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Spain, Italy · 2004
1h 45m
Director Álex de la Iglesia
Starring Guillermo Toledo, Mónica Cervera, Luis Varela, Enrique Villén
Genre Comedy, Thriller
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When womanizer Raphael accidentally kills a coworker, he is aided and abetted by his assistant Lourdes, who then blackmails him into marrying her. Raphael lives in fear of Lourdes's power and tries to find his way out of this torturous relationship.
At its most ludicrously self-referential, the film achieves the perfect meta-moment when Toledo, seeking pointers on how to get away with murder, buys a copy of "Dial M for Murder" (released in Spain as Perfect Crime) and notices the title scans incorrectly as Ferpect Crime.
A wicked good time.
A seamless mix of satire and suspense, with inspired performances by Toledo and Monica Cervera.
Writer-director Alex de la Iglesia's bouncy, swaggering satire of ethics-deficient, survival-of-the-fittest free enterprise, peopled by broad grotesques and hysterical caricatures, adds Chabrolian callousness to a cartoonish worldview reminiscent of Frank Tashlin or Joe Dante at their most frenzied.
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Perfectly delightful.
The New York Times by Lawrence Van Gelder
Mr. Toledo's performance as the shallow and cowardly, yet strangely sympathetic Rafael is a wonder of comic timing, while Ms. Cervera is unforgettable as Lourdes, the ugly duckling who becomes not a swan, but a monster.
Dallas Observer by Luke Y. Thompson
Tremendously funny and entertaining.
As it progresses from black comedy to something approaching surreal horror, El Crimen Perfecto swells into a nightmare reminiscent of Griffin Dunne's journey through Soho hell in "After Hours."
El Crimen Perfecto is a joyride that leaves you feeling drunk and dizzy and swearing that you haven't touched a drop.
There's not enough good material to fill the film's overlong 105 minutes. Is there an editor in the house?