Those who complain “immigrants are stealing our jobs” hardly seem likely applicants for the jobs held by protagonists in “Fruits of Labor” — such as cleaning other people’s houses or working the graveyard shift in a food processing plant. Constant hard work doesn’t seem to bring the American Dream much closer for this Mexican American family on California’s central coast. Emily Cohen Ibanez’s debut feature provides a flavorful glimpse at lives seldom represented in popular media, though she also obfuscates that view somewhat with fussily artistic fillips and a disinterest in some basic matters of explication.
A discussion-worthy item on the fest circuit, the documentary was acquired for U.S. broadcast by Pov after its SXSW premiere and will be part of that nonfiction PBS showcase’s next season. It could also attract further festival dates, as well as limited TV/streaming sales abroad.
18-year-old Ashley is...
A discussion-worthy item on the fest circuit, the documentary was acquired for U.S. broadcast by Pov after its SXSW premiere and will be part of that nonfiction PBS showcase’s next season. It could also attract further festival dates, as well as limited TV/streaming sales abroad.
18-year-old Ashley is...
- 5/7/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Treading Water is a modern-day fairytale complete with hero and heroine, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, a fairy godfather (of sorts) and an unexpected all-dancing / all-swimming finale.
Mica (Douglas Smith) faces a number of challenges. He’s grown up in a house that’s actually a museum celebrating the renowned Mexican crooner Guillermo Garibai (Gonzalo Vega). Mica’s mother Sophie (Ariadna Gil) is the guardian and tour guide of this wildly over-the-top shrine. And then there’s the fact that Mica smells like fish…
Mother and son are both too much (or not enough) for Mica’s father Richard (Don McKellar), who ends up abandoning them. No one around Mica, not even his therapist Catherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), is able to get him on track, until his childhood crush Laura (Zoë Kravitz) swims back into his life. For the first time in his life he feels happy, but Mica ends up losing her as well.
Mica (Douglas Smith) faces a number of challenges. He’s grown up in a house that’s actually a museum celebrating the renowned Mexican crooner Guillermo Garibai (Gonzalo Vega). Mica’s mother Sophie (Ariadna Gil) is the guardian and tour guide of this wildly over-the-top shrine. And then there’s the fact that Mica smells like fish…
Mother and son are both too much (or not enough) for Mica’s father Richard (Don McKellar), who ends up abandoning them. No one around Mica, not even his therapist Catherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), is able to get him on track, until his childhood crush Laura (Zoë Kravitz) swims back into his life. For the first time in his life he feels happy, but Mica ends up losing her as well.
- 3/13/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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