Nada que perder
2002 · 21m · España
Directed by Rafa Russo
A traveller and a taxi driver, two strangers stuck in a traffic jam, create a journey of dreams and encouragement; she is on her way to an acting casting and he is determined to give her the final push she needs.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A two-hander pep talk in a taxi sounds like every feel-good indie cliché, but Russo commits so fully to the absurdist tenderness of strangers bonding in gridlock that it almost transcends its own sweetness—the trick being whether you buy the sincerity or just admire the nerve.
A formally modest chamber piece that understands the lineage of neorealist dialogue cinema; the editing rhythm between confessional monologue and street-level observation recalls a gentler Kiarostami, though the film's whimsy keeps it from that tradition's severity.
The real move here is the decision to let the camera sit still and let the conversation breathe—no cutaways, no underlining; just two voices in a metal box, and somehow that constraint makes the emotional crescendo feel earned rather than manufactured.