A playboy has the tables turned on him when he finds himself being used as a plaything by an undesirable woman in this black comedy from Spain. Rafael (Guillermo Toledo) is a self-styled ladies' man working at an upscale department store in Madrid. Rafael thinks of himself as suave and sophisticated, and he has two goals -- to run the store's apparel department, and to seduce every woman he works with. Well, every woman except for one -- Lourdes (Monica Cervera), a homely sales clerk who
obviously has a crush on Rafael, but is too nervous to talk to him. Rafael's primary rival for control of the clothing department is Don Antonio (Luis Varela), and Rafael becomes filled with rage when he learns that Don Antonio has been given the job he's worked so hard to attain. Rafael gets into an argument with Don Antonio after hearing the news, and in the midst of the quarrel Don Antonio drops dead. Rafael discovers to his horror that there was a witness to Don Antonio's sudden demise -- Lourdes, who is no longer acting quite so meek. Realizing she has Rafael in a tight spot, Lourdes informs him that in exchange for her silence and help disposing of the body, he must become her lover, and it isn't long before Rafael begins to buckle under the strain of serving as her sexual slave. El Crimen Perfecto (aka The Perfect Crime) was originally released under the punning title El Crimen Ferpecto (aka The Ferpect Crime). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
It plays like one of those minor European oddball comedies of the 1970s ... neither realistic nor particularly clever but making up for that with a certain charm.
From a tight satire about the emptiness of materialism, El Crimen degenerates into such macabre silliness, it's as if another director stepped in and -- rather like Don Antonio -- destroyed a beautiful thing.
If twisted noir novelist Jim Thompson had scripted the Jerry Lewis vehicle 'Who's Minding the Store?,' the result might have been something like this...
Hilariously wacky black comedy about a department store salesman whose comfortable life is turned upside down after he is passed over for a promotion. A modern, hip sensibility is beautifully integrated with deeply serious events, in this thoroughly winning Spanish farce. Indeed his life spins so wildly out of
control, the results are delightfully ridiculous. Actress Mónica Cervera is particularly effective as Lourdes, a co-worker he would rather have nothing to do with.
Alex De la Iglesia is an expert connoisseur of the bizarrerie he likes to have in his films, and here it works perfectly. the ludicrous ending is the only big problem of this ultra hilarious noir comedy.
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