Living It Up - La Gran Vida

Amazon.com

The cunning plot of Living It Up walks a line between a romantic comedy and a con-game thriller (like The Sting or The Spanish Prisoner). As a bus driver named Martin (Carmelo Gomez) stands atop a bridge, about to throw himself off, a bystander suggests an alternative: If Martin borrows $100 million from the mob, he can live the high life for a week and then commit suicide--thus getting out of the debt. Martin agrees and immediately starts going to clubs and throwing outrageous parties by inviting everyone on a random page in the phone book. But when he runs into Lola (Salma Hayek), he starts to think life might be worth living after all. Unfortunately, Lola isn't all that she seems... and the week is coming to an end. Gomez is charming, Hayek is luscious, and the sneaky twists and turns of the plot make the film decidedly satisfying. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

a different movie, just ok.......2004-09-07

I think Salma is pretty consistent with her acting. Her character is similar in Fools Rush in. This movie is a bit odd, and a bit different. It's pretty high quality for a "foreign film" and you can watch dubbed versions in spanish, english and french. There is also a good subtitle selection. The ending was very predictable, but Salma's role came in later. An ok flick, have seen better.

See Selma's younger hot body.......2004-01-02

Selma is a bit older now and plays more mature roles. This movie is one of her earlier movies, so you get to see her as a hot young fox. This is a very nice date movie.

Bad points: The first 15 minutes is a little boreing.

Salma at her best! I want to marry Salma Hayek, por favor........2002-02-25

Wow, an amazing performance by he lovely and talented Salma Hayek. The movie is wonderfully directed and the plot is magnificent. America needs to open its eyes and explore more great foreign films like this one by director Anotonio Cuadri.

Humor underneath a tragic life.......2001-09-25

Summary: The story is about a simple man who thought life has been unkind to him & therefore decided to end his sufferings. No, it is not a tragic story, but a funny one. What should have been sad & tragic were smoothly passed out by the Director & the characters with light humor.

Martin, the main character, was so bent on killing himself that he decided to jump off a bridge only to be derailed by a stranger's offer which he couldn't resist. The deal was for him to loan from the Mafia $100,000,000 to be paid at the end of a week. & since he has no means of paying it, the Mafia would then kill him -- which shouldn't be a problem since he wanted to die in the first place. So, Martin thought, he might as well enjoy a week's life as a millionaire & end it with a bang.

But as expected, there would be a twist in the plot, which would make him change his mind & want to live longer. Tension builds on Martin who finally finds love & happiness while the weekend nears & the debt has to be paid. Of course, the ending could be expected to be favorable to complement the rest of the plot.

Lesson: Martin personifies all men who are not happy with their lives & who think that ending one's life is the best way to escape reality & hardships. He, Lola & others like them also think that being rich is the answer to all their problems. Just to learn a few lessons along the way.. (1) not to hate life...(2) that money isn't everything & ... (3)that what really makes the world go around is love & happiness.

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