Adriana Ozores Movies

A new circle of friends helps a woman come to terms with grief in this Spanish drama. Ana (Julieta Serrano) is a middle-aged woman who is struggling to put her life back in order after the death of her husband. Ana isn't the only one in her family with problems -- her son Antonio (Antonio de la Torre) is having trouble with his marriage, and her grandson Ezequiel (Alexander Biggie) can't convince his father that he's more interested in dancing than football. Ana finds a new lease on life when she meets a group of neighborhood women who meet regularly to play petanca, a Spanish lawn bowling game. Ana's new friends help her to come out of her shell and enjoy life again, but she's forced to deal with real-world crises again when one of her pals is diagnosed with a serious illness. Originally produced for Spanish television, Y A Mi Quien Me Cuida? (aka And Who Will Take Care of Me? later made the rounds of European film festivals, and received its American premiere at the 2007 Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by Patri Ferreira, Alquimista Impaciente ("The Impatient Alchemist") follows the efforts of two men and their investigation of a mysterious death. When Vila (Roberto Enriquez), a disillusioned pyschologist-turned-cop, accompanied by his partner Chamorro (Ingrid Rubio), find a bound-and-gagged body of a nuclear plant worker in a motel room, the pair head off to interview the plant worker and the victim's wife. Though the case is closed fairly quickly, the body of a woman who had been partially devoured by wolves is found and believed to be connected to a mob boss named Vasili (Nacho Vidal). The first case is re-opened when the detectives discover that the employers of the victims were two dubiously run companies vying for dominance. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A pair of pink-collar workers short on cash decide to try a new part-time job -- bank robbery -- in this comedy. Lola (Ariana Ozores) and Silvia (Maribel Verdu) are two working-class women who are also best friends. Lola works on the cleaning crew at a bank and sometimes does odd jobs for her friend Maite (Carmen Maura), while Silvia is a beautician who is expecting a baby. Lola was once married to Gustavo (Jaime Pujol), a policeman, and while he wants to give their relationship another try, Lola isn't interested. His family hasn't been on good terms with Lola since the divorce, and one day they decide to evict her from the house she's been renting from Gustavo. Short on money and with few options, Lola and Silvia get the idea to rob the bank where Lola works. While Lola has access to the keys, she discovers the bank's funds aren't where she thought they were; determined to find out where the money is hidden, Silvia helps groom Lola into a sexy temptress so she can lure information from the bank's manager (Juan Gea) and give the robbery another try. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Romance and murder walk side by side in this psychological drama from Spain. A serial killer has been plying his grisly trade in a small town in Spain, murdering young girls and leaving their bodies in a nearby forest. A police inspector (Miguel Angel Sola) is sent in to investigate -- his first case outside tumultuous Basque County in 14 years. The detective has problems dealing with the stress of his job, and he finds little consolation in his off hours: he's been fighting a drinking problem for some time, and his wife (Charo Lopez) is in a mental hospital after murder threats against him led her to a nervous breakdown. As the inspector looks at the evidence in the latest killing with the help of Ferreras (Chete Lera), the city's coroner, he pays a visit to the school where the victim was studying. There he meets Susana Grey (Adriana Ozores), a teacher and single mother whose husband left her several years earlier to run off with Ferreras' former girlfriend. The inspector and Susana display an immediate interest in each other, and soon find themselves edging into a tentative romance, while the detective tries to stay on the trail of the murderer. Plenilunio was screened in competition at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A boy goes on a vacation with his father and ends up taking the ride of his life in the comedy Manolito Gafotas. Manolito (David Sanchez del Rey) is a cheerful but accident-prone child who doesn't see his father very often. Dad is a truck driver usually out on a long haul, leaving Manolito at home with his mother (Adriana Ozores), grandfather (Antonio Gamero), and little brother. Hoping to make up for the time they spend apart, Dad offers to take Manolito along on his next trip and show him the ocean. Manolito eagerly agrees, but gets his father in trouble when he mentions to Mom via telephone that Dad was chatting up a waitress at a roadside diner. After their meal, Manolito hops on board a truck and heads out down the road -- but he doesn't realize he's in the wrong truck until it's too late. Manolito Gafotas was adapted from a comic strip popular in Spain. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This Spanish-French co-production is another in Haut & Court's series of French features interlinked with an "end of the Millennium" theme. On New Year's Eve 1999, social worker Manuel (Juanjo Martinez) and his pregnant wife Paloma (Leonor Watling) leave for a party without knowing that Paloma's father (Emilio Gutierrez Caba) is coming over to give them a ride. His car is stolen by slow-witted Litri (Roberto Hernandez) and his pal Johny (Carlos Fuentes), who intends to use the vehicle to impress his girlfriend Jasmina (Mariola Fuentes). However, Jasmina, waiting at a phone booth, meets Paloma's dad, so Johny gets an unexpected surprise when he pulls up in the car. Elsewhere, two female workers at an all-night gas station have romantic fantasies about their customers. Shot on locations in Madrid, the Lucio Godoy soundtrack score features French-style accordion music. Shown at the 1998 Malaga Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Following the death of her philandering husband Carlos in an automobile accident, Luci and her sisters Graci and Mari decide to go to a seaside resort to have some badly needed fun. Their riotous, romantic summer is recounted by Luci's 15-year-old son Domingo. Before the accident, his mother and her siblings were popular comediennes known as the Three Graces. While at Benidorm, the resort, Luci is periodically haunted by the specter of Carlos who by and by lets her know that he was with 34 women during their marriage. Knowing that, she doesn't feel so guilty about becoming involved with the shy and handsome Italian Salvatore, whom Domingo suspects is responsible for the accident that killed his father. While the youth wrestles with those issues, his aunts are busily involved with their new lovers. The ever-insecure aspiring actress Graci gets involved with Victor, a delivery man moonlighting as a thief. The brassy, blonde Mari gets involved with the oily Claudio, an adulterous married man who nearly has a breakdown when he discovers that his wife has been unfaithful too. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Carlos Saura's The Stilts (Los Zancos) features Fernando Gomez as a middle-aged professor/playwright. Falling head over heels in love with actress Laura DelSol, Gomez begins obsessing on the girl, despite her unwillingness to make a commitment. When another, younger man (Francisco Rabal) enters the scene, the drama darkens into melodrama. While the story material in The Stilts may seem old-hat at first glance, Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura invests his characters with enough conviction and humanity to keep the viewers riveted to their chairs. Eschewing his previous "nonlinear" narratives (which ignored such trivialities as chronology and reality), Saura directs The Stilts in an austere, near-documentary fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi