ITS BETTER IF GABRIELA DOESN’T DIE

Ok.  I know I have never watched Telemundu in my life.  I know absolutely nothing about the Mexican style of soap opera.  Well…. Except for when on Ugly Betty, her family watches that one Spanish soap,  It’s so overdramatic and the acting is so stylized and over the top it makes Dynasty seem as if everyone on there was classically trained.  It has also inspired a huge hit TV show and for one season an entire TV network.  Most of these tele-novellas run every night.  Like our daytime soaps but are much more adult in nature.  In other words they do not have the prudish FCC looking over them at all times.

I knew going in to see It’s Better If Gabriela Doesn’t Die, that it took place on a Telemundo type of show.  I knew that it may be over the top and probably lots of fun.  What I saw was actually an extremely well crafted comedy that had an ominous sense of dread driving the story full steam ahead.  What a fun ride.

The plot goes like this…

Have you ever met someone and then forgotten they ever existed? That's what happens to Miguel (Mauricio Isaac), a writer stuck on a popular telenovella who talks his way out of a ticket by supplying the policeman, who is a huge fan of the show, with 'inside information' about a future plotline. Unfortunately, Bracho (Dagoberto Gama) is a cop with an inflated self-image, and when Miguel's tip proves false the lawman blames Miguel for his loss of face.  Miguel tries everything to appease the cop to no avail.  As Bracho grows upset due to his ego being crushed, he begins to descend into darkness and you begin to see what he may be capable of.  The solution to everyone’s problem is Gabriela, the villain on the show.  Will she stay and save the writer or leave to save herself.  Will Gabriela die, or survive.  By the end of the show, wackiness ensues and everything and everyone is changed forever.

This film is smoothly directed by Sergio Umansky and with a well crafted script by Ricardo Hernandez Anzola, this film never seems to slow down.  Umansky uses the craziness of the soap style to tell a tale about the power of culture.  You see the influence that the show has on the people who watch it daily.  You can begin to understand why a tele-novella like Ugly Betty has now been produced in numerous countries.  People watch them like they are important.  Isn’t that how we treat most of our TV and film stars today?  We give them importance, we make them our American royalty.  Umansky, uses the star as the reason everyones life is changed.  Gabriela, the star of the soap.  The Alexis Carrington character everyone loves to hate.  Her decision to get off the show, puts in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. 

The film is blessed to have some wonderful actors in the lead roles.  Mauricio Isaac and Dagoberto Gama are perfect as the cop and writer who play a game of cat and mouse.  Gabriela Roel is enlightening as the actress pining for something more.  The rest of the cast complete a nice ensemble that zig zags between over the top to realism sometimes in a single scene. 

I also really enjoyed the score for this film.  Renaud Barbier has created a score that embraces Umansky’s unique vision for this fun film.  If you get a chance to watch It’s Better If Gabriela Doesn’t Die, you better.  Umansky has the potential to be a big name in film.  He has a unique and quirky style that is not afraid to embrace the darkness in comedy.  He also understands the fine line between kitschy and too much.  He has created a wonderful film and I truly enjoyed the ride.

Kristoffer