My Name Is Juani (Yo soy la Juani) (2006)

• 46% of users liked it
  (564 ratings)

A small-town girl seeks fame and fortune in the big city with mixed results in this drama from veteran Spanish director Bigas Luna. Juani (Veronica Echegui) is a young woman in her early twenties who works as a shop girl in a big-box store in a provincial community. Juani still lives at home with… More A small-town girl seeks fame and fortune in the big city with mixed results in this drama from veteran Spanish director Bigas Luna. Juani (Veronica Echegui) is a young woman in her early twenties who works as a shop girl in a big-box store in a provincial community. Juani still lives at home with her shiftless father (Jose Chaves) and thick-skinned mom (Mercedes Hoyos), while spending most of her time with her best friend Vani (Laya Marti). Eager for more excitement than their sleepy hometown can provide, Juani and Vani have talked for years about moving to Madrid and trying to break into show business, and one night, after Vani is nearly raped by her thuggish boyfriend Nacho (Gorka Lasaosa) and Juani walks in on her beau Jonah (Dani Martin) having sex with another woman, they pack their bags and hit the road. Once they arrive in Madrid, Juani takes up with a low-rent film producer, but her dreams of film stardom are soon dashed, while Vani once again falls in love with the wrong guy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi