El segundo aire

So, you might be tempted to actually go out and watch another mexican movie, after "Amores Perros" was nominated for an Oscar. You think AltaVista films cannot make a bad movie after "Todo el Poder". And you have seen the ads all over the place with Lisa Owen in them, and think she is actually cute for a middle aged woman.

Well, forget about it. You might as well stay at home and watch a rerun. This movie is actually quite bad.

The story is simple enough: a middle aged woman falls in love with a college student because of her husband's work addiction. Sadly, the movie goes downhill from there (and we are only talking about the first minutes). The college student's work is very similar to Rosie the Robot's, or to Robin Williams in "Bicentennial Man" (which is to say, robotic). There is never an expression from him, or a clue as to what he is thinking about the whole ordeal. True, he might just be a prop in the general story. But he is a boring prop.

Lisa Owen's character is so lacking in depth she might as well be another prop. She is completely spineless, doing whatever the college student or her husband (or even her sister) wants. Pretty pathetic for a college professor, I might add. We feel dragged all the time throughout the film because of her unwillingness to take one single decision during it. Worse than this, it seems that throughout the film she is only looking for an excuse to take her shirt off, in a blatant show-off of exhibicionism. Maybe her figure was the only reason she got the part.

The star of the show, though, is Jesus Ochoa. He portrays his workaholic figure with aplomb, shining brightly over all the other actors. Then again, a broom with a wig might do the same thing.

Although this movie is good for a cheap laugh, it leaves you feeling completely empty (maybe even more so than at the beginning) when it ends. Don't bother.

The Good Stuff:

Jesus Ochoa, with great balance being serious as well as comedic, but not cartoonish. Lisa Owen and her quite evident breasts. Ximena Sariñana looks well as the "precocious" daughter.

The Bad Stuff:

Lisa Owen acting like a silly cartoon, not like a college professor. Lorge Alberto Poza (Ricardo), trying hard to be "beefcake", while just being boring, bland and dull. The too-sudden conversion of Ochoa's character.

The Verdict:

Entertaining time filler, that tries (hard) to be like a cross between a mexican and a foreign comedy.

If you like foreign cinema, you will not be happy to see this movie. There is not much 'foreign flavor' in this movie as we have seen in other romantic comedies such as Mexico's own "Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas", Italy's "Remember Me, My Love", Spain's "My Mother Likes Women", and France's "Intimate Strangers".

Lisa Owen's performance is way below the margin; however, throughout the movie, her breasts were up high. I think it must be really cold on the set.

If you do not have a date on Saturday night and your dog is too sick to talk to, watch this movie. :)