GOYO

(director/writer: Marcos Carnevale; cinematographer: Horacio Maira; editor: Alberto Ponce; music: Ivan Wyszograd; cast: Nicolas Furtado (Goyo), Pablo Rago (Matute), Nancy Duplas (Eva), Soledad Villamil (Saula), Diego Alonso (Miguel), Cecilia Roth (Magda); Runtime: 106; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Rocio Gort, Martin Kweller, Ignacio Rey; Netflix; 2024)-Argentina-in Spanish with English subtitles)

“Suffers from an underwritten script and being so bland.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Argentinian director and writer Marcos Carnevale (“All Hail”/”The Search Room”), a former TV director, helms this dreary rom/com drama that suffers from an underwritten script and being so bland. It seems more like a television production than a movie.

The film centers around the handsome college grad Goyo (Nicolas Furtado), who has Asperger’s. He works as a tour guide at the National Art Museum in Buenos Aires, and loves the Van Gogh paintings.

It’s love at first sight when he sees the older, thirty-something, new security guard Eva Montero (Nancy Duplas). Eva is in a bad marriage with Miguel (Diego Alonso), who has problems with the law. The bad marriage has made her cynical about love, and the mother of two kids is filing for a divorce.

Goyo is from an opposite social class, the upper middle class, who lives in a luxury dwelling with his concert pianist sister, Saula (Soledad Villamil). At times he hangs out with his older brother Matute (Pablo Rago), who offers him love tips. His daily routine includes swimming therapy with a “special needs” group, where he scares the group leaders by holding his breath on the bottom of the pool for an extended period of time.

The gist of the movie is when Goya dates Eva, and we wonder if they can connect romantically.

The film never caught my fancy, but at least its sensitive portrayal leaves us with a good message about those with autism and of those vulnerable women going through a rough marriage. 

REVIEWED ON 7/30/2024  GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com