Why so much hype?

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

In London, a Spanish woman finds passion with a stranger a week before she is to be married. The main attraction here (other than the leading lady) is a somewhat clever plot twist. Unfortunately, there's little else. Making his first feature film, writer-director Parkhill tries to put in every trick he learned from watching MTV videos. It comes across as amateurish in terms of story and direction, botching whatever potential the film had of being a decent thriller. As the temperamental Carmen, Verbeke is hot looking but her acting is lukewarm. As the Latin lover, Bernal doesn't do much except look intense. D'Arcy, who looks like Norman Bates in "Psycho," is rather bland as the ditched husband.

Director and screenplay writer Matthew Parkhill tells us that one has to dot the I in the word love in Spanish when there isn't such need for anyone to do so since the word doesn't contain the letter! Well, if one believes that, then there is nothing wrong with this film that seems to get a favorable reaction from the people that have watched it if one goes by the votes of ten and nine given in this forum.We never heard about such thing as the bride-to-be must pick out a handsome stranger to kiss during her shower, in France, or in any other country. Evidently, if Carmen liked what she saw in Kit, then why bother to marry Barnaby? It appears the Englishman was not great in the sex department, something that the hot Brazilian was able to fulfill without any problem.The first minutes of the film are fine. Then, it meanders with no definitive direction as we are asked to stretch our imagination beyond the limit. The three principals show no chemistry. What's more the situation is somewhat absurd and goes from a romantic comedy into a film noir which doesn't make much sense.The only problem we experienced was one of credibility. Gabriel Garcia Bernal working in English doesn't seem as sharp as in his previous Mexican appearances. Natalia Verbeke shows stiffness as a flamenco dancer. James DArcy goes into a complete transformation from a man consumed by love for the beautiful Carmen into someone else.

Crap until exactly 2/3's of the movie when the twist occurs. Then it turns brilliant. At least, D'Arcy gets to have some fun with the role.The setup took so long I nearly didn't wait around for the payoff. But it's a fun plot twist payoff.The inter-cutting between film and video was annoying in the early stages. It didn't really work as either happy home video footage or as clues leading up to the twist.The final third was delicious. Sadly, it wouldn't have worked to let it play out longer.The performances were generally mediocre, altho' Barnaby (D'Arcy) gets to shine at the end.Art direction was lovely - managed to evoke both London and somewhere ambiguously Latin.

Having seen most of Bernal's films, or at least everything available in the US, I've grown to like him greatly as an actor, thus explaining my motivation for renting this. The description given on the jacket, added with the blurb equating it with Memento (which was a very entertaining mind-boggle), talked me in. Call it a two-for-two deal.Reading through the commentary left by others, I'm troubled by the negativity being attached. Exactly when did it become a crime to invoke plot-twists as a story device? The last I knew, filmmakers such as Hitchcock and Preminger relied upon them incessantly. A twist in plot, if carried off well, can satisfy viewers and fire the imagination.Personally, I find the romantic drama as a genre in dire need of a wake-up call. Films such as this one, Closer, Unfaithful, Wicker Park, and very few others, are daring to attempt something original, whether it be a more frank look at relationships, a less clichéd or sexist view of infidelity, or a new take on the love triangle... and by new I mean new in both this film and Wicker Park. Rather than recycle Shakespeare, Jane Austen, or An Affair To Remember for the forty-billionth time, the director and cast broke new ground.This is not a perfect film, and really, honestly, who gets entertainment from "perfect" films? Admiration, yes. Respect, yes. Are perfect films fun though? That's an argument for a forum... I gave this an eight out of ten, with two points off for those imperfections. The three leads are solid; the story is clever and solid enough. The two points to perfection can easily be forgiven.I had fun watching this movie.