NZIFF Review: ‘I’m So Excited’

Spanish auteur Almodovar abandons the sinister creepiness he employed on his last outing, The Skin I Live In, and returns the exuberant, campy, colourful style that infused his early work.

Flight 2549 is in trouble – thanks to an inattentive groundcrewman, played by Antonio Banderas. The landing gear is jammed inside the plane and the flight is forced to circle endlessly while a runway suitable for an emergency landing is found. To avoid the dreaded “Economy Class Syndrome”, the plane’s economy passengers, and their two female flight attendants, are drugged.

Meanwhile, the three very gay male attendants in charge of First Class, and their passengers, distract thoughts of impending disaster with sex, drugs, alcohol and a very spirited performance of the titular song. The eclectic group of passengers include: a washed-up soap star, a well-known dominatrix, an extremely hungover married couple, and a cagey mysterious man.

With only the plane’s emergency phone to contact those on the ground, much of the action remains within the confines of the cabin. And when the stewards lace their Valencia cocktail with mescaline, things really start going off the rails….

There’s not much substance to the film. The few references to an impending financial collapse are largely lost amid the color and froth provided by the over-the-top stewards and their constant bickering. The one scene that takes place outside the plane feels a little unnecessary and I would have preferred all the action confined to the cabin.

But these are small niggles because, at the end of the day, this is a fun flick.

This is not a great Almodovar film in the way All About My Mother was, or even as sexy as Tie me Up, Tie Me Down. But it’s campy, colourful and enormous fun to watch. And some days, that’s all you really need.

6/10

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