(Written for HeyUGuys)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, I’m So Excited is a Spanish ensemble comedy set aboard an airplane heading to Mexico City. When a technical failure endangers the lives of those on board and it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.
Directed by Almodavar, one of the first directors to enter mainstream cinema as openly gay, I’m So Excited is as camp as you can get. Full of secrets, lies, and sex, the film combines drama really with the playful comedy its promotional material has focused on. Crazy and melodramatic, I’m So Excited is far from reality but it’s certainly proud in its silliness, and there’s enough going on in between the singing and dancing around to make the characters and each of their stories effective at the same time.
The films only major stars are Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas who make small cameo appearances, but the rest of the cast are fantastic in their roles. The three main actors who play the stewards – Raúl Arévalo, Javier Cámara, and Carlos Areces – are hilarious and work together really well. The original Spanish title, Los amantes pasajeros, means both “the fleeting lovers” and “the passenger lovers” which works well for the many sub-plots going on in the film, but the English title comes from Pointer Sisters’ 1982 hit song that the stewards perform for the crew. It was this clip that made me want to see the film in the first place, so I’d recommend giving this a watch to know what you’re in for.
Special Features: 3/5
The special features on the DVD are fairly decent, consisting of a ‘making of’ video showing the director working with some of the cast, which is always quite interesting to see, a theatrical and teaser trailer, a making of the VFX showing how some of the effects aboard a plane were done, a video showing the creation of the airplane crash site to show how the final scene was set up, and finally a photo gallery showing both film stills and images of the cast working with the director. Again, a decent collection of extras but nothing overly special.
I’m So Excited was released on DVD on 26th August.
