One Too Many (2005)
"Éramos pocos" (original title)

After his wife leaves him, Joaquín brings his mother-in-law back home to look after him and his son.

Director:

Borja Cobeaga

Writers:

Sergio Barrejón, Borja Cobeaga

Stars:

Ramón Barea, Mariví Bilbao, Alejandro Tejerías

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ramón Barea	...	Joaquín
Mariví Bilbao	...	Lourdes
Alejandro Tejerías	...	Fernando (as Alejandro Tejería)

Storyline

Joaquin awakens to the sound of his wife shutting the door when she leaves him. He wakes their son, Fernando, a young man. It's quickly clear why she left: they live like pigs and do nothing around the flat except eat and watch TV. In desperation, they go to the rest home where the wife's mother lives; they stand in the doorway looking in at the residents celebrating Mass. Lourdes sees them, waves, and they invite her home. Once she sees that they just want her to cook and clean, what will she do?

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Plot Keywords:

mother in law | marital separation | mother in law son in law relationship | absent mother | bedsheet | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

16 February 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

One Too Many

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Altube Filmeak S.L.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

User Reviews

An exceptional film--I can see why this one was Oscar nominated!

The film begins with a man awakening to discover that his wife has left him. You are unsure exactly why, but judging how sloppy this man and his son were, you figure she probably just couldn't take this any more! These guys are really lost without a wife/house keeper and come up with the brilliant idea of taking the husband's mother-in-law out of the retirement home to care for them. Though they haven't seen each other in years, she agrees to come home and is immediately a hit. The house is cleaned, groceries are bought and she's a terrific hit--and then comes the wonderful punchline!

Well written, directed and produced--this Spanish short film is a lovely and funny film. It's really too bad that the 2006 Oscars were so competitive that year--else-wise, this one might have won. By the way, the winner was WEST BANK STORY--a film I absolutely adored.

These two films and many more are included on the DVD "A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films" and is well worth buying because it is jam-packed full of 13 wonderful shorts.