by MARK SLUTSKY

Basque director Julio Medem’s Sex and Lucía is full of the stuff often associated with foreign films: arty cinematography, confusing shifts in time, complex adult relationships and plenty of skin. That shouldn’t give you the impression, though, that Lucía’s some impenetrable Mediterranean art movie. Actually, it’s a pretty good love story, and Medem’s stylistic choices for the most part serve the movie well.

Lucía starts with the titular character, played by the lovely Paz Vega, talking on the phone with her distraught boyfriend. We don’t learn, at this point, why he’s so freaked out, but it doesn’t look good. Sure enough, Vega returns home to find a farewell note and news that he’s dead. She immediately takes off to a Mediterranean island to collect herself, and it’s at this point that the movie fragments, cutting back and forth to their initial meeting some years before and the present day. We meet her boyfriend, Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa), a woman he spent the night with years before with unexpected consequences (Najwa Nimri), and a whole slew of other inter-connected people.

You should know, before we go any further, that Sex and Lucía is one of those movies where the plot is almost entirely driven by amazing, magical coincidences. And while that sort of thing is getting pretty tiring these days, it actually works here. Ulloa, unwittingly, has fathered a child by Nimri, and it’s his investigation of the kid, as well as her sexy babysitter (Elena Anaya), that sets a central tragedy in motion. There are additional plot twists that you probably don’t want to know about if you plan to see this movie.

With all the sexy stuff, and the pretty, sun-blasted cinematography, this is actually a very pleasant movie-going experience, if you can get past the sometimes overbearing formal funny business (the novel that seems to come to life, the time-shifts, the synchronicity). Medem lets the characters stand out against his conspicuous movie-making, and they’ll keep you interested. :

Sex and Lucía opens Friday, Nov. 15 at Cinéma du Parc

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