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>>> Truman looks at Spanish-style masculinity

TRUMAN (Cesc Gay). Subtitled. 109 minutes. Opens Friday (August 19). See listingRating: NNNN


The latest from Spain’s Cesc Gay (Nico And Dani) is a nicely calibrated buddy movie balancing gravity and levity while tracking a final four-day reunion between two long-time friends now in middle age.

Madrid actor Julián (Argentine superstar Ricardo Darín) has terminal cancer and is struggling to set his affairs in order. Sensing that Julián isn’t long for this world, Montreal teacher Tomás (Talk To Her’s Javier Cámara) drops everything to fly to Spain to see him. Tomás wants to convince Julián to continue with his treatment, while Julián seems inordinately preoccupied with the future of his beloved pooch. 

Truman is a shameless tearjerker grounded in certain stereotypes regarding masculinity. It’s also beautifully observed, particularly in the way it contrasts the fundamental differences between its central characters: one is brave, the other generous. The implication, which deepens in significance as Truman proceeds, is that it is very hard to be both.

Middlebrow yet resonant and frequently funny, it could be turned into a likeable Hollywood version directed by James Brooks. But then you’d lose the performances by Darín and Cámara, whose interactions speak to a lifetime of camaraderie and tension.    

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