Sundance - Friday, January 20

My first Sundance movie this year was THE AMBASSADOR. This is a documentary about a man who buys diplomatic credentials so he can get diamonds in and out of the Central African Republic. His cover story is that he is a businessman and his purpose there is to open a factory making matches.

The filmmaker is the subject of this documentary, so his real purpose is not really to get diamonds illegally, but to expose corruption. We see how easy it is for anyone to purchase diplomatic credentials, and we see that every diplomat in the CAR is involved in illegal activities.

This could have been a really interesting documentary, but he somehow manages to avoid the most interesting things. At the end, I really didn't see the point of the movie. We learn about the corruption early on, and from there nothing really happens. This movie was a waste of time.

The next movie I saw was MADRID, 1987. Set in Madrid, it's about an older man who writes a daily newspaper column. A hot young college student wants to interview him, and all he wants to do is sleep with her. They meet in a restaurant and he gets her to come with him to a friend's apartment. Eventually they end up locked in the bathroom together with no hope of rescue.

The bulk of the movie is these two people locked in a room together. But the dialogue is so good that it never drags. The man is one of those guys who thinks he has life figured out. He is constantly telling her about how things were in his day, how things should be, and how smart he is.

The writing is great, and the performances are incredible. I'm glad I saw this one.

UPDATE

I also saw 4 shorts:

A Morning Stroll - Animated about a guy taking a stroll and running into a chicken. It replays the event 3 times, but each time is different with a different animated style. The last one includes zombies and is a lot of fun. It ends with a bang.

Las Palmas - This was strange. It's a baby surrounded by puppets. I didn't make it 5 minutes into this one.

Una Hora Por Favora - A single, neurotic woman hires a day laborer to be her boyfriend, which basically consists of watching reality shows together. Interesting, not bad.

Tooty's Wedding - An unhappily married British couple go to a wedding, and each one tries to have an affair. A couple of funny moments but not memorable.