, below, are having trouble paying their bills. How they finally surmount this becomes pretty much the gist of the film, as Señor León uses everything from fun visuals (above) to crazy characters performed to a tee in order to create this amazing and vital world.

Special attention is given to the hams (below) that are needed to feed the party. How Carmina gets these -- and ends up paying her bills -- is the best joke of them all.

Running only 70 minutes, all of them put to good use,  León's movie is short, swift and lively as hell. It played but once at this year's Spanish Cinema Now, but it will surely be seen again -- if only as a kind of calling card announcing, "Hey, movie world, I've arrived." Has he ever!

SCN: DON'T TOUCH THE DEAD, KID explores families and funerals in the 50s

Reminiscent of two other relatively recent Hispanic movies about families and funerals, DON'T TOUCH THE DEAD, KID (Los muertos no se tocan, nene), from the 70-year-old Spanish director José Luis García Sánchez (shown below), may remind you of both My Mexican Shiva and Nora's Will -- except that the time frame is 1950s Spain rather than present-day Mexico, the religion is Catholic rather than Jewish, and the cinematography is nicely old-fashioned black-and-white.

References to James Dean and other 50s icons pop up periodically, as the film tracks the day that the great-grandpa of a barely-bourgeois family kicks the bucket, and a reunion of sorts occurs for the outcast, black-sheep daughter with her dad and sister. This daughter brings along her déclassé hubby (below, right) and their street-smart son, and the two sets of families, featuring four generations, mix it up. Also involved are a maid or two, and several workmen who appear during the day, most especially one that is installing the family's very first television set.

Though the movie is rife with anger, suspicion, neglect and confu-sion, there's a gentleness to Señor García Sánchez's treatment that helps the material come into its comic resonance. At times it seems almost sweetly nostalgic; at other moments it's ready to lacerate the hypocrisy of Spain's Catholic Church under Franco.

Preview

Along the way we learn about everything from bullfighting to how to place dentures into a dead man (below). If, by the end of its 90 minutes, the movie seems like it ought to have been slightly funnier, nastier, sadder and richer, well, maybe so. It's certainly not bad, as is, and the talented and game cast, including Carlos Iglesias (above, left), from this year's Ispansi!) does a bang-up job -- especially Mariola Fuentes (above, right) as the family's very savvy maid.

The film played twice at this year's Spanish Cinema Now, but so far as I know, it has not yet been picked up for U.S. distribution.