Drama/Mex

Fairly early on in this film I had this dreaded thought: the central characters lack any real heart or integrity. Then I sat through it hoping the plot would develop these "rats" into people I could possibly care about. The five main characters largely remained rodents right to the bitter end. So the characterizations lacked depth (primarily not the actors fault). This isn't a gritty story about hardship. It almost feels random, without real voice, what happens just happens. The title indicates this is a (lightweight) drama. It just didn't lift off the runway. Technically the camera work was a bit rough, and the subtitles were poor. Great or even just good festival/independent films can percolate in your head for days afterwards. This film left me as soon as I left the film.

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.

This film is OK. Nothing more and nothing less. An interesting idea that takes almost two long hours to explain. Teenagers in love, or not, are not that interesting people. A few sex scenes break up the boredom. While it has qualities, if this is the best Mexican film in 10 years then we might all be in a little trouble. If this was the best film shown at Cannes then that festival should be shut down. The girl who plays Tigrillo is excellent and the Jessica Alba look a like is easy on the eye but as far as the story goes, why do I care? Chino is the type of character who deserves a smack in the head and Gonzalo could have done us all a favour by doing that a lot earlier.

The best Mexican FILM for the last 8 years. A lesson to Reygadas and other ART filmmakers, it shows that you can go to Cannes as a consequence of your talent, not to your skills as a provocation seller.

A lesson to commercial directors and producers, I dare them to touch and entertain the audience like this film does.

Mexican cinema needs to encourage this kind of artists, we have to stop spending millions of dollars making trash, Lets do 10 of this beautiful human experiences instead of one big meaningless bullshit.

Naranjo and guys like Iván Avila, Julian Hernandez, Fernando Eimbcke and other newcomers deserve to shoot something every year

Thanks for the effort...

Looking forward the next films of Naranjo.

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.