Javier Camára Movies

Spanish TV personality Santiago Segura (Day of the Beast), director of award-winning short films, made his feature directorial debut with this comedy thriller. Crude ex-cop Torrente (Segura) befriends nerdy Rafi (Javier Camara) so he can get to Rafi's nympho cousin Amparito (Neus Asensi). Although Torrente's father (Tony Leblanc) can walk, Torrente has him out begging daily from a wheelchair. When his father almost dies after eating, Torrente deduces that heroin is being trafficked through a Chinese restaurant. Gathering Rafi's friends for a drug bust, Torrente senses an opportunity to get back on the glory road. Filmed in a poor neighborhood of Madrid. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Writer-director Isabel Coixet's (My Life Without Me) beautifully wrought chamber drama The Secret Life of Words opens on Hanna (Sarah Polley), a laconic, backward and introverted girl in her early '30s, quietly drowning in her own isolation. Partially deaf from working an untold number of hours in a loud factory, Hanna must wear a hearing aid. When her supervisors -- deeply concerned about the four years that have lapsed in Hanna's life without a break -- force her to go on holiday for a month, she hesitantly takes off for a coastal village in the north of Ireland. Once there, she decides to dine in a local restaurant, and overhears, by chance, a telephone conversation conducted by Victor (Eddie Marsan), regarding an accident on a nearby oil rig that he precipitated, which left a victim, Josef (Tim Robbins) in its wake. Hanna tells Victor that she is a nurse, and is instantly flown to the rig to treat the bedbound Josef -- temporarily blind from extensive cornea damage, and his body blanketed with severe burns. She also encounters the structure's motley and eccentric band of workers -- from ecologist Martin (Daniel Mays), who spends his time studying mutated mussels that collect on the ship's base and the waves that strike the side of the rig, to Josef, to chef Simon (Javier Camára), who prepares "gourmet" food no one else can stand, to Dimitri (Sverre Anker Ousdal), an elderly gentleman who is as much of a loner as Hanna. As Hanna begins to foresee a new place for herself among these individuals, a relationship gradually develops between Hanna and Josef, who holds his new friend rapt with lyrical, evocative, magisterial tales from his past -- unknowingly drawing Hanna, one step at a time, toward inner joy, self-expression, and revelation of her own sad and complex story. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

His childhood pal Suso having recently died from a drug overdose, likeable dolt Cundo returns to the Asturian village where the pair grew up intending simply to attend the funeral, but gradually delving into a larger mission after discovering an odd collection of Suso's sketches. It's been nearly a decade since Asturian native Cundo (Javier Camara) moved away to Argentina, but upon receiving word that his old pal has passed he decides to venture back home and pay his respects. Later, after touching base with the old gang, Cundo happens across a series of Suso's drawings. It seems that Cundo's old friend had a serious obsession with towers, a revelation that leads the well-intending mourner to plan a memorial tower in memory of his old friend. As all the old gang gradually comes on board, Cundo begins to feel as if Suso engineered the plan to help his old friends out of their current rut. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

When the troubled son of an NGO worker refuses to take a test and announces that he is not leaving his room, his concerned mother asks one of her clients, a Cuban exile, for help in setting the boy straight. Gonzalo has decided to drop out of school, and his mother Ana isn't sure how to convince the boy that he's making a crucial mistake. Ana's client Carlos is a Cuban exile who makes his living selling cigars and artwork on the black market. When Carlos learns of Ana's dilemma, he calls on recently released convict Mikel to teach the boy how to play chess. Perhaps is young Gonzalo can master the game, he can learn to start living again. As the lessons get underway, each of these characters learns that in order to truly move on with their lives they much first break free of the bonds that prevent them from being who they really are. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The title It refers to sex. Originally made for TV, this Spanish comedy received a theatrical release in Spain after winning an award at the 1994 Munich Festival. Nerd teen Domingo (Daniel Guzman) can't lose his virginity since his department store night job keeps him from meeting girls. Encouraged by sidekick Tinin (Antonio Molero), he borrows stylish clothing from the store to impress women, concocts lies, and adopts an assumed name. He scores with diplomat's daughter Elizabeth (the late Diana Galvez), actually cop's daughter Isabel, also sporting an alias). The situation escalates further when it's revealed that hidden cameras are documenting their encounters for a TV "reality" show which hopes to have the couple wed on the show. Complicating matters, Isabel's ex-boyfriend (Paco Maestre) arrives to create trouble. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A distinguished and openly gay chef from Madrid is forced to reevaluate his own morals and values when the children from his former marriage suddenly come knocking on his door and a handsome ex-football player from Argentina moves in next door. Maxi owns one of the most popular restaurants in the gay-friendly neighborhood of Chueca. But while Maxi is currently out of the closet, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have anything to hide. Years ago, Maxi fathered several children while involved in a sham marriage. Now Maxi's children want to get better acquainted with their long-lost father, but in order to truly connect with his kids Maxi will first have to come clean about his new lifestyle. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar takes a look at his own adolescence as well as confronting the issue of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church in this stylish drama, which was chosen to open the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael García Bernal), who was his close friend when they were schoolboys. Goded, who fell in love for the first time with Rodriguez, barely recognizes the man as his former crush, but agrees to read the short story he's written. The tale turns out to be an semi-autobiographical account of their days in a Catholic boarding school, in which a cross-dressing night-club performer named Zahara (also played by Bernal) hooks up with a man named Enrique (Alberto Ferreiro), who turns out to have been his first lover when he was a student. Recalling their school days, Zahara tracks down Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho), one of his teachers from school with pedophilic tendencies, and threatens to expose the priest's attempts to seduce him and ruin his relationship with Enrique years ago. Goded decides to use the story as the basis for his next film, and Rodriguez, an out-of-work actor, makes it clear he's eager to play Zahara. However, Goded isn't certain if Rodriguez is the right actor for the role, or if he's even the man he claims to be; an angry conflict with Rodriguez leads Goded back to the real Ignacio's mother (Petra Martínez). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi