Amor, Letra Por Letra (2008)

Translated into Love Word by Word, this film may seem like the average romantic comedy. Famous telenovela star Silvia Navarro plays Hanna, an engaged woman who is having second thoughts about marrying her loser fiancé who still lives at home with his parents due to her sexual attraction to her Boss, who coincidentally also lives with parents. During a visit to the bank, Hanna messes up on her check deposit form after seeing her boss walking by. As a consequence, she deposits over $8,000 to another loser who lives with his parents. Hanna tracks the man down but falls in love with him just days before her wedding.

Hanna’s best friend has an affair with the loser fiancé and so does the girlfriend of the loser who takes Hanna’s money (yes, it’s a bit confusing… like a soap opera). The film seems to be all over the place, but it is easier to pick up as the film goes on. Set in Mexico City, the multiple storylines give a sense of the hectic lifestyle of the city. Hanna struggles to keep her job as a restaurant evaluator, takes care of her best friend’s son, while she runs around the city, stalking the man who spends her money. Carlos, Hanna’s fiancé, struggles to get his cell phone shop to open, avoids getting kicked out of his parents’ home, and has a secret affair with Hanna’s best friend.

The film is narrated by Hanna’s best friend’s son, Gaspar (played by child-actor Octavio Ocaña). Gaspar seems to be the only stable character in the film and the voice of reason. Unlike all the men in the film, who all live at home with mom and dad, Gaspar is an individual. Throughout the film, he is seen reciting speeches for a speech competition. These scenes symbolize the voice of reason that Gaspar represents. Gaspar is very innocent. Whenever Hanna curses, he is amused at these new words. His innocence becomes a gift in the film, while the rest of the characters suffer the consequences of their lust, sloth and greed before they achieve their happy ending.

The Politics in Saving Private Perez (2011)

When you combine Scarface (1983), The A Team (2010), with a dose of B-movie Mexican urban western genre, the result is Beto Gomez's Saving Private Perez.

The film follows Julian Perez (played by Miguel Rodarte), "the most powerful man on Earth", and his quest towards finding his brother Juan who is missing in action in Iraq. With the help of his protégé, Perez puts together a clan of texano(cowboy hat)-wearing men with machine guns to help him with this suicidal mission.

The plot calls for an entertaining storyline, politics aside.

But as much as I tried to enjoy the the film, I could not help but to see it through a political context.
The film presents unnecessary reinforcements of Mexican stereotypes. The men in the film are caricatured through violence, "machismo", an exaggerated sense of masculinity with attributes such as physical courage, domination of women, and aggressiveness, thirst for beer, and the glorification of hot sauce. One character thinks of a "caguama" bottle to get through the Middle Eastern heat. In a different occasion, hot sauce is used as a weapon to gain information from the Islamic radicals.

The film surfaces many controversial and political issues that the US is currently facing, including the War in Iraq, The war against drug cartels, and immigration. It fails to present the reality of these issues. Instead, it glorifies organized crime and displays the battlefield in Iraq as a playground. The thing that makes a film like Saving Private Perez borderline-controversial is the neglecting of political anxieties. The film lacks political content. Instead, it runs through them, solely focusing on the rescue mission and the humor of the situational irony taken place. This tactic, however, works as it puts the viewer into the characters' neutral position of the War in Iraq such to the extent that loyalty and the love for family becomes a more important issue in the film.

Saving Private Perez can be enjoyable to watch if you can appreciate raw humor and if you are not easily offended. Miguel Rodarte successfully portrays a powerful, yet charismatic drug lord, proving that he is among the best actors of contemporary Mexican Cinema. What is more enjoyable about the film is the soundtrack. The film features iconic Mexican songs and corridos, with music by Chavela Vargas, Los Tigres del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, among others.

Back After Hiatus

It's been a while so I am going to start doing this again. I will try to update reviews as much as I can.

Enjoy!!