Guillermo Toledo stars as Rafael Gonzalez, a sweet-talking salesman who could sell an Eskimo a bikini in the dead of winter. This guy is that good. He knows what his customers want to hear and he delivers his well-practiced sales lines with rakish charm. Selling is what he lives for and he’s the best there is. If salesmanship was an Olympic sport, Rafael would walk away with the gold. You get the picture.
Besides the chance to bed every one of his gorgeous female co-workers (if saleswomen really looked like this sexy models, men would never ever complain about shopping again), Rafael really only wants one thing: to be promoted to the powerful position of floor manager. In order to get the job, he must outsell a man he despises, the hated Don Antonio (Luis Varela).
Due to an unfortunate turn of events, at the end of the competition it’s Don Antonio who comes out ahead and is awarded the promotion. This doesn’t sit well with hotshot salesman Rafael who absolutely loathes the man who is now effectively his boss.
Though Rafael never expected things to get physical, a tussle ensues when Don Antonio fires Rafael from the job he loves. Their pushing and shoving match quickly escalates and winds up taking a deadly turn. When it looks like things can’t get any worse for our hero, it’s revealed that the fatal fight was witnessed by stalker-ish co-worker, Lourdes (Monica Cervera), who proceeds to blackmail Rafael into a monogamous romantic relationship. Fed up with being ignored by Rafael as he circulates himself sexually amongst his supermodelish co-workers, Lourdes uses her knowledge of Don Antonio’s death to hold Rafael hostage in a loveless relationship.
Once the murder occurs, the film does a complete 180 and becomes more of a reflection of one man’s nightmarish existence alongside a manipulative woman who holds his future in her shrewish hands. It’s still funny, but the comedy takes on a much darker tone.
A strong cast provides the film with the needed oomph whenever the going gets a little rocky and it does at times, in particular whenever the film flips in tone during the middle of scenes. Toledo, Cervera and Varela carry scenes and are able to take the story over its little bumps, tackling dialogue and circumstances that could have otherwise played out as unbelievable or false when taken in context with the rest of the film.
“El Crimen Ferpecto” (the misspelling of the title is explained during the film) is a sex comedy with a twist. The plot is never telegraphed and Alex de la Iglesia and co-writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría keep their audience guessing about what’s coming next. And as social satire, “El Crimen Ferpecto” really hits the mark.
Despite the fact it’s a little overly long, “El Crimen Ferpecto” is overall a deliciously funny, original film. Effectively mixing just about every genre – comedy, crime drama, and romantic thriller – “El Crimen Ferpecto” (“The Ferpect Crime”) is a pleasant surprise and something new we haven’t had to sit through dozens of times before.
GRADE: B
