Official Competition

Everyone on screen is having a ball — albeit behind the straightest of faces — in this uproarious gallimaufry of movie-related pretentiousness.

This Spanish-language satire of the film industry, from the Argentinian duo Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat, is one big and delightful inside joke for the art-house aficionado.

Official Competition is a bit long and could have used some more of the offbeat humor that it excels at. But overall, it’s a worthwhile journey into pulling back the curtain satirically on movie magic.

Cruz is the film's MVP as Lola, kookier than she's ever been, and playing well into the character's question mark of a persona — is she a true auteur or a hack? You never really find out, but watching Lola become increasingly disillusioned with the whole project makes her the closest we get to a relatable character in this whole heightened satire.

The Spanish comedy/satire Official Competition plays on those clichés, and yet doesn’t really say anything new. But thanks to its A-list cast, led by Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, it’s quite enjoyable.

In short, Official Competition is nicely balanced, and the poiser-in-chief is Cruz, whose portrayal of Lola goes way beyond simple wackiness.

As a fan of Cohn and Duprat’s tighter, darker previous collaborations I was keenly aware of the passage of screen time and slack pacing here. “Official Competition” feels like an 80 minute spoof bundled in the gauze of a 115 minute film.

Huge fun! See it in a movie theater, where the contrast between grand architectural spaces and wry farce ramps up the humor.

Penélope is amazing. Great movie and so funny. I love movies about cinema.

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'Official Competition' tries to be something like 'The Square,' but it doesn't even come close. This satire about an elderly millionaire who wants to make a movie to leave a "legacy," hiring the most popular and award-winning artists in the field, is sustained thanks to the performances of its three protagonists. Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Óscar Martínez are great; their chemistry is the core of the story, and while not hilarious, several comedic moments that poke fun at the pretense and ego that often exists in this setting are on point. The main problem is the long duration, its redundancy, and the little character development; we're simply facing a series of vignettes that intend to comment on artistic creation. And just as there are good moments of comedy, there are other very basic ones, especially the one about the virility of Antonio Banderas' character. 'Official Competition' ends up being something like "The Man Who Sold His Skin." Either way, I think that one entertained me more than this one.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]