Michael's Movie Grade: A-
Review: A very powerful and moving film, takes a simple story line and creates something profoundly moving from it.
To look at a simple plot summary, one might think this is a paper thin story that could not support a whole feature-length film. However though this story is extremely simple and not elaborate, the film actually uses this to its advantage. This movie is like watching a couple days in our main character's life. In this film, while forced to stay in Tijuana after missing his flight, a college professor runs into one of his former students and a hooker. What comes out of this is a plethora of powerful emotions. We feel sad, happy, confused, curious and uncomfortable. This works so well because this is just what our main character is feeling. For 75 minutes, we become this character. During many scenes we see and know little more than he does. This is especially true of a rather uncomfortable and shocking scene in the bathroom. We know little more than what he does about what is happening there. The movie drifts from fast paced comedy to uncomfortably dark places. However the transitions between these works incredible as they all revolve around what the character is feeling. When he is partying very hard, the film is quite funny, but in a scene where he is becoming very paranoid the movie becomes almost painful to watch. At the beginning of the film the tone is especially light as we see him getting a hotel room that is very different from what he expected. These early scenes are downright hilarious. However even at this time, we get a sense of the uncomfortableness to come. He is an outsider in this room as he will mostly remain for the rest of the film.
Supposedly this film was done without a script. If this is true it works incredibly to the film's advantage. The movie feels very natural and none of the dialogue feels forced. Each line and look from the characters seems to happen as if no one knows what is going to happen next, creating a feeling of uncertainty and spontaneity that is hard to resist as it pulls us further and further into the shoes of its main character.
This movie probably won't receive the recognition, it definitely deserves. This is a small film in many ways that will never reach the same crowd that flock to so many Hollywood blockbusters. Some of my fellow Non-Spanish speakers will not want to have to read subtitles (something I have never minded).Many others will have no interest in a character study with little action and some uncomfortable scenes. Still I urge some of these people to try something new and see this movie. Maybe it will leave the strong impact on some of you that it did on me.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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