Directed by Neus Ballús
Written by Neus Ballús, Margarita Melgar
Starring Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar, Pep Sarrà
Runtime 85 minutes
Premiering at Toronto International Film Festival – screening info here

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

The Odd-Job Men bills itself as a comedy, but director co-writer Neus Ballús’s film is really more like a frustration comedy. It is difficult to watch Moroccan transplant Moha (Mohamed Mellali) be treated poorly by Valero (Valero Escolar) when he arrives for a job interview at their plumbing and electrical company in Barcelona. Valero’s racism is ugly, but he is bitter his colleague Pep (Pep Sarrá) is retiring—not that that is an excuse!—and Moha is getting a week’s training to learn the job along Valero.

Moha is also taking Catalan classes and there is a quiet dignity to him talking about how he liked to spy on his neighbors as a youth. Now, he explains, he can observe people without hiding as he enters their houses to fix things.

The Odd-Job Men recounts the week Moha and Valero work together, and the film unfolds with each job a different day. “What could go wrong?” one asks without irony. Plenty, of course. The men (Pep included) first go to a home with a leak, and Moha gets distracted by the centenarian who tells him what to eat to stay healthy and then demonstrates his exercise regimen. Moha is too polite to excuse himself, but viewers and Moha may prefer he get back to work—Valero certainly does. Such is Ballús’ gentle form of humor. The next day the pair of workers encounter trouble with some mischievous twins, who are also intrigued by the foreigner, whereas Valero has nothing but contempt for Moha. They get into an awkward situation on this job, too.

The Odd-Job Men is pretty much step and repeat. At a photography studio, the owner takes a shine to Moha and convinces him to pose for her. Meanwhile, Valero gets frustrated with the models he engages with in conversation as he struggles to fix an air conditioning unit. The film may be amusing in these moments, but Moha is charming, whereas Valero is off-putting.

Their oil and water mix forms the backbone of the film, but when the two men are in their respective homes, they have a different dynamic. Moha prefers that his roommates do not eat his food, that they let him study, and that they generally leave them alone, behavior more typical of Valero. In contrast, in his apartment, Valero concedes that the suit he hopes would fit him does not, and he tries to please and amuse his wife and daughter.

There is not much in the way of plot here, which is fine—it allows viewers to absorb the minimal interactions between the characters, as when Valero and Pep are at a bar—but it also is a drawback in that The Odd-Job Men is so low stakes. The rhythm of the film can be enervating as the men go from site to site, always facing problems.

The three leads are all non-professional actors making their screen debuts, and to their credit, they do give natural performances and their interactions are realistic. When Valero offers Moha some food his wife made, it is a nice moment, and one that diffuses some of the ongoing tension between them.

But The Odd-Job Men, while simple, is not very insightful. Moha’s realization that everyone is connected is hardly profound. More meaningful is his remark that when building a kitchen, you need strength, intelligence, a delicate touch, and to be in sync with your coworkers. Viewers who think Moha and Valero exhibit some, if not all, of those qualities with be enchanted by this minor film. Anyone else will be frustrated.