Reviews: Y Tu Mama Tambien

[JoBlo]

JoBlo's 7/10 review of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN can be found here: http://www.joblo.com/ytumamatambien.htm

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[max]

I disagree with your rating. To give AOTC or SPIDERMAN a higher rating is unforgivable. I enjoyed SPIDERMAN and, to a lesser degree, AOTC. But there are more interesting things going on in Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN than those two movies combined. One of them is the way Cuaron seamlessly blends the different characters' search for identity - the two teens', the woman's and Mexico's. For me, great human effects are much more interesting than the best special effects in the world. I would've enjoyed SPIDERMAN and AOTC more if they went beyond the special effects. AOTC, especially, was so badly acted and scripted I'm surprised I liked it at all.

[Ron in LA]

Sexy comedy in Spanish directed by Alfonso Cuaron about an upper-class Mexican teen who recruits his middle-class best friend and an attractive older woman for a cross-country road trip to a beach they only hope exists. The coming-of-age and road trip genres are borrowed, but improved on with an intelligent, complex addition of commentary on life, death, love, friendship, and especially politics. The class struggle in Mexico is exposed with allegory, with on odd voice-over narration, and silently with background portraiture that acts as a counter-melody to the three light-skinned characters' funny, candid sexual banter. There is plenty of symbolism to mull over as you remember the film, or see it a second time; like it is no coincindence that the woman is Spanish, or that the car is a wreck and has a Mexico decal on the window -- and then there's the name of the beach. A must see for the art house crowd, it should attract a bigger audience with its comedy, its bright colors, and its graphic sex.

[bigred760]

I rented this movie because I heard it was a good movie, an Oscar contender (best foreign film), and, basically, had a lot of sex in it. Plus I speak Spanish so I thought I'd see how well I could follow the movie without having to read the subtitles. I did alright, I think.

I was right on all above counts but this movie has a hell of a lot more, and maybe a little too much for me. First of all, this movie tells its story very well. Two teenagers whose girlfriends are on a European trip, end up taking an older woman on a road trip to the beach. This woman ends up teaching them a thing or two (or more) about love, sex, women, etc.

The thing I liked most about the movie is the fact that each scene lasts about 3-5 minutes without cutting to a close up or anything. I even went back to time one scene and the camera stayed on the same shot for over six minutes. I love that kinda shit.
The movie also has a realistic sense to it. Nobody's a hero, the leads are far from perfect - so you can relate to them, and the way it ended is believable.

7/10

[Dude]

I give it a 6/10

****MINOR SPOILERS****

I feel the director just didnt succeed in making me feel for these characters... after I found out about the woman at the end, I simply didnt get that bittersweet/sad feeling that I SHOULD HAVE felt. I didnt feel these 2 boys were as close in friendship as the story would have you believe. I also didnt care for the interuptive narration of inconsequential to the story plot points that were periodically interjected... quite frankly, they kept taking me out of the movie. Dont mean to sound pretentious, but I'd like to see what Amenobar could do with a REMAKE in Spanish... or maybe an American director such as Crowe.... he''s good at that coming of age stuff... but he'd have to grow some balls to film the sex scenes.... yes Cameron, that means keeping MOM off the set!;)

[areyoubeingserved]

An uninsightful screenplay and the most intrusive voice-over OF ALL TIME (admittedly heightened by the subtitles) only slightly lessen the impact of the other elements of this film - which is a testament to what is here that gets it right. Raw performances, a great use of landscape and pop music hide away the faulty handling of the story. Y Tu Mama Tambien is sexy as anything you can think of and one of the most atmospheric films of the year. It's a film that shows that you have to have all the elements working to cook up a truly great film, but it's still admirable.

[Asokan]

Maribel Verdu has one of the most stunning bodies I've ever seen naked on screen. Too bad that she's an annoying actress playing a over-the-top-melodramatic character (I'm referring to her wholly unbelievable crying scenes) in a reasonably intriguing story (two young men and one mature woman - yeah, right on!) overloaded with unnecessary elements which try to add depth to it, but actually destroy the narrative focus and our involvement in the slight characters (the two boys are practically interchangable).

The voice-over soon becomes annoying and the attempts of the camera to show the real world by shifting away ever so slightly from our protagonists to show the environment are unsuccessful. The sex scenes, though, long after one lost interest in anything else about the film, are the best I've ever seen, because of their frankness, spontaneity and credibility and Verdu's amazing body.

** out of ****