The Magic Gloves

The Magic Gloves ***

"The Magic Gloves" is an interesting piece, and a very enjoyable one at that. There are many small little vignettes that do add up to some kind of story, but that simply isn't important. It is a character piece, one that collects a series of characters and sticks them into scenes. It is about how they all relate to one another, and how coincidence and fates links them all together, for better or for worse. It is a comedy, but not the laugh out loud type. It's the type of dry humor where every now and then you snicker or chuckle-renascent of a Jim Jarmusch tale.

The central character of "The Magic Gloves" is Alejandro, a young man in his thirties who drives a cab around the city. On night he ends up picking up someone who he met years ago, a rock and roller who goes by the name Piranha. Piranha insists that Alejandro come to dinner, and while he is there he subjects his guest to sit in the chair between the two giant speakers to listen to some loud music. A trip to the ear-nose-throat doctor follows the next day. Alejandro's favorite thing to do is dance and drive his car, which annoys his long time girlfriend. She has had it with dancing, and his overall attitude about life and dumps him a few minutes before a dinner party. Over time, the two of them become good friends even as they both drift into relationships. Alejandro meets a flight attendant who "really loves that they are both in transportation." And then one thing leads to another-Alejandro sells his car, and then buys it back, and then sells it again to get into a "one size fits all" glove deal with Piranha, who is convinced that if they sell these in the winter months, they will never go hungry again.

Like I said, there isn't really as plot. This is the story of a cab driver who is used to the same old thing, and then gets pulled into a world where actual interesting things happen-all because he picked up someone in his car. In the end, Alejandro will do anything for his cab. He even lets his relationship suffer. He is bored, but just doesn't want to accept this. These are short little tales that all play a part in the transportation of Alejandro's life(and I use transportation for a reason.) And then as insightful of a social satire as it is, "The Magic Gloves" is also alot of fun, and something that not many people will end up seeing. It's dry dark humor is perfect for those who love subtlety. Some scenes are so painfully awkward that you are cringing and laughing at the same time, and some of these characters-including a porn star and his crew who are all visiting for the weekend-are laugh out loud hilarious. It figures that "The Magic Gloves" is from Argentina, because it's rare to see an American film with such clever humor that doesn't rely on outrageous situations to be funny. Instead, it relies on the outrageous behavior of people, and how every single day we experience something strange-which is what life is-one strange event after another.