Both Sides of the Bed (2006)

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Spanish writer-director Emilio Martínez Lazáro's bawdy musical comedy romance Both Sides of the Bed (Los Dos Lados de la Cama, 2006) constitutes a sequel to that director's earlier musical The Other Side of the Bed (AKA El Otro Lado de la Cama, 2002). Just as that first film plays out the farcical romantic shenanigans of a group of single young men and their lovers, the sequel offers more of the same, but adds greater depth to the proceedings. The story finds Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and Marta (Veronica) celebrating their pending nuptials in a nightclub, on the evening before their wedding. They are accompanied by two friends romantically involved with one another, Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) and the chanteuse Raquel (Lucia Jimenez). The plans of each couple are soon undone by Marta's hesitation - the product of her undeclared lesbianism and carnal involvement with Raquel (evident when the women quietly slip off to the ladies' room and have intercourse). A third friend, Carlota (Pilar Castro), happens to stumble onto the women making it, but says nothing to the boys. The next morning, Marta jilts Javier, Raquel leaves Pedro, and the remainder of the film has the men gradually coming face-to-face with the girls' lesbianism, while forging a deeper bond with Carlota. Throughout the film, Lazáro laces his picture with bubble-gum music (predominantly breezy 1970s and 1980s Spanish pop hits) and electric choreography, performed by an ensemble of twenty dancers. In lieu of employing musical asides, the director integrates the musical numbers into individual scenes. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi