robertbaylormatlock

This is a very moving show about a family that runs an "ambulancia pirata"-- an unofficial ambulance -- in Mexico City. There aren't nearly enough of the government-funded official ambulances to service this enormous city of 22 million people. The main characters are a father, daughter and two sons who together operate the ambulance as the family business night after night. They are strong, resourceful and indefatigable. The obstacles they are forced to overcome make me question my own mettle. The cast is great. Veteran actor Joaquín Cosio as the father. Diego Calva as the eldest son. Renata Vaca is the daughter -- who is trying to ride the ambulance at night and attend medical school during the day -- and despite two reviews, I think her performance stands up to those of her co-stars. Finally, Sergio Bautista deftly plays the youngest a boy of perhaps twelve years old. Together they make an authentic family. This show has tremendous heart. One reviewer, who I will comment upon below, trashes the show as soapy, and there is a grain of truth to that -- but just a grain. I suspect that the filmmakers have worked on telenovelas and there are traces of that style -- but just traces -- and they make the show more interesting not less, because while the show appears to emerge from that tradition, the repurpose it to make a very novel drama. It's also a vivid portrait of Mexico City. If you've ever been there, you will feel you are there again. If you haven't you'll know what it's like.

Watch it in its original Spanish with subtitles. A lot is lost in the dubbed version, which is Apple's default. Why Apple? You will have to change the language of both the audio and subtitles (lower right on Apple's player)

Now to review the other reviewers. One pans the show because the hour-long episodes are "too long." They are around an hour long (though some are shorter), but that's the industry standard. They are intense. Can the reviewer not stand the heat? If you don't have the depth to understand something, maybe you shouldn't write a review.

Another panned it as soapy and low-budget. I've already commented on "soapy." This reviewer claims that the injured people in the earthquake episode look as though they'd been slathered with ketchup. Well, not to me. He also complained that there were no "grievous amputation injuries." There was a very grisly compound fracture. But seriously, who watches a show and complains that there aren't enough amputations? I'm going to recommend that this reviewer see a therapist.

Bottom line give this show a chance. You'll be rewarded.

Great performances by Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzie Caplan, Claire Danes and the child actors. Let's confront the modern reality: in a story where nobody gets shot (at least through Episode 4) the cognosenti infantili will have fit of pique. There's no action! The pacing is slow! The characters are flat! Adult stories, infantili, often unspool at a languid pace. Run along and play, this one's not for you.

So many complaints about the narration by Libby (Lizzie Caplan), because, well, it's out of the ordinary! So drown it in the bathtub! Or, maybe, notice that there's a chemistry between between Toby and Libby. They have a thing, though they don't know it yet -- well Toby doesn't -- which makes Libby's perspective all the more interesting.

OK, one complaint. I didn't buy Toby's tears in Episode 4. It's not Eisenberg's fault -- tears are inconsistent with Toby's character.

More and more reading IMDB reviews I suspect something is amiss. No film is immune from critique, but Paul Thomas Anderson -- Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master -- at least deserves a fair hearing. He does not get one from the front-listed reviewers. Are they novice film critics sharpening their teeth (or maybe slandering for pay)? This is a great debut for both Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Hoffman plays a convincing junior hustler. Haim conveys a wide range of emotions with her facial expressions throughout. Lots of dreck about Alana Kane and Gary Valentine not being likeable characters. They're mismatched in age, which leads them to second guess -- mostly Alana but Gary too. That's the conflict in the relationship that plots the film. One reviewer fretted that Gary was smitten with Alana, but then strayed with Sue Pomerantz. Alana and Gary are complex characters. How many fifteen-year-olds have opened their own retail store? Young people are fickle -- I was. The charm of the film is Alana and Gary's dawning realization that they really care about each other. Some saw the age difference as implausible. But she's a late bloomer and he's precocious. Are they really so far apart? Long term, it probably can't work, but we're not worried about that just now. We're living in the moment. And in this moment, they have something.