User Reviews

That is what 'Mil Usos' means. And that is what the great Héctor Suárez tries to portray with his character of 'Tránsito Pérez' aka El Mil Usos.

Even though this film is said to be a comedy, it really isn't. At least to me it wasn't. It's more a serious drama than anything else. And that must have been hard for the director given the awesome cast which include various comedians of the Mexican cinema he had to work with.

Suárez's Mil Usos is a story of a poor illiterate man who leaves his little town and leaves behind his wife and 3 children in order to go to the "big city", which in this case is Mexico D.F., and try to find fame and riches so he can come back a hero per say. That is and always will be a 'dream' for many of the real-life Mil Usos in the Latino world.

I didn't care for the character from the get go. His father had just been buried and he decides to leave because his father did not leave much for him and his 6 siblings. I really did not like the way he barely says goodbye to his wife and he practically shoos his children away when they just want to go with him. No loving words, no affection , no nothing. So when he heads for the city, hitchhiking illegally on a banana truck, he gets a taste of what's in store for him and for the rest of the movie, when the truck driver, played by great comedian Charly Valentino(in his movie debut! Man was he slim back then! ha-ha) discovers Mil Usos on his truck and proceeds to beat him up! As I said i didn't care for the character and whatever happened to him i could care less. And the whole movie is set in way for you to actually care what happens to this ignorant little man. One drama-like episode after another.

Don't get me wrong, I like Héctor Suárez a lot as an actor. That's one of the main reasons I bought this film, but I do not like the character he portrayed. The most enjoyable thing for me was seeing and counting the various and great cast of who's who of the Mexican cinema. A lot were just starting out and some were so young-looking I almost didn't recognize them! Ha-ha I have seen most of them after the year 2000 type of deal so it's a treat to see them in earlier incantations.

The great Rafael Inclán had a somewhat cool bit role as a slick con-artist who in way wants to help Mil Usos but winds up exploiting him anyways. The great Manuel'Flaco' Ibáñez also plays another type of con man for a bit. The funny Alberto 'Caballo' Rojas plays "Don Chava" Inclan's boss, a wardrobe and costume guy who works in some kind of studio who also exploits Mil Usos. The great Pedro Weber 'Chatanuga' plays 'El Major' a big boss in prison who does what? Exploit Mil Usos. The funny Raúl Padilla Jr. 'Choforo' is on board for a bit as a fellow inmate who kinda tries to warn Mil Usos of the Big Boss character. Two other greats who are mentioned in the credits but I just did not see them(And I believe it has to do a lot with the badly edited version I saw) were the "always playing vile villains", Alfredo 'Pelon' Solares and Gerardo Zepeda 'Chiqullin'

The two characters who somewhat try to be good and try to make Mil Usos to just go back where he came from were the great José Carlos Ruiz as a fellow older illiterate who has been and seen everything that is happening to Mil Usos. Basically telling him don't wind up like him. A old lonely and still broke illiterate man. A very nice bit scene for that great actor. And last but surely not least the late great Mr. Roberto Cañedo. An icon of the Mexican cinema. He left behind a legacy of 310 films +! His one scene with Mil Usos as the District Attorney who lectures Mil Usos before giving him his freedom and liberty from prison, made the picture for me. he basically tells him why do you leave your families and little towns to come to the city. It's full of 'sharks','snakes' and 'wolves. These poor farmers-type are just easy prey and pickings for the shysters and con-artists of the big cities. Cañedo tells him that he is out of his element and should go back to where he belongs and should have never left. he says the classical line that sends shivers through me, "There were you're from, you are somebody, but here in the city, you are a no one and a nobody."

All in all, not a bad film but not for all tastes. The DVD I have has also the sequel so .... I'll get back to that one later on another review.