Airbag

Airbag centres on Juantxo, an overgrown mummy's boy from a wealthy background, with a university degree, a good job and a beautiful, rich fiancée. His friends Konradín and Pako drag him out for a pre-wedding celebration, during which he loses his expensive engagement ring in a brothel. The ring ends up in the hands of Villambrosa, the establishment's gangster owner, while his rival Souza sends the femme fatale Fátima to look into the situation. Juantxo and his friends set out to recover the ring and find themselves caught between the two criminal outfits.

Juanma Bajo Ulloa directed and co-wrote the film with Karra Elejalde and Fernando Guillén Cuervo, who also star as Juantxo and Konradín respectively. Alberto San Juan plays Pako, with Karlos Arguiñano, Manuel Manquiña and Maria de Medeiros among a credited cast of forty, supported by a crew of seventy. The Spanish production, made with German, Portuguese and French partners for a budget of around three million dollars, was released in June 1997 and took roughly eight million dollars worldwide.

Chronologically, it is the first of the director's features, ahead of Frágil, Rey gitano, Baby, El mal and En mitad de la nada. Audience response has been solid rather than rapturous, with a 6.7 rating from about 5,300 votes on IMDb and a 6.6 from 116 votes on TMDB, suggesting a modest but enduring following for this crime comedy.