KM 0

Rating: 4

It’s Madrid, it’s summer, and the only thing soaring higher than the temperature are the hormones of an unlikely band of strangers who are about to become much more in Juan Luis Iborra and Yolanda Barcia Serrano’s frothy and very sexy comedy, KM O.
There’s nothing too deep here, unless you count the power of love, or at least lust, as well as the force of destiny. Don’t count either of them out as several sets of strangers make a date to meet on the same day at the same time at Kilometer 0 of the Porta del Sol. That would be a desperate actress and her sister’s friend, a wannabe film director; a virgin and the low-rent whore he’s hired to get some experience before his wedding night; a mature beauty and the hunky gigolo she’s hired to while away the evening while her husband is elsewhere; and a flamenco dancer and the date he’s arranged with a macho cutie via computer. No one knows what the other looks like and between late busses, fussy scooters and other distractions, almost none of them meet the person that they think that they’re hooking up with, but all end up with more than they bargained for. Surprises abound, new characters with familiar ties cross paths, and near misses are averted. Though no one seems quite right for anyone else, it all works out for the best, even for the woman who gets robbed three times during the course of the one day depicted here.
Like the best farces, this one doesn’t let logic interfere with the action. Iborra and Serrano keep things as effervescent as the champagne that flows freely by the end of the story with a plot that trots along at a nice clip and performances from a winning ensemble cast that sell the emotions on screen with scads of charm and even more heart. Particularly good are Carlos Fuentes and Elisa Matilla as the fledging director and the prostitute. Once they’ve sorted things out identity-wise, he decides to stay and play Henry Higgins to her incredulous Eliza Doolittle, only instead of passing her off as nobility at the ball, he’s going to groom her so that she can charge her customers more for her services. The nice touch is how this turns out to be more than just love or money, though the script makes the point that these are the two things that move the world. He’s not just boosting her salary, he’s also boosting her self-esteem by literally showing her what she’s worth. The Puritans will shriek, of course, but shouldn’t we all be the very best we can be?
By the end, when all that champagne is flowing, everyone in our now-happy group has had their brushes with those moving forces mentioned above, and while not all of them get both, it’s safe to say that they’re all found their bliss. KM O is a film that will lift your spirits as well as your libido. Only love and money are a more powerful combination. Maybe.