El Juego de la Verdad (2004)

El Juego de la Verdad (Truth or Dare) is a fairly typical romantic drama from Spain with actors who have appeared in similar movies such as Dot the I, The Other Side of the Bed, and Sex and Lucia. Alberto (Oscar Jaenada) is businesslike and handsome (like Dharma's Greg) while his fiancee Susana (Natalia Verbeke) is mesmerizing and luscious in any light; she is also the daughter of Alberto's boss and one suspects Alberto is not entirely able to separate his career from his love life. Meanwhile, his best friend Ernesto (Tristan Ulloa) is breezy and oafish (like Dana Carvey or Declan Donnelly) and his girlfiend Lea (Maria Esteve) doesn't seem to be aware of any life goals either. After Ernesto receives the erroneous medical report that he is going to die of cancer within three months, Alberto and Susana insist that he move in with them to ease his final days. The foursome goes camping and, vowing to take turns telling the absolute truth, Ernesto reveals that he would like to sleep with Susana before he dies. The initial response all around is naturally "No!" but over time, each of the other three friends wrestles with the conflicting rationalizations of propriety versus pity. How they resolve the question, separately and together, involves several twists before Alberto's wedding day. Being from Spain, there is occasional nudity and canoodling but it's very low-key. I liked El Juego about as much as L'Auberge Espagnole and I think you'd like it too. I watched it in Spanish without subtitles. (Oddly enough, I received this disc accidentally from a competing service instead of a similarly titled one I had queued that has long been a Save title on this service, El Juego de Arcibel. This movie is currently available here on streaming.) 4 stars. (2-24-11)