It should not be said that Spanish cinema does not know how to recycle its past successes: sequelitis is a syndrome that affects the audiovisual sector and affects all corners. Therefore, it is not surprising that we have in the account All sides of the beda late sequence of The other side of the bed (2002) and Both sides of the bed (2005). The return of the characters 20 years later is not complete, especially considering the time many of the cast spend on screen.
You will see Ernesto Alterio and Pilar Castro, the main protagonists, parade through the film, and a parade of the others: Alberto San Juan, María Esteve, Natalia Verbeke and Guillermo Toledo, who can be seen, the latter acting as ectoplasm, who knows why! They are accompanied, of course, by a new generation of actors, including Lucía Caraballo (Animal) and Jan Buxaderas (Serve and protect).
There is nostalgia, of course, but also the desire to revive a franchise that was very successful and quite irreverent at the time. Not only because of the themes covered, but because of the way of launching them in a very unusual format of national musical comedy in which some of the biggest pop hits in Spanish were covered.
In All sides of the bed There is a desire to recover this spirit, but it must be noted that Comedy only works with veterans on the front lines, who are those who support the foundations of a story with their humorous vision. which is otherwise considered quite obsolete, if not obsolete.
And the reasons are very varied: the musical part is an absolute fiasco because it has no grace or quality. It’s very kitsch in terms of staging (clothes, lighting, choreography…), which should give it a comical touch, but it’s so embarrassing that it doesn’t work.
At the level of discourse, Although it is easy to accept the idea that new generations are experiencing a significant setback and a shift towards conservatism, the intergenerational oxymoron does not end up holding true either.which made the reflection a little more interesting.
In search of a heterogeneous audience
All sides of the bed brings us back to Javier and Carlota (Ernesto Alterio and Pilar Castro) who, after decades of not seeing each other, face each other head on.
Both are scandalized when their children Óscar and Julia decide to get married in a step that is as traditional as it is strange for them, champions of free and unapologetic love and firm advocates that their children experience much more before committing.
Their entire ecosystem suffers parental interference: from the wedding organizer, who is none other than Pilar, to their friend Carlos or Rafa, now recycled into a guru against toxic relationships, but the objective of preventing the wedding becomes an impossible mission.
Young people seem completely convinced and satisfied with their decision… and that’s not because they don’t put obstacles in their way.
What’s most surprising All sides of the bed is that, instead of looking for a rounded script to revive a franchise that could do more (sentimental and sexual relationships are always an easy topic to explore, especially with the changes we have experienced in the last two decades), we opted for a much more short-term perspective of releasing a film that seems like a compromise solution to have a good first weekend at the expense of living off rent.
With the disadvantage that it brings with it a true identity crisis, greater than that of any of the characters because, who is this film aimed at? Young viewers will have little incentive in the casting of new faces, as the real protagonists are the veteran actors and, for those of us who saw the first two films on the big screen, it is a lukewarm return and so late that they lost interest.
The question is whether, at this point, certain jokes will continue to be funny, when we already have a sexual diversity that has even been the object of mass interest in First Encounters, deeply integrated into the collective unconscious. Nothing shocks, nothing moves, nothing maddens by its sharp irony. It lacks chicha and is outdated.
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