I’m So Excited!

Cast your eye over Pedro Almodóvar’s extensive filmography and you will find a few shards of comedy amid the family drama, sex and thrills. The fact that his latest film comes off the back of The Skin I Live In (2011 – his first foray into horror territory) initially makes the super-camp and borderline farcical nature of I’m So Excited! more surprising than it probably ought to be.

In truth, I’m So Excited! is certainly replete with many of Almodóvar’s visual and thematic hallmarks: sexually explicit acts and language, major identity crises, relationship problems and even an appearance by Antonio Banderas, albeit an extremely brief one. The premise is simple: – owing to a technical failure, a plane is forced to remain mid-flight indefinitely. This precarious situation results in less-than-reputable behaviour from almost all crew and passengers on board.

Almodóvar states himself that the style of comedy he’s emulating is that of 1930s and 40s American screwball, and it is clear how the comedy in I’m So Excited! stems from the extravagant characters of this genre and a traditionally outrageous script dialogue. Given the lean 90-minute running time, everything is established quickly, and therefore the opening 25 minutes are an absolute joy as the largely superb cast exchange Almodóvar’s salacious dialogue in breathless fashion.

Save for the cabaret act to The Pointer Sisters’ classic number from which the film gets its title, the humour isn’t particularly broad, nor does it produce any real “belly-laughs”. The ensemble remain consistently amusing throughout however, with the standout turn coming from Javier Cámara as Joserra, the tequila-swigging alcoholic chief steward who delivers his lines admirably while hilariously straight-faced. Kudos should also go to composer Alberto Iglesias, whose score is wonderfully excessive. That it could have been lifted straight from a serious thriller only serves to accentuate the eccentricity of the piece.

Overall I’m So Excited! is smart, crude, and very funny. And while it’s a film that’s unlikely to see Almodóvar garner further success at the Oscars, it does answer the burning question of whether he’s above fart jokes.

Tom Yates

I’m So Excited! is released nationwide on 3^rd May 2013.

Watch the trailer for I’m So Excited! here: