Only Human

A very spry family farce spanning the bustling evening on which Barcelona professor Rafi (Toledo) makes the acquaintance of the family of his new girlfriend Leni (Aguilera): classically Jewish mother Gloria (Aleandro), nymphomaniac single-mum Tania (Botto) and her brattish daughter, born-again scripturalist David (Fernando Ramallo) and blind Israeli War of Independence vet Dudu (Max Berliner). That Rafi is Palestinian is one cause for consternation, but when a frozen tub of soup slips from his fingers out the window of their high-rise apartment and flattens a passerby beneath, Leni’s advice to act innocent provokes all manner of chaos. Working from a brisk, sparky script that throws everything from lost ducklings to frisky prostitutes and bellydancing into the pot, the cast and directors run sweetly rampant. Much ado about nothing, in the best sense.