19/06/2015 - María Ripoll formulates a romantic comedy spiced with action sequences, filmed between Catalonia and Amsterdam, with Dani Rovira as the lead

Once upon a time, a very cute/sweet girl (María Valverde) and a boy crazy about order and organisation (Dani Rovira) who met while studying English in a British town… and there they fell in love. So, years later and for the moment when they say "I do" they decided to celebrate this key moment of their lives in that same unique setting. She goes first with her friends (among them, Clara Lago) and her future mother-in-law (Gracia Olayo, in “Esperanza Aguirre style”) to prepare the banquet. And he is to follow soon after, carrying her wedding dress in a suitcase, but with the bad luck of a poorly timed air traffic controllers' strike that prevents him from flying to his beloved and fulfilling the dream of uniting their destinies forever.

This happens within the first few minutes of It's Now or Never [+see also:
trailer
interview: María Ripoll
interview: María Valverde
film profile], the sixth fiction film by María Ripoll (whose last release was the drama Traces of Sandalwood [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), the second for Dani Rovira (the revelation, Goya included, of the megahit Spanish Affair [+see also:
trailer
film profile], whose sequel is underway) and the first comedy in the career of the increasingly international María Valverde: the Madrid-born actress has appeared in the Italian (Melissa P.), the British (Ali and Nino – read more) and even American films (Exodus: Gods and Kings). Each of the actors star in their respective segment of a film that aims to follow in the footsteps of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Little Miss Sunshine and The Hangover, but without the phlegmatic depth of the former, the eccentric complicity of the second or the unbridled hooliganism of the latter. Although, it tries to do so with a plot that is an obstacle course that must be overcome to ensure that, in spite of everything, love triumphs.

To complete this concoction of influences and mini genres (dramedy in the bride’s section; action, blows and the lame gag in the groom’s, think Peter Sellers), a third segment of the plot –let’s generously call it a road movie, sprinkled with Spanish clichés– takes place on a bus, on which the guests are travelling to an event that seems jinxed, here featuring the film's most caricatured characters.

Because, although an attempt is made to inject rhythm into this comedy through scenery changes and various races, its humour never quite manages to take off. The reason: a schematic, forced and unoriginal script (although based on a real anecdote), written by Jorge Lara and Francisco Roncal (both experienced in TV series and screenwriters of Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) that relies too much on the talent of Rovira, an actor who to date repeats the same good-natured, endearing and approachable character that has worked well for him, even presenting the last Goya Awards ceremony.

It's Now or Never is produced by Zeta Cinema and Atresmedia Cine, with the collaboration of Canal+, AXN y TVC, and its international sales are managed by Film Factory, which has already sold it to Portugal (soon to be released) and several Latin American countries.

(Translated from Spanish)