In the spunky and clever opening scene of this Spanish film written and directed by Augustin Diaz-Yanes, two attractive women are discussing God, salvation, fate, and history. They then put on masks and get ready for what seems to be a robbery. The scene shifts to Heaven two months earlier where Marina D'Angelo (Fanny Ardant) convinces Angel Lola (Victoria Abril) to accept a very important mission to Earth to save the soul of a boxer named Manny (Demian Bichir). It seems that Heaven is losing the battle with Hell, and Manny's soul may make all the difference.
Meanwhile, things are very busy in the underground realm. Operations manager Jack Davenport (Gael Garcia Bernal) orders Carmen (Penelope Cruz), a waitress in the twenty-second circle of Hell, to return to Earth and get Manny for their side. He also turns down the request of some of his assistants for an air-conditioning unit in headquarters, in what is just the opening move of a power play by them.
Whatever else happens from this point on is okay since the writer and director has done a marvelous job in playfully conveying the differences between Heaven and Hell. The prior is Paris during the 1930s, shot in black and white, a sophisticated place with everyone speaks French and Lola is a beautifully dressed lounge singer. Hell is a prison drenched in red where everyone speaks English and is trying to climb the corporate ladder. This contrast seems a nice touch, given the recent animosity between France and the United States.
On Earth, Manny is told by doctors that he is danger of dying if he fights again. Lola enters his life as his estranged wife, and she immediately sets about the challenge of drawing out his capacity for goodness by effecting a reconciliation with his mother. Carmen shows up as his cousin, and she sets out to convince him to get back into the ring. Manny has other problems too; he owes money to a tough guy who sends two goons to rough him up. While Lola tries to move Manny to sacrifice, Carmen appeals to his materialist inclinations by getting him a job in a supermarket run by two creepy capitalists (Juan Echanove and Bruno Birchir).
There are many witty touches in this Spanish comedy that posits the presence of anxiety and competition (a line from the film makes reference to "egonomics") not only on Earth but in the afterlife realms as well.
