I just saw this movie at the Miami Film Festival and I can't recommend it enough. It has an original premise, great characters portrayed by strong actors, a good script and a refreshingly creative way of telling the story. The story centers on the at times friendly competition between heaven and hell for the soul of a boxer (Demian Bichir)who's really not worth saving. Heaven sends an angel (Victoria Abril) and hell sends a waitress/dark angel (Penélope Cruz) to persuade him. Heaven is portrayed as a black-and-white 1950s Paris and hell looks an awful lot like America but sounds a lot like Britain. One of the most creative aspects of this film is the use of language. When the story is taking place in Heaven, French is spoken. In hell it's English and in the real world it's Spanish. The use of language is much more than aesthetics, it is definitely a commentary. The actors flow from one language to another with grace. Speaking of the actors, Abril is absolutely exciting as she brings natural old-fashioned glamour back to the screen and Cruz is simply brilliant in this film. Other performances by Gael Garcia Bernal as the CEO of hell and Cristina Marcos as a rogue cop are outstanding. Really, see it for yourself...you'll be so happy you did.
Review of No News from God
