My Big Night (Mi gran noche)
Spain 2015
Written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría & Álex de la Iglesia
Directed by Álex de la Iglesia
Watched on 29.04.2016

“My Big Night” was absolutely hilarious. A fun, wildly energetic romp from start to finish, it depicts the shoot of a New Year’s Eve special – in October, of course – that slowly but surely gets completely out of control, be it because of accidental deaths that may or may not be due to a woman at the table bringing bad luck, the semen-theft of a young woman from up-and-coming singer Adanne, the constant dispute and bickering between the two hosts of the show (who also happen to be married), the weird behavior of the main star Alphonso, or a rabid fan’s plot to kill him.

Granted, humor is extremely subjective, but I for one had a blast with “My Big Night”. I loved the setup, the absurdity of it all, the wacky characters and crazy developments, and so on. There were many funny scenes and great gags, like Adanne’s song (complete with suggestive lyrics), which were absolutely hysterical. And even though before the movie, I had never – consciously – heard of Raphael (who, as I learned before the screening, is a huge star in Spain) – I thought that it was great that with Alphonso, he made fun of himself and his image. I really loved him in this role, but to be honest, pretty much everyone involved here was great, so much so that it would feel highly unfair to single anyone out. They all did a remarkable job. I also quite enjoyed the songs, even though I feared that they wouldn’t be my cup of tea. The entire film moved at a swift pace, and with its absurdity, the depiction of an artistic endeavor, and its wild energy, it sometimes reminded me of “Birdman” (even though that, despite some very funny scenes, was more on the drama-side of things, while this is a straight-out comedy). The only things that I’d criticize are that because of the huge amount of characters, most of them stay pretty one-dimensional, and aren’t really fleshed out. It’s also not an especially deep movie, and more interested in simply entertaining its audience than to convey any sort of message (provided I didn’t miss anything). And while I found much of the movie very funny, admittedly not every single gag hit home. However, for most of the time, “My Big Night” was a hoot.
8/10

IMDB