That was an excellent one.

Just what I expected

Absolutely Brilliant!

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A teenager spending his last 90 days at a reformatory is allowed out for a few days to attend his brother's wedding. The brother picks him up during his work shift and drops him at home warning that he should not misbehave lest his future freedom may be jeopardized. The teen does not waste any time getting together with his best friends and other buddies from the local gang. The rest of the film follows the actions of these teens, some from broken families.The essential tension throughout is to know whether the reformatory teen will manage to keep out of trouble. He is surrounded by friends that are a wild bunch. Loyalty to friends, the thought of having to go back to the reformatory and putting the future at risk are clearly in conflict. Temptations are many and events produce their own impetus.The ending reminded me of the French classic "Les 400 Coups".The young actors are very good and the two principals particularly so.

'7 virgenes' succeeds to raise above its genre. The action happens in a suburb in Spain with the principal character getting out from a juvenile institution for 48 hours in order to attend his brother's wedding. How will he use the time, how will he catch with the time spent inside and reconnect with the real world. Director Alberto Rodríguez's hero does not want or does not seem capable to disconnect from the habits of his past, all the teenage heroes actually seem to be caught in a circle of violence and small crime that they do try to escape. Without falling into melodrama or making any strong social comment the movie focuses instead on the psychology of the hero and of his friend, the horizon or the lack of horizon of their lives and future. Succeeding to produce a well acted film, with a good sense of rhythm and a dose of sympathy for the characters at the fringe of the society director Alberto Rodríguez shows here a talent that may show up more obviously if and when he will approach some more interesting themes.

Spain, 2005 (86 minutes)Monday June 5, 9:30pm The Neptune Wednesday June 7, 4:15pm Pacific Place"Dude, weren't you in the joint?" "I still am, this is an illusion."While free on a 48-hour pass from juvenile detention to attend his brothers wedding, Tano (Juan Jose Ballestra) makes the most of his time, drinking, clubbing, getting busy with his girl and getting into plenty of trouble in this "Muchachoz en la Hood" of sorts. Tano looks up his friend Richi (Jesus Carroza) and before long they are running through a shopping mall with a stolen wallet. Director Alberto Rodriguez' effective use of subtext presents an interesting alternative to what might have been a stereotyped and dull story of young hooligans. Tano picks up his girl Patri (Alba Rodriguez) and they ride off on his scooter. When they are first seen in private Patri is wearing Tano's shirt. The use of montage to bridge scenes is reminiscent of Michael Mann while the portrayal of thoughtless crime, hopelessness and devalued life could almost be a Spanish translation of S. E. Hinton.

I saw this film because I only was interested. It seemed to me that it would be quite good. But I was mistaken. The argument is not bad, but it would be possible to be improved. The direction is very good, and some actors also are. Jesús Carroza as Richi is spectacular, is very funny and he acts very very good. He's great in this film. He deserved that Goya award. The other actors are also good, but Juan José Ballesta is not. Apparently, he thinks that he can receive another Goya award, as he did in 2001 in "El Bola". He is a good actor, but in this film I didn't like him. The film in itself is not bad (I think it's fair that it did not get the Goya award) but I would not like to have to see it more than once. It would never do that. The youthful public will love this movie, but not the adults, I think. Perhaps, if you see this movie, you won't be sorry, but I sincerely didn't like it much. See it if you are interested in films about vain and insolent boys.