Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Tim Kidner This is a friendly, quite fun film that explores European identity and young people getting along - or at least trying to. I'm writing this is as an older person who was never been a student, but was that age, once.Xavier (Romain Duras), a Parisian who wants to study Economics, goes on an exchange programme to Barcelona and the film charts his successes - and failures - along the way. There's everything from change of language, that Catalan is spoken instead of Spanish at his University and of, course, finding accommodation - that scourge of all students.When he does finally find somewhere, it's already populated by an assortment of students each from a different country (I think!), including an English girl from London, Kelly Reilly, who happens to end up doing most of the housework. This naturally conjures up the expected sort of mischiefs and misunderstandings, humorous rather than hilarious, more real life than made up comedy. It's during these nicely scatty and warm interludes when the film shines brightest.Some have accused the individual relationships of both Xavier and Wendy (Reilly) of weakening the strength of the story, but I disagree. They add to the movie's 2 hour length, admittedly and as since both play away from home, so to speak, there's some twists and turns. I enjoyed Xavier's more, partly because his French girlfriend that he leaves behind is the amazingly gorgeous Audrey Tatou (a great excuse to watch the film) and the girl he gets to know intimately, from when she suffers a dizzy spell high up on the Church of Sagrada Familia, the equally lovely Cecile de France, who happens to be married to a neurosurgeon.Many parts are akin to a backpacker's guide, with lots of street scenes and stuff, which are nice to look at, of course. Comedy (sort of) comes when Wendy's brother, wide-boy and bit of a t*sser, William, played by Kevin Bishop, visits for a while. He's cringe-worthingly crass and rather stupid, "accidentally" makes racist remarks and is a certain embarrassment to his sister, who has to literally carry him home after a mega-binge. He pukes to the other's chorus, with guitar, of 'No Woman, No Cry' in the Square, at dawn. So he lived up to our country's unsavoury reputation, at least!After quite a few other things going on, including Wendy's English boyfriend dropping in unexpectedly, whilst Wendy is fooling around with her American lover, the whole lot dissembles much in the same way as it formed, but in reverse. People said their impassioned goodbyes and we then see Xavier back in Paris, starting work.Pot Luck will appeal to all who not only enjoy European travel, Barcelona, of course but also any film that champions human friendships and relationships and one that isn't too heavy. You could watch it on a miserable day and it'd cheer you up and likewise, on a sunny one, as it would seem fitting and even more enjoyable.

malebranche I think anyone who when young has moved to a foreign city, especially alone, would immediately recognize and appreciate the truths apparent in this film. Certainly everyone's experiences are different but some things, the initial disorientation, the difficulties and pleasure of adapting to a new and very different set of friends, the joys of eventual acceptance and adaption of a new routine; these are probably universal. This film depicts all of this very well.The Spanish Apartment rings especially true for me. Almost ten years ago I moved from NYC to Antwerp for one year then on to Barcelona, where I am living still. I was a bit older than the film's characters (late 20 's) but my experience was eerily similar. I lived just blocks away from their apartment, in Raval, and recognized many of the streets and locales. Myself, a Slovak girl I was dating, three male apartment mates from Bolivia, France and Italy. I made tons of expat friends from all over Europe (many of whom departed long ago) and eventually Spanish friends as well.I'm older now and settled down but watching this, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and wished that I could travel back in time if only to relive one of those glorious weekends.If you've never done anything like this watching The Spanish Apartment may be the next best thing. The Barcelona tourist office should probably pay me for this.

MartinHafer The film is about a group of almost exclusively Western Europeans all living together in Barcelona in order to save money. The apartment is just jam-packed with these students. The story centers on a French student, Xavier, but also shows what's happening in the lives of several of his roommates (though a few are just there--with little insight into them or what makes them tick). An interesting idea, but it might have been improved by the addition of more nationalities--especially non-Western Europeans. I applaud the film makers for doing something different. Here they have created a truly multinational movie--with many, many different languages. So, it's one of the few films that will require you to read subtitles no matter where you are from--though I suppose somewhere there is one person who actually understands Danish, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish and perhaps another couple languages.Now this does not mean I loved the film? I liked parts of it, but the film suffered from a few plot problems--at least for me. Two things about the film bothered me but I am sure not everyone will be as turned off by them as much as me. First, any film that shows someone vomiting has to lose a point or two. If you are have a character retching, that's fine--but to show it repeatedly in all its glory is just nasty. I don't like watching vomit come shooting out a person's mouth--just call me weird about that! Secondly, while this problem is not always serious (it depends on the type of film), I have a hard time with a film where the main character is unlikable. This doesn't mean they need to be perfect, but having Xavier be such a jerk was a major turn off for me. He has a lovely fiancée but sleeps with a married woman...not exactly an endearing behavior. Several others also have equally discerning taste or help their roommates cheat on their significant others--making many in this flat seem like jerks. Though I must admit that the acting and direction were still good.Finally, a word about the DVD and poster art as well as the casting. Although Audrey Tautou is featured prominently and receives billing near the top of the film, her part was actually quite small. But, with the success of "Amélie", the film makers decided to try to exploit her small part and fool the public. I hate film marketing people--because that's exactly why I watched the film in the first place! It is clearly NOT a starring vehicle for her and if you expect that, you'll be sorely disappointed, like I was.

alma If I was to vote for creative and imaginative content, it'd get a 0/10. Comedy content? 0/10 Actor's performance? 0/10 This film has been one of my most painful disappointments as I'm quite a fan of Klapisch until he starts to write his own films. If he had any dignity, he would never have allowed to have this piece of 'caca' (French word for pooh) released. Was he even here during the script writing? If you have experiences of multi-cultural flat sharing, this film will make you wonder how on earth it's possible to come out with such a plate of tasteless plot, bland characters when there are so many things that could be written about. The lead actor is about as interesting as a toilet brush and rapidly becomes despicable/irritating as the rest of the lot (the insipid girlfriend and married woman). You come out of that film wondering what is was all about. Absolute waste of time.