[yasr_overall_rating]
A successful and single career woman asks her co-worker to pose as her boyfriend at a family wedding back home in Mexico. Her situation gets complicated when her ex shows up at the ceremony.
Though Hollywood has recently made valiant strides to include more diversity in its roster of films, focusing primarily on African Americans in response to the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite backlash (an immediate slew of Afrocentric films was released: “Moonlight,” “Sleight,” “Hidden Figures,” “Fences,” “All Eyez on Me”), other demographics are still being severely underserved. Asian Americans – almost 6% of the U.S. population – were “presented” with the lousy “The Great Wall” as the sole 2016 studio film featuring a predominantly Asian cast (led by a predominantly white Matt Damon).
As for the Hispanic/Latino market (17% of U.S. population), after the unexpected (but completely rational) success of Eugenio Derbez’s 2013 comedy “Instructions Not Included,” the Dream Factory has been trying to cash that cow, producing similar, mid-grade fare, to progressively diminishing returns. That said, the intermittent popularity of films like the recent “How to Be a Latin Lover” proves that folks are willing to overlook shoddy filmmaking just to see their people and culture represented on silver screens.
Whether it’s due to a lack of good marketing or the film’s somewhat generic premise, writer/director Catalina Aguilar Mastretta’s “Everybody Loves Somebody” failed to generate much buzz, at least Stateside. Too bad – it’s inspiring to see films like this being produced, even if they do wholeheartedly embrace some of the oldest rom-com staples in the book. No one would label “ELS” “revelatory,” yet it’s a delightful little concoction, a representation of the Mexican culture that’s both realistic and mega-glorified.
The self-absorbed Clara (Karla Souza), a doctor in Los Angeles, has a somewhat pessimistic outlook on love: “It’s the privilege of a chosen few. And if you’re lucky enough to find it, you lose it.” Consequently, she avoids attachment – until she has to find a “cute Mexican” to make her parents happy, who are getting married after 40 years (!) of being together. Her Australian co-worker, Asher (Ben O’Toole), happens to fit the bill… despite being, you know, Australian – don’t ask, just go with it – but just when sparks start to ignite, Clara’s hunky ex, “adventure Daniel” (José María Yazpik), shows up at the ceremony, charming everyone with his wonderful Doctors Without Borders stories. Clara ends up in a love triangle, with secrets surfacing (e.g. one of the characters is a widow) and emotions boiling.
If the story doesn’t exactly sound original, it’s not. What propels the film along is the effortless charm of its leads, the panoramic scenery (there’s no shortage of stunning Mexican vistas in this colorful postcard of a motion picture; Mastretta’s Mexico may as well be Monaco) and just a little extra much-needed depth the filmmaker injects into the proceedings that grounds it all in reality, making both the dramatic and comic bits resonate.
There are nifty snippets of dialogue along the way. “Dad, when will you learn Spanish like him?” a kid asks. “As soon as your mom starts fasting on Yom Kippur,” his father deadpans. “He’s nice and cute,” Clara says. “He’s koala,” Daniel responds, “you’re seeing a koala.” I also like the line: “It was a laughter that made you fly.” There are other standouts, like when Clara talks about “reinforcements” and “neutralizers,” or when she goes off, in a fit of rage, at a couple of expecting parents. A dinner sequence, and the next-morning poker game are particularly well-directed, with tensions rising between our sparring trio.
Of course, a film such as this does not come without its trappings. There’s the predictability, the cheesy melodrama (Clara and Daniel riding bikes through sun-swept hills; Clara’s mother even proclaims at one point: “Who would’ve ever thought you’d be my cheesy daughter?”), the perfunctory secondary characters, the annoyingly twinkling soundtrack, the obligatory drunken karaoke sequence, and, oh God, the regrettable speechifying (Asher waxing poetic to Clara towards the end: “It’d be adorable if it wasn’t so pathetic.”)
Whatever. All is forgiven – because “Everybody Loves Somebody” doesn’t talk down to its audience, it has three leads who share real chemistry, it’s not stupefyingly rudimentary and, most importantly, it is infinitely better than a lot of similar, all-white, Katherine Heigl stuff that Hollywood churns out. The industry seems ready and willing to embrace more cultures, expand the horizons. It should give more films like “ELS” a chance.
Available on DVD, Digital HD & On Demand Tuesday, June 20th
