‘The Good Patron’ is a great acid comedy and the long-awaited return of one of the most interesting directors on the Spanish scene.
Quality cinema is not always paid for. Sometimes, as we have already said here, some of the best films are where we would least expect to find them. It is the case of ‘The good boss’a wonderful Spanish comedy, winner of 6 goyas that, in addition to Netflix, you can watch completely free on the RTVE Play platform.
The film was released in 2021 and is directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring a fantastic Javier Bardemin which it is his first role in Spanish since ‘Everyone knows’ in 2018. The story focuses on Blanco, an executive in charge of a scale company who is going to do everything possible to win the favor of a jury that will assess whether or not your business deserves an award for excellence.
Tipping the balance
His desire to obtain the prize and prove that he is the best boss one can have will lead him to a series of misadventures of dubious ethics, which will include everything from marital problems to manipulating some of his workers. The film is the perfect representation of the call “Spanish picaresque”everyone wants to get something in this black comedy where good intentions are just a facade.
Although a sharper satire on the world of work is missing, Bardem helps make this film a hilarious story. His double face as a “good boss” for his workers (but only if he is good for the company) leads him to mark himself one of his best recent performances which, in fact, earned him the Goya for Best Leading Actor against a not inconsiderable opposition such as Luis Tosar, Eduard Fernández and Javier Gutiérrez.
The rest of the film’s elements are not far behind. Among its six goyas were Best Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. There was also a lot of enthusiasm from the press. In Fotogramas they highlighted a “dazzling” role by Bardem. In his review for Espinof, Jorge Loser called it a good acid comedy that, yes, had “some morality” left over and a questionable treatment of its female characters.
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