Sequel to ¨Cuñados¨, one of the most resounding successes of recent Galician cinema, a film that presented a pleasant desire to make people laugh, and without intending to, became one of the mainstays and best performances in the "comedy à galega", laying the foundations for it. The film begins with the appearance of a corpse right in the middle of the international bridge in 'Tui. This fact comes from what happened a few days ago, when Carnival is about to be celebrated and the Ribeiro family is preparing to enjoy the favorite festivals of every good Ourense'people. In this sequel titled ¨ Cuñados¨ two years have passed since the arrest of Alicia Zamora and her Portuguese partner and the brothers-in-law (Xosé A. Touriñán as Sabonis, Miguel de Lira as Eduardo) have set up a stall selling Galician octopus in Ourense, to balance the money from the loot that literally fell from the sky. And meanwhile Modesto (Federico Pérez Rey), who in the previous film was kidnapped by the brothers-in-law, has become another brother-in-law of the family. However, the appearance in Ourense of Andreia Nunes (Mela Casal), the partner of the detained Portuguese woman, in search of revenge will once again put the brothers-in-law in trouble.
The Galician trio formed by: Xosé A. Touriñán as Sabonis, Miguel de Lira as Eduardo and Federico Pérez Rey as Modesto, get into trouble again in this direct continuation of the nutty ¨Cuñados¨, the unexpected box office hit of 2021. In this new adventure of the brothers-in-law, bad luck, absolute illegality, entanglements, mistakes and coincidences are the hallmarks of this 'costumbrista' comedy that carries the essence of Galician humor as its particular brand. It is a reasonably well-seasoned comedy, in which the three main characters hold up the comic building with wit, grace, funny phrases, some ridiculous incidents and a fresh, healthy humour that never falls into vulgarity, which is why there are hardly any swear words, bad words or sexual references, which is appreciated. While in the previous film intertwined funny comedy with a social critique of the deep Spanish crisis, passing through an authentic critique of economic abuses, corruption and speculation; in this second outing there are hardly any acidic speculations, but simply one crazy situation after another, adding a bit of suspense about an alleged murder and various chases. This film is made to entertain, and this feature film, especially to have a good time and some pleasant entertainment. And the result is a passable story, with enough fun in which the only thing that stands out are the celebrations of the Orense carnival in which our likeable protagonists appear having a great time. The film is full of fast-paced, heavily accented dialogue, silly incidents, funny plot twists, ironic, grotesque situations, and above all, humor. Brothers-in-Law 2 could have been even funnier if it hadn't cut short its mischief. It is somewhat white in its humor and that need not be a problem, but it leaves us with the impression that it could have been used for something more touching or hilarious. As a virtue, it is neither stale nor heavy, something it could easily have fallen into with three brothers-in-law on hand. It finds itself in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the elegantly cool. This film moves in fits and starts, most of which would be desirable and some moments of enjoyment and others quite ridiculous. Alongside the three main protagonists: Xosé A. Touriñán, Miguel de Lira and Federico Pérez Rey, there are other partially known Galician faces, such as: Eva Fernández, Iolanda Muíños and María Vázquez, all of them giving adequate performances adapted to the comedy genre in which it all takes place.
The film was professionally directed by Luis Avilés who replaces the previous director Toño López, but it is nothing special. Luis Avilés had previously made some films without much success such as Idénticas (2019), Os días afogados (2015) and Retornos (2010), as well as some short films. Rating: 5/10. It is an acceptable Galician comedy, but only recommended for viewers from that region and those who liked the previous original entry.
