En el país de no pasa nada

This film inspired endless laugh out loud moments although you can't help hesitate with unease at the truth underpinning much of what the film spoofs. This film is a satirical farce about corruption, greed and social inequality in modern day Mexico. It is a punch in the face of big business and its leaders and the corruption that power spawns.

The cast of characters alone is enough to check out this movie. Exceptional performances are given by Julieta Egurrola who plays Elena Lascuráin, the lonely and jilted wife to cheating, corrupt, money laundering and all around 'jerk' husband, Dr. Enrique Laguardia (who fakes his identity as William Gonzalos in order to launder millions), hilariously played by Fernando Luján. It is no wonder that both received Best Actress and Actor Awards, along with the film for Best Film at the Guadalajara Film Festival in 2000. While a bit over the top, Ms. Egurrola comically captures the disillusionment of Elena who has given up her life, love and career to be with an arrogant man who only recognizes her worth as someone who will pack his suitcase for a phony business trip which he spends with his mistress, Rita, played by the very lovely, Maria Isasi-Isasmendi. Enrique (aka William) is despicable on the highest level. He is second in command for the Con and Trix Corporation which fronts for a drug smuggling and money laundering operation in the guise of a food producer that distributes radiation contaminated milk to the poor for government social programs.

The plot quickly spins into several subplots that ultimately weave back to the greedy and unscrupulous antics of Enrique. Enrique who is thought to be William, Rita's rich boyfriend, gets kidnapped by the exceedingly funny but inept kidnapping duo played by Carmen Delgado and Alvaro Guerrero. Meanwhile, Elena learns of her husband's philandering that she mistakes at first as a joke until she meets Enrique's mistress Rita, an aspiring rock star. And back at the firm, Enrique's unassuming secretary and her boyfriend who has been laid off from Con and Trix uncover the money laundering of millions into a Swiss Bank account amidst massive layoffs at the company. As Elena discovers the truth about her husband, she begins to live life again, just as Enrique's life spirals out of control as his many misdeeds are revealed through a hilarious comedy of errors that take place while he negotiates his release from the bungling kidnappers.

Recommended for people who can laugh at themselves and the contradictions of power, greed, inequality and social ills that brand modern day Mexico.

Let's start speaking about the actors, the more interesting part, all of them have a really good background and when I saw the characters I was pushed to see this movie.

There are some interesting points that the movie tries to touch, among them the corruption and the unequal social classes in Mexico. I was quite impressed at the beginning with a sort of futuristic idea about virtual entertainment, think that actually I liked.

A scene that particularly I remember was when Enrique Laguardia (Fernando Luján) is kept by his kidnappers, and they showed him the reality of the countryside in Mexico, with no basic services, i.e. electricity. That thing is actually true (40% of Mexicans live below the poverty line) unfortunately the movie does not go deeply on it.

Speaking about hilarious scenes I smiled when the kidnapper fake his voice mimicked a classic Mexican show-maker, that thing actually remind me a staying during my childhood in Mexico. Also is important to say the performance of Maria Isasi (Rita) on some musical parts.

I saw this movie in a Latin American Festival Film in Germany. Unfortunately the movie was shown with other movies, among them the superb Chilean film Machuca and the Peruvian Dias de Santiago.

I said unfortunately because there were movies that touched direct and clearly the reality of Latin-America, pointing out to whom the blame belongs to. People that attended that Festival did it because they wanted to know more about what is happening in that part of the world.

As I said, the starting was quite impress, however, when the plot went on and the "hilarious scenes" came out, on the Theatre instead of laughers were only whispering. After the movie my friends asked me if the humor showed in that film is typical from Mexico and in general they asked me about my opinion about that movie since they were quite disappointed.

I was wondering why that movie was shown in that Festival, since there are so many others Mexican movies worth to be watched on international festivals.

In general, if you are Mexican and for any reason you do not have anything to do, instead to watch that movie read the book "Las venas abiertas de America Latina" (Eduardo H. Galeano). For non-Mexicans, if you want to know about good Mexican films that speak about the reality of Mexico then I recommend strongly "La Ley de Herodes" (Herod's law) that for any strange reason has not been shown in Germany, I do not wonder why.