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Film:
  Y Tu Mamá Tambien  
 
Studio:
  IFC Films  
 
Director:
  Alfonso Cuaron  
 
Stars:
  Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna  
 
Release Date:
  2001  
 
Reviewed by:
  Silvergeek  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

This Spanish-language film is one of the most intelligent, funny, honest-to-real-life, and just plain beautiful movies made about sexually charged teenagers I've seen. Despite the title (which translates to: And Your Mother Too) don't expect cheap laughs: you won't find any stick-your-dick-in-the-blueberry-pie jokes here. And guess what, you will actually have to read the subtitles to enjoy this little gem completely (although sometimes you just want to take your eyes off those words and look at the Mexican scenery (or a naked body)).

The story is simple enough, and I'm not going to ruin it by going too deeply into it: basically, two teenage boys (best friends) try to seduce an older woman. They ask her to go to this "secret" beach with them, and when she (surprisingly) accepts, they go on a life-changing road trip.

What really makes the movie is the character development, the dynamics between them, the dialogue, and the story. It's all written so well and so believably that I found myself sucked in (I totally lost track of time!). The two boys grow through the movie and you end up really caring about them by the end. On top of all that, it's a beautiful movie to just look at. The acting is superb as well. I don't really want to say anything else about the movie because it just unfolds so well that I don't want to ruin that experience for you by telling you about specific things I liked.

This doesn't mean the movie doesn't have flaws. An omniscient voiceover came on every once in a while, and it was more than a little annoying, especially since it comes in during some scenes where I would have liked to just look at the screen rather than read subtitles. A lot of what's said in the voiceovers could've been cut with no great detriment to the movie. And whenever the voiceovers came on, the background sound gets soft as if somebody turned down the knob. It didn't bother me until it kept happening over and over again.

But those are small technical complaints to have for an otherwise excellent story told in a most personally affecting way. I could really relate to this movie, and I recommend it to anybody not looking for a cheap laugh and shallow characters.

 
         
 
Related Links:
  Official movie website.  
         

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