Santitos

It's a drama that slowly turns into a sharp comedy. Even though you never forget the seriousness of the situation, you start enjoying the sequence and the slight turns of the plot. It reflects the impacts of faith and some ways to pursue it, and it never fails to deliver a touch of reality in a subtle way, even if some situations are a little overacted ... it was a joy to see it

Santitos has many wonderful things: great photography by Xavier Perez Grobet, some good acting, particularly by Demian Bichir, and the supporting actors, excellent art direction, a nice sense of humor, a good music score by Carlo Nicolau. Its weaknesses are a wooden performance by the actress who plays Esperanza, the main character. With a better, more expressive actor, this movie could have soared, since she has to carry the bulk of it. She's lovely to look at, but her performance lacks character. The story drags on a little bit too long and doesn't really seem to have much of a point. As is typical in Mexico it seems that women can only be either saints or whores -- and the novel and screenplay were written by a woman! However, it's a promising first film by Alejandro Springall and will undoubtedly delight fans of the "Like Water for Chocolate" school of magical realism.

This is really an excellent movie. I was very surprised to read the great reviews it got in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, New York Daily News, Time Out, LA Weekly, Movie Maker, etc. Incredible reviews appeared on most newspapers in Spain as well. I highly reccomend to see this fun picture becauser the story is unique, the acting superb, and the light-hearted way of telling this story is unforgettable. Don't miss this classic

I really wanted to like this film. The advertising really fooled me--I believed I was going to see another "Como Agua Para Chocolate." Wrong!

The movie starts wonderfully. Esperanza's refuses to believe her recently deceased daughter is really dead and starts to search for her. First in her beautiful little town in the Veracruz state of Mexico, then Tijuana, followed by LA, and back to her hometown.

Her journey was supposed to show how Esperanza changes and becomes a stronger person, but the lead actress--Dolores Heredia--was unable to do so. This is not so much her fault as she is quite appealing: I believe that the directors development of side characters and subplots take the focus away from the character development of Esperanza.

This film is not without merit. The cinematography by Xavier Perez Grobet is top-notch, as well as the art direction. This film is a step in the right direction for contemporary Mexican film, but it still has a way to go.

I had lost my faith in national productions after "El coronel no tiene quien le escriba" and "Un embrujo". Santitos made me believe in mexican films again!It's a wonderful road movie about faith and sacrifice. Really funny, with great photography work and excellent actors. If you've watched mexican movies from the last decade, you'll know all of them are about poverty and misery, a depressing look at Mexico. But Santitos is like a ray of light in a dark national film industry.

Don't miss it!