Since Romanian rom-coms seem to be taking off this year, with Sweet Little Lies (reviewed here) or even Of Snails and Men (reviewed here) it is worth looking at an earlier pick from the genre.

Alexandru Maftei's 2010 Bună! Ce faci? is a sweet-tempered midlife romance, involving musical instruments, computers, and a lot of misunderstandings. Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail! might ring a bell, as are many other comedies involving mistaken identities, internet dating, film-like coincidences, and sudden epiphanies.

Gabriel and Gabriela (no, this is not a typo, they are really called like that) are a forty/fifty-something married couple going through a passionless phase. Actually, make it a decade or two. With their adolescent son turned into a raunchy sex guru they both take on internet dating and things get really funny from there on.

The film may not be the most original comedy but as a well-written, bighearted and well-acted piece it is a pleasure to watch. The fact that the main characters are mature actors is a further bonus. And when it hit the screens it was quite a novelty in Romania, being both breezy and clever and most of all daring to mix sex, romance, and middle age.

It may not be as hip as Sweet Little Lies or as impressively produced as Of Snails and Men, but it is a most welcome surprise in the Romanian movieplex landscape.

The subtitled DVD is sold at the Cărtureşti bookstores throughout the country and at their online store. Film trailer below. 

By Ioana Moldovan, columnist, ioana.moldovan@romania-insider.com 

(photo source: Buna, ce faci? official website)