If Pedro Almódovar ever collaborated with Baz Luhrmann, the result might look something like this Spanish sex comedy, a tangled web of infidelity and deceit occasionally interrupted by song-and-dance routines set to well-known Hispanic pop tunes. The vocal limitations of the cast make the end result closer to Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You than Luhrmann's own Moulin Rouge, but it's still an agreeable confection with a broader appeal than most Euro fare.
A lot of that allure derives from its leading ladies Paz Vega and Natalia Verbeke, who spend much of the film fighting for the attentions of feckless yuppie Javier (Ernesto Alterio). But there's also a colourful supporting cast to savour, including a sexist cabbie and a private dick who thinks JFK committed suicide.
Okay, so the choreography of the musical numbers could do with some fine tuning, but that's a small price to pay for such a breezy, enjoyable piece of romantic whimsy.
