Drama/Mex

I really like this movie simply because it is so haotic! Real life is haotic, but humans have that socially programmed need to control everything - which is impossible! Grown man is grown when he starts understanding that clearly.

The girl - she has feelings to both of the guys. One is good, the other is bad, buth both attract her. It's cute.

"Drama/Mex" tells of three everyday people in Acapulco whose lives intersect over the course of a two-day period. The characters include an attractive young woman named Fernanda (Diana Garcia), who's having trouble deciding whether to stay with her current beau (Juan Pablo Castaneda) or to return to her thieving cad of an ex-boyfriend (Emilio Valdes); a middle-aged business man named Jaime (Fernando Becerril), who's contemplating suicide as a way out of his unhappiness (there's a hint that he might be having an incestuous relationship with either his daughter or stepdaughter); and a half naïve/half streetwise girl named Tigrillo (Miriana Moro), who's in the process of learning how to rip off rich, male tourists for fun and profit. The last two characters meet when Tigrillo slips into Jaime's beachside motel room to steal his wallet right at the moment that he has a loaded gun to his head. Together, these two people with relatively little in common beyond their happening to be at the same place at the same time, manage to forge an unlikely relationship that defies easy labeling.

"Drama/Mex" is a homespun, slice-of-life drama that isn't obsessed with making big dramatic gestures or revealing grand universal truths about human nature. Instead, it simply introduces us to its characters and lets their stories play out naturally, with very little manipulation or fanfare. Though the narrative is clearly contrived to some extent, the film still manages to capture the random nature of life as we live it. The characters don't necessarily "learn" anything from their experiences - but they do emerge from those experiences, to some degree or another, "changed" people, willing to look at their lives from a decidedly different vantage.

Superb performances (especially by Becerril and Moro) and direction (by Gerardo Naranjo, who also wrote the screenplay), and a refusal to tie everything up into a neat little bow at the end add to the movie's overall quality and appeal.

Gerardo Naranjo's sophomore feature, "Drama/Mex", is as unhinged as its protagonists. Essentially, the film plays out as an Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu hybrid, dubiously trying to forcefully connect three stories uncoiling in Acapulco. The first is of Fernanda (Diana Garcia) who runs into Chano (Emilio Valdes), her ex boyfriend at a café; the next thing you know, they're already in bed. In this case, the drama here is that, as familiar as it may seem, she already has a boyfriend named Gonzalo (Juan Pablo Castaneda). At the same time, another tedious narrative thread follows Mariana, who, after just being hired by fellow prostitutes, spots Jaime (Fernando Becerril)—a pretty damn old man who has such meaningless life that he essentially goes to the city to kill himself—and gets him to feed her, entertain her, and shelter her. Despite its grand, promising opening sequence filled with ambition and audacity, the main problem with "Drama/Mex", of course, is its callously exasperating narrative; jaundiced to its very core, it ends up going all over the place, as we now find Gonzalo attacking Chano, Jaime at the club, Fernanda running all over the place, and Mariana buying anything she can. Essentially, what starts out as a finely nuanced, audaciously handsome drama evolves into a frustrating imbroglio, as its familiar ending fails to unite its narrative threads, finally culminating happily yet with a profound feel—and, as odd as it may seem, such disaster can be pliantly interpreted; even appealingly. Indeed, "Drama/Mex" is not entirely with out its merit: Naranjo's mesmerizing camera work fits its milieu perfectly, and the fact that he first studies his characters before sending them to ruin is proof of its boundless self-confidence—all of which are perpetuated by the miraculous cast that, indeed, beautifully portray their dubious situations.

This film sets back Mexican film making 10 years. Te story is awful along with the cinematography and acting. I sat thru an hour of hoping that this movie would take me someplace but all that happened was my friend who unbeknown to me was also having a terrible time sitting thru this waste of time turned to me in Spanish and said '' please can we leave'' I nearly kissed him we turned to our other 7 friends all who went to support Mexican film-making and we told them we were leaving this sinking ship. two more agreed that nothing was happening except dizzying cinematography and just a sad sad terrible flick. 4 of us left and I quickly went to the box office and requested a refund I was told no but when 2 other people who left when we did came over to demand a refund they obliged. My friends who stayed later text me and I quote''oh no and the worst thing is nothing happened it went no where'' After seeing a great Mexican film KM31 I expected way more than what this film offered, save your money. even if I did not like you I still would not recommend this.

Definitely the best film I saw at Cannes. Mexican cinema is really coming a long way right now, and this film was even better than Tu Mama Tambien. The director filmed the whole thing with a hand-held video camera and amateur actors (who were his friends). His approach gives the film a real gritty feeling, keeping clean of that "hollywood smell". His shots are beautiful and graceful, as is the story. It was filled with emotion, drama (obviously), and strong characters. It compels you to continue watching, without even being really sure what the plot/point is. It is a film that inspires hope in life (and life's little unexpected and unwanted surprises) and encourages us all to view beauty and innocence where we can find it, because it is so often lacking. For a film that was created essentially without a budget, it rivals and often surpasses those Hollywood blowouts that lose the essence of film making in a drive for commercial success. I strongly recommend Drama/Mex to anyone who also enjoys independent cinema and beautiful films, and pray that it comes out on DVD in the states sometime soon.