This is the second feature film from Isabel Coixet, a Catalan director who specialises in commercials. Shot in Oregon on a tiny budget, with a solid cast of American character actors, it echoes the kind of cinema Hal Hartley likes to make, but displays more tenderness and sympathy for the characters it deals with.

A young woman (Lili Taylor), working as an assistant in a photographer's shop, is disappointed in love and feeling hopeless, and tries to commit suicide. When she fails to take her own life, she calls a lonely hearts phone number for help, and makes the acquaintance of a young man (Andrew McCarthy) who is in a similar state of despair. Their daily routines, meetings and separations, the acquaintances they encounter along the way and their efforts to put their lives in some kind of order, constitute the backbone of the film's plot.

Coixet strikes a nicely controlled balance between irony and empathy. She is always on top of the dramatic situations on the screen, has a gift for smooth narrative technique, and doesn't miss a beat in her tightly structured scenes. This is high quality, efficient comedy, led at a lively pace, and performed with gusto. On top of which, the minuscule budget goes unnoticed, confirming also the director's professional expertise.

Minto Torreiro, FIPRESCI

Prod co: Eddie Saeta España, Carbo Films

Prod: Javier Carbo, Dora Medrano, Luis Minarro

Dir/scr: Isabel Coixet

Ph: Teresa Medina

Ed: Katherine Himoff

Art dir: Marc Rosenblatt

Music: Alfonso Villalonga

Cast: Lili Taylor, Andrew McCarthy, Seymour Cassel, Alexis Arquette, Richard Edson, Debi Mazar, Leslie Mann

Running time: 93 mins

Int sales: Eddie Saeta España, Barcelona

Screenings: 22 June, 12.15, KCP-Kongressovy; 17.30 KCP Kongressovy

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