You're My Hero Details

In this rites-of-passage picture, Spanish director Antonio Cuadri uses his country's transition from fascist dictatorship to constitutional monarchy to mirror the confusion felt by teenager Manuel Lozano as he arrives at yet another new school. Lozano faces the usual problems of fitting in, making friends and dealing with adolescent crushes, but the backdrop of social upheaval adds depth to a familiar tale. Cuadri cleverly coats the political subtext with nostalgia for the trappings of the mid-1970s, reinforced by the Europop soundtrack. Lozano's dealings with bully Alfonso Mena, tousled pretty boy Félix López and spiky galpal Carmen Navarro are spiritedly enacted, but the contrast between two of his teachers, liberal Toni Cantó and martinet priest Juan Fernández, could have been more subtly shaded and Lozano's heart-to-hearts with a fantasy comic-book native American feel forced.

'You're My Hero' benefits from being set at an exciting time...authentic robustness...allows it to rise above the level of just being a nostalgia piece.