El mismo amor, la misma lluvia

Plot synopsis:
In 1980, Jorge Pellegrini (Ricardo Darín), a young and talented Argentine writer, upon returning from a trip to Europe, is forced to write short love stories for "Cosas", a local, light-themed magazine, to aid his dire financial situation. His boss and best friend, Roberto (Eduardo Blanco), constantly censors Jorge's stories, by deciding which parts to take out or which stories not to print. Jorge's friend and mentor, Mastronardi, often visits the magazine HQ asking Roberto for work, but due to his history of courageous confrontation against the last military dictatorship in Argentina, he finds himself blacklisted and therefore cannot find work.
In the showing of a short film, based on a story by Jorge, he meets Laura (Soledad Villamil), a passionate, beautiful and charming young girl who works as a waiter in a restaurant. He is instantly smitten by her, and she gives him her card. Days after, he receives news of the death of Mastronardi, and begins to write a story about his deceased friend. However, he experiences writer's block, and cannot get around to finish it. Jorge then finds the card Laura gave him, and decides to go the restaurant where she works. They go on a date to a bar, and they display chemistry and understanding, and Laura reveals that she has a boyfriend, an artist on a tour in Uruguay. Things go awry when the police raid the place and take Laura to jail, as she did not have her documents. Jorge then decides to be taken to jail himself in order to oversee Laura's safety. Upon their release, Laura and Jorge spend more and more time together, and Jorge reveals his feelings for Laura. She then tells him that she currently does not reciprocate, but she will call him if she "figures out any context" in which she could.
Months go by and Jorge buries himself in his work, starts a diary (which he then throws away) and loses hope of receiving Laura's phone call. However, she then calls him and they arrange a date, at which she reveals that she wanted to be sure of not waiting for her boyfriend anymore before starting a new relationship. They kiss, make love and start a relationship. The first months are full of romance and passion; however, when Laura decides to quit her job to work for free at a local radio station, Jorge begins to lose interest in her, and is constantly bothered by the monotony of their relationship. To make matters worse, Laura has decided to make a great writer out of Jorge, and constantly pressures him to stop writing the short and simple-minded love stories and focus on a powerful book.
When Jorge reaches the breaking point and cannot stand the current status of his relationship with Laura, he cheats on her with Carola. Laura finds out and leaves him immediately. Jorge, once again, buries himself in his work, until he receives news from Roberto that, due to restructuring, the magazine will no longer publish his stories. However, he is offered a job as the movie and theatre critic of the magazine, which he angrily refuses. He then finds the inspiration to finish Mastronardi's story and take it to the theatre. However, the play is a failure, and because of the effort he put in it, Jorge is heartbroken. Jorge then receives an emotional visit from Mastronardi's spirit, who asks him to look after his son, Sebastián.
In 1987, things have changed: Jorge has accepted the job offer as the movie and theatre critic, and Roberto is engaged to Marita, a friend of Laura's whom he met in a double date set by Jorge and Laura years before. Jorge is in a relationship with a new girl; however, he finds himself shocked when he receives news that Laura is to be married to her old boyfriend. This prompts Jorge to track Laura and, after spending a day together, they make love, and Laura then decides that she will get married anyway.
Once again, years go by, and in the 1990s, a bitter and disillusioned Jorge, still works as a critic. However, due to his failures and disappointments, and to the loss of his spirit and morals, we learn that he now asks for money in return for writing favourable reviews. This works against him when Laura, one of the producers of the movie he asked money to write a favourable review for, personally delivers him the money, and looks at him with disgust.
One day at the office, due to a disagreement, veteran political journalist Márquez (Ulises Dumont) has a heated exchange with his boss, young Micky (Rodrigo de la Serna) and is fired. This then prompts Sebastián, Mastronardi's son, to blame Jorge for his father's death. Unable to cope with guilt, and after realizing how much he has changed, Jorge attempts suicide. This attempt, however, is frustrated by Roberto, who arrives just in time to save him. After the suicide attempt, there is a surprise party, at which the employees of Cosas decide to donate one twelfth of their salaries to Márquez. Laura and Jorge meet once again, and share a long talk about their lives, hopes and crushed dreams.
The movie ends with a hint that Jorge and Laura will give their relationship one last chance. Jorge, reinvigorated, and looking like a happy man for the first time in years, watches her taxi depart with a broad smile. He is then greeted by his friends, Márquez, Sebastián and Roberto, and tells them of the new love story he is planning to write.

Tags: flashback

Review:
This is life.
If you enjoyed "El hijo de la Novia" ("Son of the Bride"), you must go for this one.
The same rock solid characters with a better script.
A story you can believe in, a group of characters you laugh and suffer with..
Even better than "El padre de la novia".
A new star is born.
Campanella offers in El mismo amor la misma lluvia an artwork full of sensitivity and love.
Most american directors should learn from Campanella the characters he makes, real and tender and the script.
Nothing to see with the big american productions, Campanella gives a lesson of how to make a love story interesting and absolutely unartificial.
Very good!!!
a younger and weaker version of "el secreto de sus ojos"???.
I first was interested in this film after seeing "El secreto de sus ojos" (which I loved) because it had the same director and leading characters and told a seemingly similar tale of a difficult love story and the protagonists' struggle with internal conflict surrounding his own ambition and inhibitions and his struggle with an overbearing government that often leads him to find himself crippled in his work.
I didn't find this movie quite as intriguingly complicated and intricate as "El secreto de sus ojos," but still found the movie compelling and impressive.
Jorge is a struggling writer in Argentina who falls quickly for the young and beautiful waitress, Laura.
The pattern of an on-and-off-again relationship begins with a smitten Jorge and unavailable Laura.
The climax of their relationship occurs when Laura and Jorge are finally together and Laura attempts to spark Jorge's ambition and pushes him to write with more significant substance with a meaningful and powerful book.
It is really sad how Laura repeatedly becomes the victim of male inadequacies and weaknesses causing her hurt and heartbreak--one of many controversial and compelling themes that Campanella plays with in this film.
I would definitely recommend the movie, and am very interested in his following movies "El hijo de la novia" and "Luna de Avellaneda".
good love story.
Jorge is a famous Argentinian writer, but famous means that he is know but has no money, so has to live by writing short love stories in a magazine for young people.
One day he knows one women and they fall in love, but life is hard and during 20 years, we can see how they manage to survive in the difficult days they spend in Argentina.
A precious acting, really, really good of all the actors, specially Ricardo Darín, one of the best actors I've seen.
The story is very touching and it quickly catch you, unfortunately, it has a low rhythm, so, sometimes, can result a little boring, as things happen so slowly...
Despite that, this is a good film, recommended for those who want to see great actors in scene..
remake.
I don't know if somebody noticed it before, but, El mismo amor, la misma lluvia, is almost a remake of a Brazilian film, from the sixties, called "Todas as mulheres do mundo"(All the Women in the World) by Domingos Oliveira (1966).
A comedy that perpetuates the talent and charm of Leila Diniz, who died prematurely in a plane crash.The plot is similar to the Argentinian movie: Paulo is a famous flirt known for picking up beautiful women on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
This professional seducer finds true love when he meets Maria Alice, a young teacher.
From then on, he confronts the dilemma of whether to give up "all the women of the world" to live with only one.
The film deals with the conflict between old and new social roles women in the '60s had to choose between, and is based on the true story of the director's relationship with the leading lady.
The film had a strong impact on contemporary Brazilian film, and is the most well-known role played by legendary beauty Leila Diniz.
What a wonderful movie!.
This movie has everything and its a real treasure to find it..
Nice Argentinian Film.
Not the best film directed by Juan Jose Campanella, but it is unquestionably a good offering.
The thematic of love is present and, as opposed to his other efforts, where love occupies a place in the plot, but it is actually not the main theme, here it represents the core of the film and functions as the main subject.The story centers on two people, Jorge and Laura, who will eventually fall in love after some time of knowing each other.
Laura would, however, find it difficult to start a relationship with Jorge, as she already had a compromise with another man who had traveled to Uruguay, but had not heard a word about him since his departure.
With this in her way, she asks Jorge for time and, if she decided that it was right to start a new relationship over his current one, she would give him a call.
She then, in fact, decides to let go of the past and goes on with her new relationship.
They will encounter many difficulties on their path, just like all relationships, and eventually will arrive at a point of problematic situations that may cause the breakup.Regarding character background, we find that Jorge is a devotee of writing; he really is passionate about it, but the company for which he works does not appreciate what he writes, so he pretty much ends up writing for himself and refuses to write what the company would have him do.
One of the main reasons why Jorge is infatuated with Laura is that she actually is the only person that appreciates his art and interprets it differently from the average folk.
Laura, on the other hand, is an enthusiastic, friendly, sympathetic woman who aspires to be a professional painter and that is able to appreciate art in general.The atmosphere of the film is occasionally sustained by dialogs, whose only purpose is to simply make you laugh.
Dramatic scenes do not get left behind; they are also important pieces of the film.
The camera-work is nothing of great complexity nor is it and essential part of the film; it only aims to portray the story.
Finally, the acting does not stand out and it actually sometimes seems forced and dull; nevertheless, it does not deter the film from being appreciated.In conclusion, the film is highly recommendable for those who like Argentinian humor and romantic movies.
Likewise, fans of the director should not hesitate to give it a try.My Score: 8.6/10.
Beautiful film with terrific performance of Darin.
Don't miss this film This is the second film by Argentinian-born living in USA for more than 20 years, Juan José Campanella, that I watched.
The first was "El Hijo De la Novia" (Oscar-nominated).
I liked this one better.
Argentinian movie critic Guillermo Ravaschivo (from "cineismo.com") didn't like it at all in spite of his reckoning of the film's good values...but I suspect he is too bitter a person to like this film (or many others, for that matter).
This is a wonderful film.
The political issues (as well as the rest) are just a backyard scenery for the close-up given to this particular LOVE of Jorge Pellegrini to Laura throughout more than 20 years, having met intimately but briefly twice after the first passionate and longer lasting time.
I do agree the idea of people rebelling with strong verbal innuendos to their bosses would not yield the results herein depicted (i.e. the employee either remains employed or the employee is a "friend" of his boss and after his quitting still remain friend and in the job).
But everyone, EVERY ACTOR in this movie is about perfect, and so is the idea and script.
Juan Jose Campanella did absorb some Hollywoodish (especially TV-dian) mannerisms which show.
But then, it is NOT a Hollywood film.
Jorge Darin's performance alone is worth the whole films.
Admittedely, both scripters wrote the script only with him in mind, all the time..
Singin' in the rain.
I'm not sure I liked this film by the talented, and versatile Argentine film director, Juan Jose Campanella, as much as his other pictures and television work.
On the one hand, this is a love story between Laura and Jorge, seen through about twenty years of history of the country.
They meet, they fall in love, they break up when Laura finds out about Jorge's betrayal.
Then years go by and they are reunited for what appears to be for keeps.
It is a love story that takes the viewer through different periods of recent Argentine history that sometimes has nothing to do with what the lovers are experiencing at any one of those turbulent times.For a moment, we thought this was going to be another account of the "dirty war", but lo and behold, it is basically not so.
The story takes place at the headquarters of a magazine, with a format much like the New Yorker.
Jorge contributes short stories that blend well within the content of the publication.
It is a left of center periodical with a political slant, something that probably was not appreciated by the military regime, in power at the beginning of the story.
Basically it is the tale about two young people, that loving each other so much, it's inconceivable how their romance fizzles.
Jorge, a struggling writer, has a lot to say, but unfortunately, he is not given the opportunity to do so.
Laura eventually finds her own voice and goes on her own after the traumatic breakup.Juan Jose Campanella is a director that works well with his leading man, Ricardo Darin, one of the best actors from that country working in films today.
Director and actor clearly understand what is demanded from each other and the film is a tribute to their collaboration.
The screen play owes a lot to both Mr. Campanella and Fernando Castets.
The cinematographer, Daniel Shulman, has worked with the director before.
His take of Buenos Aires is a city that comes alive after dark.
The soundtrack by Emilio Kauderer is pleasant and blends well with the action.Laura Villamil, who plays Laura, is a gorgeous creature.
She projects intelligence and wit.
Under the director's guidance she gives a good performance.
Same could be said about Ricardo Darin, a welcome addition to any film.
This actor makes us think his Jorge Pellegrini is real.
Eduardo Blanco has worked for Mr. Campanella before.
His Roberto is kind of a goofy guy with the heart in the right place.
The late Ulises Dumont gives a marvelous reading to his tragic Marquez.
Others in the cast are Rodrigo Dela Serna, Alicia Zanca and Alfonso DeGracia, among the supporting roles.