¡Segundos afuera!: A boxing movie that forgets to throw a real punch

Should you watch ¡Segundos afuera! today? If you’re a sucker for old-school, slightly messy comedies where everyone talks way too fast, maybe. If you hate plot holes that you could drive a truck through, skip it and go watch Grand Hotel instead. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but it’s got that specific 1930s-40s energy where nobody sits still for more than five seconds.

The whole premise is just absurd, right? An office clerk, who probably can’t even lift a heavy bag of mail, has to swap places with his twin brother who is a pro boxer. The movie leans hard into this, and honestly, the actor doing the dual role is doing some serious cardio just trying to keep the momentum going.

There is this one scene in the locker room that just goes on forever. The dialogue is so snappy it actually started to give me a headache. You can almost feel the director shouting 'Faster! More! Louder!' at everyone involved. It’s charming in a frantic, sweaty kind of way.

And let’s talk about the boxing. It looks about as real as a screen-door on a submarine. 🥊

The extras in the background of the fight scenes seem like they just wandered in from the street and were told to wave their arms around. Some of them aren't even looking at the ring. It’s distracting if you’re trying to pay attention, but hilarious if you just let it happen.

There’s a weird, small moment where one of the characters drops a prop and just stares at it for a second before pretending it didn't happen. I kept waiting for them to pick it up, but the camera just cut away to a reaction shot that lingered so long I started laughing at the absurdity of it.

The movie really doesn't care if you believe the twin angle or not. It’s not trying to win an Oscar. It’s just trying to get to the next gag. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Caddy, just with more slapstick and fewer golf clubs.

Is it perfect? Hardly. The pacing is all over the place. One minute we are in a quiet office, the next we are in a chaotic gymnasium with people yelling in every corner. But there’s a certain sweetness to it. You can tell they were trying to put on a show with whatever budget they had.

Random observations from the cheap seats:

• The sound quality is a bit crunchy, like listening to a record through a straw.
• The lighting in the office scenes makes everyone look like they are standing inside a toaster.
• I’m pretty sure I saw the same extra walk by the window three times in a row.
• The lead actor’s mustache deserves its own credit. It’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

If you go in expecting a sports drama, you are going to have a bad time. Go in expecting a weird, frantic little artifact from another time and you might find it tolerable. Or don't. It's not like the movie is going to come find you if you skip it.