"Mamacita, Mamacita!"

Anyone who has heard of this movie has undoubtedly heard the rumor that it’s about sex. Well, yeah, I’m not going to lie to you: sex is a pretty important aspect of this movie. However, the talk about it being a form of thinly-disguised pornography is simply not true. It is a movie in every respect, and a damn good one if I may add. The sex is not glamorized nor is it used as a gimmick to fill up the theaters. Y Tu Mama Tambien is an astute journey that touches many issues such as maturity and social class while remaining humanistic and down to earth. The characters are well-developed and the acting is bold and superb. For example, Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros) and Diego Luna (Before Night Falls) play the lead roles of two best friends who have just graduated from high school. Their dialogue and acting nail the psyche of the carefree male teenager perfectly. They drink, smoke, and screw and it all really makes for two very human characters that many of us can identify with.

The premise of the movie is nothing new: it’s the tradition of the great American road trip, only it’s set in the landscapes of Mexico. Bernal and Diego are Julio and Tenoch respectively, two friends from different social backgrounds who embark on a road trip with Luisa (Maribel Verdu), a woman coping with her unfaithful husband along with something else I won’t mention here. As is the case with these type of films, all the characters undergo a transformation by the end. In the meantime, the seemingly-close friendship between Julio and Tenoch is tested, broken, and forged anew. The problems that arise in the film among these three characters are complemented by the problems of modern Mexico that go unnoticed for the most part by the main characters. Amidst the highway-cruising and sex talk, officers with rifles search a pulled-over car and a man gets run over because there aren’t enough walkways for pedestrians. The director Alfonso Cuaron weaves them together very nicely, presenting many scenes of contrasting images. Julio and Tenoch meet Luisa at a grand wedding where the President makes an appearance and “there are more bodyguards than guests”. A couple of days later on their road trip, our trio drives past a tiny battered Volkswagon decked with streamers with bride, groom, and guests squished inside. Later on, a bridesmaid stops them to solicit a donation to pay for the ceremonial costs. There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, some of them funny (like the one alluded to by the title of this review) and some of them touching.

The film utilizes a sporadic and omniscient narrative voice-over (similar to what you’ve seen in The Royal Tenenbaums or Amelie) that turns out to be an essential part of the film. It provides valuable information that puts many of the scenes in context without having to utilize time-consuming flashbacks. The narration is preceded by two second absence of sound while the scene goes on. Some people may feel that this disrupts the flow of the movie. I did not mind it too much myself and felt that many times it was the most efficient way to convey the information.

I feel that Y Tu Mama Tambien is one of the best movies that has come out this year. Bernal, Diego, and Verdu were presented with very challenging roles that they handled well. Alfonso Cuaron paced the movie wonderfully. This movie is raw, honest, and definitely not your typical road trip movie. I recommend seeing it twice to catch all the details (for example upper-class Tenoch lifting the toilet seat with his foot whenever he’s at Julio’s lower-middle class home) and to appreciate the various instances of foreshadowing. Y Tu Mama Tambien further paves the way for American exposure to Mexican cinema started by last year’s Amores Perros, while building anticipation for Mexico’s latest import El Crimen del Padre Amaro, which also stars Gael Garcia Bernal (he seems to have a tendency to star in controversial films).

Yes, I know I left out a whole bunch of accent marks in this review.