by James Olsen for FILMbutton

Miss Tacuarembó

Director: Martín Sastre

Cast: Natalia Oreiro, Sofia Silvera, Diego Reinhold, Mateo Capo

As children and teenagers, Natalia and Carlos (Silvera and Oreiro, and Capo and Reinhold, respectively) were best friends living in Tacuarembó, Uruguay with dreams of getting out of their overly-religious confines and making names for themselves in the world; preferably in Hollywood. As adults ten years later they are still together and living in Argentina. Here they find themselves dressed as the stone slabs on which the Ten Commandments were written while they work at Cristo Park, “the only theme park approved by the Vatican.” Instead of telling the story linearly, the film switches back and forth between the two time periods as the stories progress. It also happens to be a musical.

Oreiro pulls double duty, playing not only Natalia as teenager and adult, but also Cándida López, the main church volunteer for the children and nemesis to young Natalia. While Cándida is a highly unlikable character, she is played with a level of camp that stands as a stark contrast to the other characters, which are overall more subtle performances. It makes the character easier to watch, but the difference is noticeable when she interacts with a more subdued actor.

As Carlos, Reinhold does a good job, however he doesn’t always have much to do except support Natalia as this is fully her story we are following. When we are introduced to young Carlos, he and Natalia are performing a choreographed routine to “What a Feeling” from Flashdance, and from here on everything he does is about helping Natalia: first when she is dreaming of the “Miss Tacuarembó” title and then when she is still trying to make a better life than dressing up as a piece of stone. We are left with the impression that he has no life outside of Natalia.

The storyline itself is one that we have seen many times before and nothing new is really added on that front. Originality points are, however, scored with the addition of Cristo Park, which is a blasphemously fun concept. The musical numbers are fluffy and fun, and make what would otherwise be an entertaining but forgettable film one that will stick in your head a bit longer, which the director seems to be fully aware of. The best this film can hope for is to achieve a small cult following, and everyone involved seems fine with that.