Cesc Gay is particularly interested in one topic in his films: the complexity of interpersonal relationships. He is primarily concerned with looking at these relationships in midlife – most of his characters, both main and secondary, are between 40 and 60 years old. How do aging, friendships, love and dealing with strokes of fate take shape in this phase of life?
With his tragicomedy “Sentimental” (2020), Gay, himself 57 years old, demonstrated his great talent for sensitive observations and narrative balance. In it, two couples had to ask themselves the question: What constitutes a “modern” partnership? In his previous work, the drama “Friends for Life” (Goya for “Best Film” 2016), Gay dealt with the themes of farewell and death. He moves away from the heaviness and burden of this content with the romantic comedy “A life without love is possible, but pointless”. The Spaniard wants to radiate positivity, love of life and lightness with his new film and bring it to the people – and he certainly succeeds in doing that. However, an erratic script and the one-dimensional character drawing always slow the film down halfway through.
Looking for love
Eva (Nora Navas), who lives in Barcelona, has just turned 50. She has been married for over 20 years and has two teenage children. On a professional trip to Rome, something happens that radically turns her life upside down: she meets the likeable screenwriter Alex (Rodrigo de la Serna), who is in the city for a few days – and who ignites a fire in her that seemed to have long since gone out. Eva then questions her previous life and makes a courageous decision: she separates from her husband and leaves her old existence behind.
In “A life without love is possible, but pointless” (a somewhat awkward German rental title), Gay once again dissects the relationship, professional and everyday life of urban dwellers in great detail – but does so with far more humor and cheerfulness than before. This is also about the possibilities and opportunities that life offers you in the second half. And after the separation, a number of unexpected opportunities open up for Eva as she begins to plunge into amorous adventures.
Eva (Nora Navas) hardly thought it possible to fall in love again at 50 – until Alex (Rodrigo de la Serna) comes into her life.
With a wink and irony, Gay devotes the second half of the film to the absurdities of the modern dating world. When Eva and the men sit opposite each other in various restaurants and talk hopelessly past each other or other misunderstandings arise, then “Mi Amiga Eva” (the simpler original Spanish title, which means something like “My friend Eva”) exposes the challenges of finding a partner and the complexity of interpersonal communication in a pointed, very funny way. The message is clear: the search for love is by no means always romantic, but rather exhausting and time-consuming.
Eva has already found her new dream prince in Alex after the first five minutes! It is therefore one of the strengths and surprises of the film that “A life without love is possible, but pointless” initially develops completely differently than thematically similar films. Without giving too much away: Alex will be seen far less frequently in the following 90 minutes and will play a far smaller role in the course of the plot than expected. At this point, Gay's ninth feature-length film skillfully subverts the audience's expectations.
More than one unbelievable twist too many
All the more annoying are some blatant weaknesses in the script, which are particularly evident in the unbelievable coincidences with which Gay embellishes his work. This becomes apparent right at the beginning, when Eva and Alex meet for the first time to get the plot rolling. The two of them not only meet in the hotel lobby – which could be taken from the film – but within a few hours, purely by chance, they also meet in front of the hotel, at the breakfast buffet and in the hallway.
These encounters and incidents, which are hardly credible in their frequency, run through the entire film. They reach their annoying climax towards the end, when Eva and Alex are once again the focus. They meet each other unexpectedly in the cinema, and a little later “surprisingly” in a bookstore. And then Eva's daughter intervenes at a truly inopportune moment. You can tell: Gay wants to steer the tension in the desired direction in a cramped way – which in the end seems laborious and arbitrary.
With the exception of the protagonist Eva (middle), identifying figures and popular figures are unfortunately rare.
Speaking of characters: Another problem with the film is its lack of identifying figures and likeable, tangible characters. This applies, for example, to Eva's husband. He is a somewhat unsympathetic fellow who repeatedly puts Eva in unpleasant situations in the presence of friends with his insinuations and accusations. However, the friends in question are not exactly supportive with their lectures, unreflective advice and derogatory comments. Once, due to her emotional imbalance, Eva is told the following: “Now she’s crying again.” And as a viewer, you inevitably ask yourself why the main character hangs out with these people so often.
At least the charismatic leading actress Nora Navas does a really good job. She is not to blame for the unfortunately rather poor, immature script. Instead, she skilfully oscillates between melancholy and irrepressible happiness, between brooding and drive. Navas plays her role with subtle wit and expressive facial expressions – and consistently maintains her character's appeal until the end.
Conclusion: “A life without love is possible, but pointless” follows a married woman who, in her mature years, has one wish above all else: to fall in love again! The mix of romance film, comedy and drama takes a close look at many points and highlights the madness of interpersonal encounters, communication and dating efforts. However, the half-baked and even unbelievable script makes it difficult to empathize with the main character.