LFF 2021: The Odd-Job Men
LFF 2021
Neus Ballús' The Odd-Job Men is a warming and poignant look into the world of character, as well as the often frenetic, albeit touching, relationship between a diverse partnership that slowly but surely finds common ground. Ballús' film gets straight to the point; this is not a feature that is crafted solely to be a groundbreaking or distinct influence on the zeitgeist, and while that may come off as an off-handed comment, in fact, it works in Ballús' favour.
In the most honest and best of description, The Odd-Job Men is simplistic in its curation; as aforementioned, this is a venture that gets straight to the point without oversimplifying both what is on the screen and behind it. For starters, the characters present are crafted with authentic and organic detail. They interact and are present in a manner that is driven with pure character motifs. There is little here in terms of condescending narrative and perplexing cinematic operatus. Writer-director Ballús' and co-writer Margarita Melgar purely focus on fledging out and exploring this central partnership between Mohamed Mellali’s Moha and Valero Escolar’s Valero. Behind the camera is simple and gets straight to the point in the cinematography from Anna Molins crafting a consistently engaging and direct image that immerses the viewer. The screenplay allocates small but vital moments of said character motifs in which the two performers can embellish and turn into something that has fallout and an arc.
While stating this is simplistic in venture, it is not entirely accurate in describing the themes. The screenplay – and, thus, Mohamed Mellali and Valero Escolar – deals with poignant but conscious social commentary in the likes of immigration, stabilisation and fears of the ’other’. Themes that are handled with direct and poignant substance are elements that could easily over stuff and feel understated and undermined within the feature’s tonal stance. Granted, it would not be too much of a stress to state that the prominent tone here is more of a comedic entity; nevertheless, this element works to immerse and brood the more poignant and dramatic of turns with the audience pulled into proceedings with that very emotive connection. When the more poignant substance arrives, it does so not in clumps or mass sizes, but bitesize nuanced moments. Again, The Odd-Job Men does not overindulge said sentiments but, in this manner of incorporation, crafts a more profound and seismic influence when used sparingly, allowed to breathe and impact with fluidity.
Furthermore, it does help that the two central performances by Mohamed Mellali and Valero Escolar are fantastic. Individually they offer differing – often opposing – centric individualism that broods uniqueness. However, when they are put together, that opposing parallel line begins to converge and seeing both arcs ultimately collide offers a poignant and constantly entertaining momentum, crafting a delightfully entertaining and sweeping venture.
