This movie is an excellent effort from Raúl Marchand. It has a terrific cast, and as far as acting goes, it is superb, in general terms. Some of the younger cast needed to work their roles a bit more, as to not be unfavorably judged against the older actors' experience (Coral Otero was great as Sofía; Luis O'Farrill a bit too stiff as Carlos, and Willie Carrasco came across as being under-directed when playing Manolo).
Adrián García stole the show as Elmo Rodríguez -he was always Puerto Rico's best physical comedian, and he still has it (how he played his physically demanding parts without having a coronary will be a mystery to me). Jacobo Morales is excellent as Rafael the grandfather; more on him later. Carmen Nydia Velázquez was also excellent as Margarita, Elmo's vixen. Watching Diego de la Texera as Pablo/Chichi Legrand is hilarious.
However, this movie tries to be both comedy and heavy-handed drama. It can't be both if it wants to be taken seriously -at least not the way it came across. The movie can benefit a bit from stronger dialog and should resolve some of its plot's pitfalls. For example, Carlos Esteban Fonseca accurately portrayed Alberto (Carlos' neurotic father), but you never get from the plot how his neurotic self came to be -particularly because Rafael comes across as being so affable. Maybe Jacobo could have portrayed him as being an old man repenting from having a bitter-sweet life, not as the saintly grandpa type that he portrayed. Coming from the guy who directed the late Tommy Muñiz in "Lo que le pasó a Santiago", he could have reprised Santiago's mild neuroticism here, and that would have made the role a lot more believable.
Plot pitfalls: Manolo should have had a method to his madness, for example. There was too little setup for why he was the bully that he was. His sudden switch from rectal orifice to guy repenting from provoking Rafael a heart attack (itself a very predictable cliché) is simply not believable. To complicate things, Sofía switches inconsistently from sassy to geeky. We simply don't know what she saw from the guy besides his physique or aura as a surfer. We don't know how she could withstand his caustic verbal abuse in one scene, then be so commanding in getting Manolo to straighten up on the next one. Another pitfall: why kill Rafael at the end? An airport farewell would have been equally poignant but perhaps would have make for a better end.
The side characters are sometimes too distracting, and the subtext is that Marchand wants an easy laugh from them. Sara Pastor came across as a too-cartoonish Coco Galore; she looks the part, acts it OK, but the role would have made more sense should Coco be Brazilian, for example -it would have taken advantage of Diego de la Texera's background and language skills. Marian Pabón needed a meatier role as the Mother Superior -a former surfer turned nun could have delivered some solid laughs at the latter part of the movie. The surfer dudes that serve as comic relief are good. Luis Raúl's Norberto character is a reprise of his own comedic roles -he could have intervened in Carlos / Manolo's fight and tasered Manolo, and that would have made for an interesting tweak in the story.
Visually, the movie has been constructed really well. Lighting could have been better in a scene or two, but it is otherwise very good visually. Most of the directing makes sense, and having a mostly experienced cast (of Hollywood-caliber actors such as Jacobo Morales and seasoned directors like Diego de la Texera and Jacobo himself) would have been an enormous thrill. This movie is quite good. With some plot and dialog changes, this movie would have been excellent.
Adrián García stole the show as Elmo Rodríguez -he was always Puerto Rico's best physical comedian, and he still has it (how he played his physically demanding parts without having a coronary will be a mystery to me). Jacobo Morales is excellent as Rafael the grandfather; more on him later. Carmen Nydia Velázquez was also excellent as Margarita, Elmo's vixen. Watching Diego de la Texera as Pablo/Chichi Legrand is hilarious.
However, this movie tries to be both comedy and heavy-handed drama. It can't be both if it wants to be taken seriously -at least not the way it came across. The movie can benefit a bit from stronger dialog and should resolve some of its plot's pitfalls. For example, Carlos Esteban Fonseca accurately portrayed Alberto (Carlos' neurotic father), but you never get from the plot how his neurotic self came to be -particularly because Rafael comes across as being so affable. Maybe Jacobo could have portrayed him as being an old man repenting from having a bitter-sweet life, not as the saintly grandpa type that he portrayed. Coming from the guy who directed the late Tommy Muñiz in "Lo que le pasó a Santiago", he could have reprised Santiago's mild neuroticism here, and that would have made the role a lot more believable.
Plot pitfalls: Manolo should have had a method to his madness, for example. There was too little setup for why he was the bully that he was. His sudden switch from rectal orifice to guy repenting from provoking Rafael a heart attack (itself a very predictable cliché) is simply not believable. To complicate things, Sofía switches inconsistently from sassy to geeky. We simply don't know what she saw from the guy besides his physique or aura as a surfer. We don't know how she could withstand his caustic verbal abuse in one scene, then be so commanding in getting Manolo to straighten up on the next one. Another pitfall: why kill Rafael at the end? An airport farewell would have been equally poignant but perhaps would have make for a better end.
The side characters are sometimes too distracting, and the subtext is that Marchand wants an easy laugh from them. Sara Pastor came across as a too-cartoonish Coco Galore; she looks the part, acts it OK, but the role would have made more sense should Coco be Brazilian, for example -it would have taken advantage of Diego de la Texera's background and language skills. Marian Pabón needed a meatier role as the Mother Superior -a former surfer turned nun could have delivered some solid laughs at the latter part of the movie. The surfer dudes that serve as comic relief are good. Luis Raúl's Norberto character is a reprise of his own comedic roles -he could have intervened in Carlos / Manolo's fight and tasered Manolo, and that would have made for an interesting tweak in the story.
Visually, the movie has been constructed really well. Lighting could have been better in a scene or two, but it is otherwise very good visually. Most of the directing makes sense, and having a mostly experienced cast (of Hollywood-caliber actors such as Jacobo Morales and seasoned directors like Diego de la Texera and Jacobo himself) would have been an enormous thrill. This movie is quite good. With some plot and dialog changes, this movie would have been excellent.
