Caribe

I saw this film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and it's director Esteban Ramirez introduced the film and took Q&A after. The four lead actors in the roles of Vicente, Abigail, Irene and Jackson are all good but only Cuca Escribano as Abigail stands out as the best of the four. The character of Jackson doesn't have much to do in the movie and I wondered why it was even in the film. The rest of the acting by the other characters in this movie is nothing special and the characters are all kind of cartoonish. The film has a good look to it though despite being shot in a brief five weeks. It had some elements of a good story but wasn't enough to be a film. A made-for-TV movie maybe but not a theatrical release. The final scene was a little far fetched concerning everything that went on in the film. I did think it was a good movie on the low end of good but I wouldn't see it twice. I would rate it a 6.0 out of a possible 10.

...or Soap on the Beach.

What we have here is a love triangle between Vincente, his wife Abigail and her long-lost sister Irene. And then we have the tale of the American oil company preparing to despoil Costa Rica's fishing grounds, beaches and tourist economy in exchange for a few low-paying jobs.

From the moment Maya Zapata arises in the morning, turning her snow-white panties to the camera, we know this isn't going to end well (no pun initially intended). She and Vincente fall in lust, with Vincente being unable to decide between the women in his life. This plot moves predictably, with one very nice beach/lightning storm scene and a lovely lecture of Vincente by his cook Marva about "You've got to decide!...chicken or fish?!). No spoilers, but I wasn't satisfied with this story's resolution.

The bulk of the oil story must be on the cutting room floor, as it's given short shrift as far more than a minor plot element and far less than a plot. This story is based on actual Costa Rican history and worth looking at.

Neither story is done justice here. It's too bad Senor Ramirez didn't make two movies; I would have loved a documentary about the oil.

Caribe feels like somebody said, "Let's make a movie that shows off the splendid beauty and culture of Costa Rica! It will be a magnificent advertisement for our beautiful country." And then someone else (probably a writer) said "But it should have a serious message, too!." And then some produ$er chimed in, "No one wants to watch a boring, preachy documentary--no matter how beautiful. It needs to have plenty of sex and nudity! And while we're at it, let's throw in a bit of violence. *THAT* will make it a good movie!" There was no justification for most of the characters' major decisions. It oscillated between a character sketch of a man at the edge of breakdown and a "movie-of-the-week" with action bits thrown in.

This movie was produced by the biggest producer in Costa Rica. Although their authors brag about it as a the biggest movie in Costa Rica ever made and their actors even dare to say that they didn't get an Oscar Nomination due to it's political relevance with oil (-he he, right) ...Well, this is all a lie. This movie was supposedly based on a book written by Carlos Salazar Herrera about a love triangle (super cliché soap opera-like subject) and it secondary story is about an oil problem on the Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica with an American oil company who wanted to explore oil deposits on the region, but at the end it never was approved by the government. Now, it may have some nice footage about the beaches, but that's it; nothing bigger than that... it is all in the camera. Most of the actors are lousy, except for two or three. The rest lack of sense of what acting means: they overact most of the time. The story is completely common and cliché, worthy of a cheap Mexican soap opera as I said.. because the crew advertised it as a protest movie about oil, but 80% of the movie is based on a stupid love triangle. The script is nothing impressing, it is very simple and the dialogs are not very thought. It has also got some editing problem on a couple of scene changes... but besides that is pretty decent. The director did an alright job, I mean, he is not like an Oliver Stone,but he did his job with the resources he had handy. I would like to question him why instead of using Costarican actor he spent most of the money on foreign ones.. I mean after all they bragged about being an 100% Costarican Production... that's what you at least expect. Final the end is is not well done, there are flaws and details that don't match or are useless. Besides being the most elaborated movie in all Costarican history, I think it's mediocre. You can make way more interesting and better pictures with less cash. Never heard of "Pi"? Anyway, if you are curious about Costa Rican or Central American movies, this one will do, but you are definitively not missing anything.

Story wasn't super innovative but overall provided an easygoing plot. There were a few character reactions that seemed inconsistent but not overtly so. From a Costa Rican perspective it succeeded in showing a lot of aspects of culture and societal issues of the Caribbean coast BUT having the lead characters be foreigners drew away from it. The end was a bit loose but didn't bring down the merit of the rest of the story.