Y Tu Mama Tambien Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)September 20th, 2002
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2001) / ***
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuaron and Carlos Cuaron. Starring Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R for offensive language throughout by the MFCB. Reviewed on September 19th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Best friends Julio (Bernal) and Tenoch (Luna) are left to their own devices for the summer when their girlfriends leave Mexico for a European vacation. At a wedding, they meet the beautiful Luisa (Verdu), the wife of a cousin of Tenoch's. Julio and Tenoch jokingly invite Luisa on a road trip to a made-up beach. When Luisa finds out her husband has been cheating on her, she decides to take the boys up on their offer, and the trio sets out in search of paradise.
Review: What I liked best about about "Y tu mama tambien" wasn't the story. Not that it isn't exemplary, despite its superficial resemblance to many coming-of-age plots. The Cuaron brothers have avoided the usual sentimental pitfalls so prevalent in the genre by wrenching "Tambien" straight out of real life. The relationships portrayed, the sexual misadventures endured, are all true to how people actually behave, as opposed to the sanitised replicas which traditionally make their way onto the silver screen. But more than the story, what I really enjoyed was the method of its telling. This is a movie where the borders of the frame and the transitional moments between scenes are as important as the characters and situations front-and-centre. It is here that Cuaron brings Mexico to life, almost subliminally emphasising it as a country of both rugged grace and stultifying poverty. Also effective is the "Amelie"-like narration, placing events into a greater context both chronologically and socially. And I liked the almost mythic note Cuaron introduces, particularly through the inclusion of a coincidence late in the film which could have seemed hokey but instead feels poetic. Of the cast, Verdu is the most noteworthy. She shows impressive range in playing a character who is vulnerable yet sage, at once teaching and toying with her companions.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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