Whisky2004

Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismäki seem to haunt this deadpan comedy from Uruguay about an over-sixty "love" triangle between a grumpy sock factory owner, his faithful assistant and his excessively cheerful, far more successful brother. Realizing he should at least pretend to have a life beyond the factory, the taciturn Jacobo enlists his coworker Marta to play his wife when his rival sock-making brother Herman arrives from Brazil (their gifts for each other: pairs of socks). Such a simple deceit turns complicated when Marta and Herman bond and more-so when the cumbersome threesome takes a comically uncomfortable trip to a seaside resort. Directors Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll (whose 25 WATTS heralded a Uruguayan renaissance) have a keen sense for the awkwardness of human communication, and for cinema's ability to capture it. No constant chatter here; wordless moments, weathered face and excellent comic pacing convey the humor of three disparate souls forced together but still apart. - Jason Sanders