Queens (2005)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is an amazing journey, and the posters and advertisement does it no justice at all.We are about to witness a huge Gay wedding in where over 20 gay couples are to be wed at the same time in Spain. If can only imagine the thought of focusing on six of those gay couples and followed them around as they are frantic and running around in a hurried attempt to get ready for their wedding. That would be pretty stressful and exciting for you would have a hilarious drama with this plot alone, right? Well what if you took the emphasis from the grooms and followed their high strung mothers. Mothers who are loving and supportive of their gay sons, yet to some degree are a bit embarrassed that they are about to attend a gay marriage and that is when you will have the real dramatic journey of our "Queens" in this tale. That is what makes this realistic, edgy, dramatic, and hilarious story. No matter what your mother is like, one of these women will probably remind you of yours. Yes, even if she is a whore and cannot keep her legs closed for more than five minutes.This film is brilliant and clever, all the while successfully avoiding cliché stereotypes for how the gays should or may seem to appear in most movies (ex: Drugs, Clubs). Some of the couples are from mixed social classes but the film approaches all the couples as if they were any regular couples seriously getting ready for a wedding. Yet no matter how rich or poor you are, or how gay or straight you are everyone has drama as they approach their wedding day and ironing out all their kinks and making this day magical.Thus leading us to several scenes where traumatic conflict occur and one of the most shocking scenes involve a mother and her future son in law, I was mortified. I will also say that the only unrealistic fact of this movie is that almost all of the scandals or unfortunate situations resulted in a surprisingly optimistic end.I was most impressed with this film for the overall message was love, happiness, tolerance and letting go of prejudice. There is one warning however. You will need to pay attention for some of the flash backs even to a few hours before start to give you a bit of whiplash. You will need to watch to see where you are in the time line. Even though this can be a bit confusing I must say that this is the best subtitled movie I have ever scene. For I literally forgot I was reading the film and was focused or should I say caught up in the drama and action of the movie. Go see it for you will Love it.PS. If there is ever an English remake I would love to be in this movie, for the only thing it lacked was a female impersonator. *wink*

What is this ? A low budget sex comedy ? Anyway it describes perfectly the people in Spain. They could come up with a better idea, I mean they do this kind of movies since the 60s.. and people like them ! This is neither a teen comedy nor a family one (you can't let your 12 year old watch 2 guys in bed kissing, he'll never want to go to Spain). This should be rated "R", because only people 35+ seem to laugh watching :S I'm truly disappointed, maybe I don't like gays (which is quite an important part of the movie).Foreign humor is awful in films (except Kusturica), stick with doing dramas! If you want a new comedy try Talladega Nights

Director Manuel Gómez Pereira has long been respected both in Spain and around the world for his edgy, hilarious, clever and wildly entertaining films. Writing with Yolanda García Serrano he has hit the mark with REINAS ('Queens') not only in taking on controversial subject matter and creating a successful comedy out of politically dangerous topic, but he has also done so by avoiding the usual pitfalls of gay stereotypes, making the focus of this film about Spain's approval of gay marriages not on the men involved, but instead on their mothers - the real Queens.The story is fairly straightforward (if you will): there is to be a group wedding of gay couples in which three of the couples involved have frantic problems with their mothers' attending. Some of the mothers approve, others despair, others take advantage of the situation to meet their own needs. The effect of these 'double mothers-in-law' on the six men involved is packed with surprises, secrets, bizarre behavior, confessions, manifestations of life patterns less than reputable, and whirling dervish spins on acceptance.The mothers are portrayed by some of the finest actresses in Spanish cinema: Marisa Paredes portrays Reyes, a famous actress (hysterically identified as Carmen Maura) whose class refuses to accept the cat that her son is marrying her gardener's son; Carmen Maura (yes) plays Magda, the owner of a new hotel chain catering to gays; Verónica Forqué is Nuria, a sex addicted nymphomaniac whose drives don't prevent her form bringing her lusts home to her family; Mercedes Sampietro plays Judge Helena who barely tolerates the effect of a public wedding of her son on her career but ends up being forced to perform the ceremony; and Argentine actress Betiana Blum is Ofelia, a restaurant owner/worker who arrives form Buenos Aires for the wedding with her runabout dog causing antics that threaten her son's relationship. The sons are played to perfection and without the slightest bit of stereotypical behavior we usually encounter in these films by six excellent actors: Gustavo Salmerón, Unax Ugalde, Hugo Silva, Daniel Hendler, Paco León, and Raúl Jiménez.Manuel Gómez Pereira makes fine use of flashbacks and flash-forwards that enhance the breakneck speed the story needs. There is enough tenderness on the part of every actor to offset the near-slapstick comedy scenes, and in the end the movie leaves the audience with a true sense of celebration - not only for the characters involved in the story but also with the forward movement of human rights in Spain. This is a highly entertaining, polished, classy film that deserves a very wide audience. Grady Harp, September 06

I too saw this movie in Spain when I was at school in Barcelona.I saw it 3 times actually because I was learning Spanish and since no subtitles in spain of course it was a great exercise in learning. Plus it's so funny! I can't wait to buy it on DVD (of course subtitles optional for my English friends) THIS movie is funny. The Spanish really do believe viva como tu quieras (live as you want) Though yes some of the mothers don't fully understand homosexuality you can see how they simply want their children to be happy.This is a great movie about finding happiness and letting go of prejudices.Go see it at the artsy theatres when it comes here or rent it when it's on DVD.