Product Details

• Actors: Salma Hayek, Carmelo Gómez, Fernando Valverde, Alicia Agut, Miguel Ayones
• Directors: Antonio Cuadri
• Writers: Carlos Asorey, Fernando León de Aranoa
• Producers: Emilio A. Pina, Aldo Spagnoli, César Benítez
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: September 18, 2001
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005N91C
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,080 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Living It Up - La Gran Vida" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The cunning plot of Living It Up walks a line between a romantic comedy and a con-game thriller (like The Sting or The Spanish Prisoner). As a bus driver named Martin (Carmelo Gomez) stands atop a bridge, about to throw himself off, a bystander suggests an alternative: If Martin borrows $100 million from the mob, he can live the high life for a week and then commit suicide--thus getting out of the debt. Martin agrees and immediately starts going to clubs and throwing outrageous parties by inviting everyone on a random page in the phone book. But when he runs into Lola (Salma Hayek), he starts to think life might be worth living after all. Unfortunately, Lola isn't all that she seems... and the week is coming to an end. Gomez is charming, Hayek is luscious, and the sneaky twists and turns of the plot make the film decidedly satisfying. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description
A captivating romantic comedy about lola a sexy waitress who meets martin a charming millionaire. Their whirlwind romance screeches to a halt when martin has to repay a million dollars to the mob and lola makes a surprising confession. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 12/07/2004 Starring: Salma Hayek Tito Valverde Run time: 114 minutes Rating: R Director: Antonio Cuadri

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor underneath a tragic life, September 24, 2001

By	"juj" (Manila) - See all my reviews

Summary: The story is about a simple man who thought life has been unkind to him & therefore decided to end his sufferings. No, it is not a tragic story, but a funny one. What should have been sad & tragic were smoothly passed out by the Director & the characters with light humor.

Martin, the main character, was so bent on killing himself that he decided to jump off a bridge only to be derailed by a stranger's offer which he couldn't resist. The deal was for him to loan from the Mafia $100,000,000 to be paid at the end of a week. & since he has no means of paying it, the Mafia would then kill him -- which shouldn't be a problem since he wanted to die in the first place. So, Martin thought, he might as well enjoy a week's life as a millionaire & end it with a bang.

But as expected, there would be a twist in the plot, which would make him change his mind & want to live longer. Tension builds on Martin who finally finds love & happiness while the weekend nears & the debt has to be paid. Of course, the ending could be expected to be favorable to complement the rest of the plot.

Lesson: Martin personifies all men who are not happy with their lives & who think that ending one's life is the best way to escape reality & hardships. He, Lola & others like them also think that being rich is the answer to all their problems. Just to learn a few lessons along the way.. (1) not to hate life...(2) that money isn't everything & ... (3)that what really makes the world go around is love & happiness.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Salma at her best! I want to marry Salma Hayek, por favor., February 24, 2002

By	ALFREDO (Los Angeles, CA.) - See all my reviews

Wow, an amazing performance by he lovely and talented Salma Hayek. The movie is wonderfully directed and the plot is magnificent. America needs to open its eyes and explore more great foreign films like this one by director Anotonio Cuadri.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a different movie, just ok, September 6, 2004

By	mitzigg04 "mittzigg" (VA) - See all my reviews

I think Salma is pretty consistent with her acting. Her character is similar in Fools Rush in. This movie is a bit odd, and a bit different. It's pretty high quality for a "foreign film" and you can watch dubbed versions in spanish, english and french. There is also a good subtitle selection. The ending was very predictable, but Salma's role came in later. An ok flick, have seen better.