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Off Course (film)

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Wikipedia article




'Off Course' is a 2015 Spanish comedy film directed by Nacho G. Velilla. The movie touches on the topics of youth unemployment and underemployment, economic emigration, estrangement (from family), language barriers, Alzheimer's, infertility and other subjects. It is an Atresmedia Cine production.

Plot



Overeducated, underemployed professionals Hugo (Yon Gonzlez, trained in the financial sector) and Braulio (Julin Lpez, a scientist) are lured to migrate to Berlin by a TV programme showing an interview with an migr who describes Germany as employment paradise. Hugo literally runs into Carla (Blanca Surez), a fellow Spaniard who has finally broken through as a professional after a similar struggle with underemployment, within minutes of arriving in Berlin. Hugo and Braulio room with Carla and her drug-dealing slacker brother Rafa (Miki Esparb), sharing a building with an older Spanish expatriate, Andrs (Jos Sacristn), who sees the struggles of his generation echoed in Hugo and Braulio.

A dispiriting, fruitless search for work in their trained professions ensues, as the language barrier proves insurmountable. Hugo and Braulio are eventually (under)employed by Hakan (Younes Bachir) in his Turkish caf along with Rafa. After his father Prspero (Javier Cmara) loses his job, Hugo ends up sending most of his earnings (accompanied by lies about his employment status and importance) back to Spain, where his father, his mother Beni (Carmen Machi), and his fiancee Nadia (rsula Corber) make a spontaneous decision after hearing his glowing stories to visit him in Berlin. Carla and Hugo have grown close after an initial mutual dislike, with Carla confessing she seems to always end up as "the other woman" in a relationship. Carla relates a story of how she attended a friend's wedding alone, since her boyfriend at the time had another commitment, finding out only at the wedding that said commitment was marrying her friend.

In a subplot, Hakan and his wife Marisol (Malena Alterio) are unable to conceive a child, despite Marisol's desperation. The doctor informs them that they will undergo tests to determine if one of them is sterile. While attempting to sell his sperm to fund German language lessons, Braulio encounters Marisol at the fertility clinic, and she suggests that she could pay for his lessons if he donates sperm "without the middleman." Although she successfully conceives a child, Hakan soon learns that he is sterile and does not believe that he could have fathered Marisol's child.

Another subplot revolves around the irascible Andrs, who is revealed to have an estranged daughter living in Spain. During the course of the movie, he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

When Hugo's parents and fiancee visit him in Berlin, Rafa, Carla, Hakan and Marisol play different roles as Hugo's employees. Carla is introduced as Hugo's secretary, and Nadia is introduced as Hugo's fiancee. Upon learning this, Carla believes that Hugo is no different than the other men she has dated, seeing herself as "the other woman", and angrily reveals the truth behind Hugo's employment. Meanwhile, Hakan catches Marisol congratulating Braulio for successfully fathering a child and cuts off contact with both of them.

Hugo returns to Spain to work for Nadia's father while they prepare for the wedding. Hugo finds Andrs's daughter and informs her of her father's diagnosis, telling her that the wrong decision can cause a lifetime of regret. On the day of the wedding, Prspero gives Hugo a speech telling him he should marry for love, not money; emboldened, Hugo jilts Nadia at the altar and flies to Berlin, where he finds Carla jogging amongst thousands in the Berlin Marathon. Hugo and Carla reconcile, as do Hakan and Marisol, who is forced to give birth in the caf's delivery van (with Braulio and Andrs attending) on the way to the hospital, as they are caught in marathon-induced traffic.

As the movie closes, Braulio wins a scientific fellowship to China, Hugo's parents' home is repossessed, Carla and Hugo are living together in Berlin with their "extended" family of Hakan, Marisol, and their daughter; and Andrs's daughter has come to Berlin to care for her father.

Cast



Reception



The film debuted to receipts of  million over its opening weekend. Gross receipts reached $11.5 million by June 2015.

Awards and nominations



See also



* List of Spanish films of 2015

References




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