Any years ago one friend, tell me says me that this film is a good film, and a film for crying. After this comments I see others films "Luna de Avellaneda", and other of Ricardo Darin "El Aura" and "Nueve Reinas". All this films liked me very much.I'm a man that rarely I cry when I see a movie, and I don't like the cheaper dramatic films, but I will want to see this film because the director and the actor are good.I don't believe before to see this films, that I will see so intense. I cry when I seeing this film, the scenes of love between the fathers, It's are very beautiful.I see this film in a Dvix copy and I need buy yet the DVD.

Son of the BrideWhen I read the short description of this Argentinean film, "Son with broken marriage deals with his dads desire to renew marriage vows with his wife with Alzheimer's" I hesitated to watch it. I down loaded it to my Tivo because of it's three star rating, but had no great desire to re--live my mothers long decline into that particular abyss.We had just started to watch "Out of Sight" a Hollywood product that had George Clooney meeting his co-star "cute" in the trunk of a getaway car. A contrived vehicle for brand name stars that delivered the audience and made a buck for the investors. That's the American way. We cut it off after twenty minutes and decided we may as well give this one a try.Nobody met "cute" in this film. There is a son with a broken marriage and barely tolerable relations with his ex whom he kept in contact with over the shared love of their daughter. The demented mother, was depicted with just enough realism to give a taste of the true sadness of this disease, while not overwhelming the film with despair. Maybe it was extra meaningful to me, since my Mother was like her, the rare person who did not suffer from her illness, but bathed in some blessed contentment.I will not try to go into detail why this film was so beautiful. When everything works perfectly, the writing, directing and the acting; all you have is the unfolding of the story on the screen. There is nothing to say about the people or their interactions--- they are just being themselves. In real life, we don't have heroes. The strongest people are those who can make the people around them feel good about themselves. If they are gorgeous they don't wear makeup to accentuate it. If they are rich they talk about a cheap meal they had a restaurant. And if they are very smart, they talk sports.So, by watching this film, you get to spend a couple hours with these people. Nothing will be more enjoyable. And stay through the titles that roll at the end, there is one final joke that completes the experience.

A great feel-good type of film. Campanella lives up to promise and delivers yet again, as he dives head first into the story of a forty-something going through a mid-life crisis. Ricardo Darin (Rafael Belvedere) shows us why he's one of South America's biggest stars as he puts in a performance to rival "Nine Queens" (another great Argentinian film). He's complemented by Natalia Verbeke who plays his girlfriend (and who is in possession of the world's greatest smile) and Héctor Alterio and Norma Aleandro who play his parents. Aleandro in particular contributes some magnificent scenes, playing an aged woman struggling to cope with mental illness. A really good film that will restore your faith in humanity....A bit corny?? oh well.... Funny, original, and well put together. Recommended for everyone!!

Son of the bride competed in the 74th (2001) Oscar's Foreign Language film category which was won by No Man's Land. Of the remaining three contestants, I've only seen the over-rated Amelie. No Man's Land is a good choice. Son of the bride has some wonderful moments but is on the whole a little bit over-loaded.As the title suggests, the story revolves around the "son", in this case one middle-aged restaurateur Rafael (Ricardo Darin) in a mid-life crisis. The film unfolds with a whirlwind of events, activities and characters surrounding his life: the parents' struggle with the mother's Alzheimer, the stressful but rewarding restaurant business, the relationship with divorced wife (and her boyfriend), reaching out to the growing daughter, undercurrent of problem with girlfriend, a childhood buddy appearing out of nowhere (and becoming a rival for the girlfriend). The audience experiences something akin to the whirlwind of calls on the mobile pounding Rafael in the opening sequence, eventually punctuated by Rafael's heart attack. Recovering, Rafael reflects on his life and decides to get away from it all. The events surrounding him however do not seem to approve of his plan, and he finally decides to sell the restaurant.The various sub-plots are handled with various degrees of success. But even at its worst, however, it's never sappy. At its best, it's marvelous. That is when the other part of the title comes in, about "the bride", accounting for the father's attempt to make it up to the Alzheimer patient mother by giving her a church wedding she never had. Here is the most touching part of the film, played by two most wonderful Argentine artists. Comparison of Hector Alterio (playing the father Nino) and Norma Aleandro (playing the mother Norma) with two very similar roles in The Notebook (1994) played by James Gardner and Gena Rowlands right away shows how sensible, subtle under-acting out-classes tear-jerking over-acting. In response to Nino's deeply loving question (although casually put) of where should they go for honeymoon, Norma's cryptic reply of "To hell" is at the same time both funny and poignant, touching far deeper than a run-of-the-mill tear-jerking scene possibly can.Just like "Les Invasions Barbares" that won the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film two years later, "El hijo de la novia" tackles brilliantly the touchy subject of aging and death. Consider the scene in which Nino makes a series of calls to line up wedding guests, most of whom he apparently had not been in touch for a long time. In one of the calls, he freezes for a second upon hearing the answer from the other side of the line, and said, "Oh, I didn't know that". On the immediately following call, he starts by asking, "Is you husband still alive?" The effect is hilarious, and come closer to anything that I've seen in laughing in the face of death.In the final analysis, this is a brilliant film and if there's a small flaw, it's in having a little too much put into it. Trimming some of the non-essentials to reduce the 123 minutes to maybe 110 minutes may make it even better.