Cheap Mouth to Mouth (DVD) (Javier Bardem, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Josep Maria Flotats) (Manuel Gómez Pereira) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mouth to Mouth

A good Spanish comedy about a struggling actor
Javier Bardem plays Victor Ventura, a young man who moves to Madrid to make it as an actor. While waiting for his big break, he struggles to make ends meet as a pizza delivery man. Forced to find a way to make more money, he becomes a phone sex operator. His first client, a man who calls himself "Bill." Some time later, he is requested by a woman named "Amand" and, during their phone conversation, he immediately falls for her and breaks the cardinal rule of the group: meeting one of the callers. After a fantastic night together, she confesses her true reason for calling him and enlists his help to get evidence so she can divorce her husband, "Bill." And, he's just about to get his big break in an American film. But things are not quite what they seem, and Victor soon finds himself involved in a murderous plot as well as a love triangle.

This is a charming and funny comedy gem from Spainsh director Manual Gómez Pereira. Javier Bardem does a fine job as Victor and really carried the film. I had problems with his character immediately falling for Amanda (played superbly by Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). No build up to the relationship or any understanding why he falls for her. Alastair Mackenzie does a fine job as the American movie director Oswaldo, though much of the English diaolgue (from other characters) is obviously dubbed and sounds very stiff and unnatural.

Overll, it's a fun movie to watch, and I really enjoyed Javier Bardem's performance.

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"There are a lot of repressed men--all with phones."
In the Spanish comedy, "Mouth to Mouth", Victor Ventura has dreamed of becoming an actor since boyhood. As a pizza delivery driver in Madrid, he waits for his big break, but after a run of bad luck, he turns to 'Hot Line' --a telephone--I'll euphemistically call it--entertainment operation run by a mother and son team. After telling himself that "rich guys get turned on by labourers", Victor uses Robert De Niro for inspiration and soon becomes a natural in the world of adult telephone entertainment.

Victor (known as Salvador at the Hot Line) picks up a regular male customer known as Bill. Victor also breaks the rules and becomes rather intimately involved with another caller who calls herself Amanda. Suddenly Victor finds himself up to his neck in intrigue--there's a femme fatale, a murder plot, and a multi-million dollar film.

Javier Bardem stars as Victor, and this role was created before Bardem became a recognizable name in Hollywood. Actually, I prefer "Mouth to Mouth" to any other film Bardem has made. He's got great comedic talent, and his facial features naturally lend themselves to being cast as the innocent, guileless fall guy. Several times during "Mouth to Mouth", Victor auditions for roles and comes off very credibly as the nervous wannabe performing an atrocious Broadway number, the foul-mouthed tough guy, and the great Latin Lover. He switches between characters and makes it look easy. When Victor takes his first phone call at the Hot Line he calls on all his acting talent to help him 'save' the call, and the scene is really well done. The culture of the Hot Line office is particularly amusing, and some of the calls are hilarious.

"Mouth to Mouth" almost has the feel of an Almodovar film--but this is mainly due to pacing and the character of Victor's agent, the semi-hysterical and babbling Angela. However, "Mouth to Mouth" is essentially a comedy and verves firmly away from the darker philosophical issues that Almodovar often wrestles with. "Mouth to Mouth" is a great foreign comedy, and I think most people could easily relate to its universal humour-displacedhuman.

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Javier Bardem as "Victor" gets into some phone sex.
Javier Bardem plays "Victor" who has been trying very hard to find work to be an actor. With his agent he has been trying for fifteen months. While delivering pizza to a company, he realizes there is a room full of phone sex operators. Since acting auditions are not getting him anywhere right now. He decides to quit and leave town. His agent talks him out of it with a big movie company coming to town in a few weeks. In the meantime, he begins work as a phone sex operator. His first client is a man. The hot talk is a success. Now he tries his business with women clients and in person as well. This film is spoken in English and Spanish. Use of yellow subtitles in English is used. Rated R.