Il movente

Surprisingly for me, this film makes me smile often as I watched. Probably the film itself is something similar to the wife's book - doesn't seem serious but fun and inspiring to watch.

This movie kept me engaged. Great performances, an intriguing story skillfully structured and plotted with a late twist. Recommend.

The funny story of a man who wanted desperately to become a writer and writing "The Book" of his life, true and authentic literature. The lack of inspiration and self confidence combined with the fact that his wife (another writer who achieved success) cheats him with someone else, make him rent a flat and seek inspiration and a story for his book. At his teacher/ mentor's advice he starts seeking a story in real life, more exactly in the block he rented the apartment. Trying to write a good story he befriends with a few neighbors, sometimes overreacting or hiding the truth hoping he will have an effect for his book, a good story to write about. The film is interesting, funny but not very brilliant in some ways. I would say it's a good movie, but not a very complicated one. The actors are doing a great job, so it is a worth watching film, the watcher will not be bored.

Typical Spanish movie that reveals the darkness of humanity. The twist in the end is a little rush but the whole idea of the story is still very intriguing to me. 7 stars for the story and 2 stars for Javier Gutiérrez's great acting.

The Motive (2017)

A great concept drives this relatively low key Spanish movie with a small time crime underpinning it. Original called the Author (El Autor), it's about a wannabe writer, Álvaro, who is increasingly desperate to write a really good novel. It doesn't help that his wife has meanwhile just written one, leaving him behind for another man. So Álvaro realizes he lives in a boring world with no inspiration and he has to contrive excitement. By messing with the personal lives of his neighbors in an apartment building. This gets fun and messy fast. All of this sounds great and it needs a better film to pull it off. Better direction, snappier dialog, and faster editing. There is also some obviousness to the way it is filmed that makes it kind of drab, in some cases, or contrived. (One example-when eavesdropping on his neighbors, we can see their shadows perfectly cast on a wall he is watching, something that is so fake and unlikely it undermines the general mundane feel of the rest of the film.) Still, I watched it all with a certain patient interest. Álvaro is played by Javier Gutierrez, a Spanish actor who is not quite a "leading man" type in the Hollywood sense, and he gives his character drive without making a caricature out of him.