Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2021


The Odd-Job Men

Buy The Odd-Job Men now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'The Odd-Job Men' (; ) is a 2021 Spanish-French film directed by Neus Balls which stars Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarr.

Plot



A dramedy blurring the limits between a fiction film and a documentary, the film exposes racist prejudices in the Catalan society. It tracks the day-to-day life of three plumbers/electricians (performed by semi-professional actors) in the outskirts of Barcelona. It features dialogue in Spanish, Catalan and Amazigh.

Cast



Production



The screenplay was penned by the director Neus Balls alongside 'Margarita Melgar' (a collective pseudonym for Montse Ganges and Ana Sanz-Magalln).

The film was produced by Distinto Films and El Kingraf alongside Slot Machine, with the participacin of RTVE, TVC, Movistar+ and support from ICAA and ICEC.

Release



on 21 November 2021.

The film had its world premiere at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (LFF) in August 2021. It also screened at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (September 2021), the 26th Busan International Film Festival ('online', October 2021), the 66th Valladolid International Film Festival (October 2021) and the 13th CiBRA Festival in Toledo (November 2021). Distributed by Filmax, it was theatrically released in Spain on 3 December 2021.

Reception



The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating, based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 7.40/10.

Beatriz Martnez of 'El Peridico de Catalunya' gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "film made out of commitment and vindication that is so full of nobility and that is capable, through its humour and humanity, of connecting in such a sincere way with the audience".

lex Montoya of 'Fotogramas' gave it 4 out of 5 stars highlighting the light tone and the charisma displayed by the three leads.

Sergi Snchez of 'La Razn' gave it 3 out of 5 stars, praising the performances by the semi-professional actors, while negatively considering that the underlying thesis behind the film is laid out "with excessive naivety".

Jessica Kiang of 'Variety' considered it as a "charming, slight yet sharp Spanish odd-couple comedy".

Awards and nominations



|-

| align = "center" rowspan = "5" | 2021 || rowspan = "2" | 74th Locarno Film Festival || Leopard for Best Actor || Mohamed Mellali & Valero Escolar || || rowspan = "2" |

|-

| colspan = "2" | Europa Cinemas Label ||

|-

| rowspan = "2" | 66th Valladolid International Film Festival || colspan = "2" | Silver Spike || || align = "center" rowspan = "2" |

|-

| colspan = "2" | People's Choice Award ||

|-

| 13th || colspan = "2" | People's Choice Award || ||

|-

| align = "center" rowspan = "11" | 2022 || 9th Feroz Awards || colspan = "2" | Best Comedy Film || ||

|-

| rowspan = "10" | 14th Gaud Awards || colspan = "2" | Best Film || || rowspan = "10" |

|-

| Best Direction || Neus Balls ||

|-

| Best Screenplay || Neus Balls, Margarita Melgar ||

|-

| Best Actor || Mohamed Mellali ||

|-

| Best Production Supervision || Bernat Rif, Goretti Pags ||

|-

| Best Editing || Neus Balls, Ariadna Ribas ||

|-

| Best Supporting Actor || Valero Escolar ||

|-

| Best Costume Design || Alba Costa ||

|-

| Best Sound || Amanda Villavieja, Elena Coderch, Albert Manera ||

|-

| colspan = "2" | Public's Choice Special Award for Best Film ||

|}

See also



* List of Spanish films of 2021

References




Buy The Odd-Job Men now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 2021



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1109819404.