Y Tu Mama Tambien Review
by Edward Johnson-Ott (ejohnsonott AT prodigy DOT net)May 6th, 2002
Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother, Too) (2001)
Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna. Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Carlos Cuarón. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. 105 minutes, NR (no MPAA rating)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly http://www.nuvo.net E-mail: [email protected] Archive reviews at http://reviews.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott
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Set in contemporary Mexico, Alfonso Cuarón's "Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother, Too)" is a brash, funny, sexually frank, extremely smart ode to the passion, foolishness and wonder of youth, presented in the form of a road movie. While major studios roll out one crass, cynical youth-related comedy after another, Cuarón takes two teenage boys and a woman in her 20s and comes up with a deceptively simple-appearing tale that resonates with the unmistakable ring of truth.
Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) are best friends from different social classes. Tenoch is a rich kid, the pampered son of the corrupt secretary of state, while Julio lives with his lower-middle-class single mother. With their girlfriends freshly off to Italy, they are free for the summer and ready to indulge in as much sex, drugs and rock and roll as possible.
At a lavish wedding party, the boys meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú), a striking young woman from Spain perhaps 10 years their senior. Doing their best to impress her, they boast of their plans to visit an idyllic (and made up) beach called La Boca del Cielo (Heaven's Mouth) and invite her to join them on their upcoming (and made up) vacation there.
A few days later, Luisa surprises them by calling up to accept the invitation. Upset over her idiot boyfriend's dalliance with another woman, she wants to get away and a voyage to the Mexican beach with two sweet, silly boys sounds like the perfect diversion. On the road in a hastily arranged trip, the boys take turns regaling her with inflated tales of their sexual exploits, while individually harboring dreams of bedding her. Luisa, however, has more surprises in store, seducing Tenoch first and then Julio.
This may sound like the sort of hetero male fantasy that turns up in most coming-of-age movies, but Cuarón is smart enough to play the scenes realistically. As is typical with teenage boys, Tenoch and Julio are artless lovers that stumble, fumble and climax quicker than jackrabbits. Throughout the journey, Luisa is firmly in control, even laying down rules when the boys begin squabbling.
As the trio cruises through the country, barely glancing at the roadside vistas of demonstrators, gun-toting soldiers and cops rousting civilians, Cuarón celebrates not their indifference to others, but that period in the life of a young person where the pleasures and pains of the moment envelop everything. Tenoch and Julio will have to deal with wider concerns soon enough (and Luisa even sooner). But first they get to enjoy having the world as their personal playground.
And we get to enjoy it too. Filmgoers in Mexico made "Y Tu Mamá También" the biggest hit in the history of their country. After spending 105 minutes with the wonderful Luisa and the delightful, dopey, hopelessly self-absorbed Tenoch and Julio, it's easy to understand why.
© 2002 Ed Johnson-Ott
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