Adriana Ozores

Set almost entirely in a nicely-appointed conference room in a Madrid office building, The Method begins with a very telling split-screen montage: As we watch the characters go about their morning routines, traffic is piling up and the streets thickening with protestors. The IMF-World Bank conference is in town and the anti-globalization forces are marshalling for a Seattle-esque day of angry confrontation. But this is of little concern to the seven, who have taken advantage of the protests (many offices have shut down for the day) to go to a group interview for an executive job at Dexia Corporation. Of course, we are never privy to knowing what it is that Dexia does, but such specifics are entirely beside the point.

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Nobody's Life is so similar to Time Out that a plagiarism charge might well be in order. But seriously, I'm sure it's unintentional, and maybe writers Eduard Cortés and Piti Español never even saw that dark and haunting masterpiece. But here's the same story nonetheless, as ostensibly successful bank executive Emilio (a droll José Coronado) is eventually revealed to be living a lie. He doesn't go to work: He goes to a park bench, where he simply sits, all day long. He's done this for 12 years. For money, the family lives off his wife's income and cash he's managed to swindle from his friends to "invest" for them. (Even this side plot appears in Time Out.) Eventually Emilio is found out and his world crumbles apart.

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The city in question is Paris, where Max, the family patriarch and owner of a large pharmaceutical company, has traveled from Madrid seeking treatment for a tumor that has left him slightly demented and close to death. By his side is his wife Marie (the formidable Geraldine Chaplin, as thin and cold as an icicle), who clearly has something dark on her mind. She's joined by her three sons, Luis (Roberto Alvarez), Alberto (Alex Casanovas), and the youngest, Victor (Leonardo Sbaraglia), who flies in from Argentina with his girlfriend (Leticia Bredice) for what may be Max's death watch.

Continue reading: The City Of No Limits Review