Gringa

IN A NUTSHELL: A troubled teenage girl runs away to Mexico to find the father she has never known. Together, they learn that a family can be put back together, even if all they have are the missing pieces.

The film was directed by Marny Eng and E. J. Foerster. The story was written by Patrick Hasburgh. The movie has already been nominated for multiple awards at various film festivals and won!

When I was a teenager, I was an exchange student in Mexico. Yep, I was a gringa, so this movie definitely spoke to me. Mexico has a beautiful culture with warm people. Mexico will always have a special place in my heart.

THINGS I LIKED: The young starlet is played by Jess Gabor. I didn't remember ever seeing her in anything before, although she's been in Shameless (2011), Her Story (2018), and Confessional (2019). She did a great job.

I always get a kick out of the ever-endearing Steve Zahn. He's such a delight to watch in everything he does.

The film also stars Judy Greer, Jorge A. Jimenez, Nico Bracewell, and Roselyn Sanchez.

The film blends a lot of drama with humor.

If you enjoy Mexican football, you'll get a kick out of this flick. If you enjoy father/daughter movies, you'll enjoy it even more.

There are a lot of entertaining conversations and noteworthy lines.

I love that both the father and daughter experience coming-of-age insights.

The lovely musical score gets you in the mood to feel the Mexican spirit.

You're going to want to eat some good Mexican food after watching this. 😊 I love the quinceanera tradition in Mexico. It's kind of a coming-out party to celebrate a girl's young womanhood. The part where the mother washes the girl's feet is especially touching.

There is some action, romance, comedy, humor, and a lot of heart.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There are a lot of cliches that make the plot extremely predictable.

It's weird to me that someone can live in a foreign country for so many years and still not learn the language. That's always seemed disrespectful to me.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Lots of profanity, including F-bombs, although a Catholic priest tries to help a man overcome his potty mouth.

Lots of talk about sex and loss of virginity.

An unmarried woman sleeps with a lot of men and talks to her daughter about it.

We see a car crash and a funeral.

Spanish is spoken with subtitles.

A man drinks a lot of alcohol and gets drunk all of the time.

A teenage girl binge eats and throws up.

Underage girls drink alcohol.

!

The danger of Illegal crossing at the USA/Mexico border is represented.

The good- The cast is great. First rate acting. Not a terrible story plot. A well filmed first rate quality made movie. Good scenery. Personally, I did not care for the music but can't say it was terrible. The bad- not that realistic. I wish Mexico (and the U. S.) and people were this nice and friendly. I'm afraid the world is a much more dangerous and harsh place. If you live in some imaginary fantasy world all this could be possible. But it doesn't drag the movie down too bad. After all, that's why people go to movies- to imagine a world the way they wish it was and not see the world as it is. Anyway- a decent happy fantasy movie. The great cast carries the poor writing.

This movie was really good. It had a good amount of lessons that everyone can use. It was also funnier than expected. The actors and actresses did a great job. I usually dont write movie reviews but I felt compelled to do so for this movie. The story line of the movie was very inspring and it spoke to what we need to teach our kids in Amercia- the gift of want, taking risk, bet and believe in yourself, dont do the popular thing, do what is right for you and dont be a follower.

Looking for a good family movie with a great story, this is it. Do yourself and family a favor and watch it together. Great job to the team.

Steve Zahn is perfectly cast in his role as hapless expatriated misfit looking for nothing in particular in all the right places. Gringa is rich with dark comedic gems and boasts a stellar ensemble performance led by Mr. Zahn and the wonderfully talented somewhat newcomer Jess Gabor (of Shameless fame) who by the way epitomizes that of an angsty teenager looking for her way in the world. I have to say I found myself thoroughly enjoying this film...From the well rounded performances, to the soundtrack, I even found myself wanderlusting for much of the movie and its beautifully shot locale. If you are the type to enjoy a movie with substance and great writing then there's plenty for you to see here. All around Gringa was a real kick in the pants!

Don't overthink or over analyse this movie. That is not what this charming movie is made for.

No the story is not very deep and there are definately no weird plot twists.

In short you can say this about Gringa, without giving anything away that isn't in the trailer or discription. Single mom dies, bum dad has to be found and takes over but struggles while trying and daughter is dealing with some issues herself. All of this is set in a tiny Mexican village, were people smile, go to church, surf and play soccer.

If you like an entertaining feelgood that is not to deep, than Gringa is your movie for tonight.

And on top of that Steve Zahn and Jess Gabor both act a very believable in this Mexican coming of age and booze feelgood movie.