Ladies' Night

I really didn't cared that much about watching this movie when it was released, I thought that it was going to be another foolish & girlish movie that doesn't go far from that. I watched it when it was released in DVD and totally loved it, it's funny, witty and leaves you with a positive message: Go for it, take risks.

If you don't like romantic comedies don't watch it, it does not portray the reality of Mexican society, it's a fantasy of how fun it could be, and actually that's the reason why I watched, it's a way to escape from all that's going on in a funny and light way. The characters are well developed and the directing is quite good, and all the references to Alice in Wonderland are just superb mostly because it is mixed with Mexican humor.

I saw this film in Mexico (I'm American) and LOVED it!! It is the touching story of 2 girls (one conservative and one wild) who run after a stripper and find themselves in the process. The actors are wonderful, the directing is very creative and the story moves!! It also has some fun animation, GREAT music and creative references to "Alice in Wonderland"!! There are beautiful women and hunky guys - what's not to like! I definately want to see this film again when it is released in the USA. A really fine film that is thoroughly enjoyable!

México did it again. That regular vision of us, with fairy tales sceneries and realismo mágico stories, has been implanted in this romantic comedy featuring (once again) mostly people from TV. From starters, Ladies' night doesn't look for a profound meaning, but the lightness that bears it's plot is more than just simplicity; it's almost insulting. The story centers in Alicia (for Alice in wonderland, played by Talancón), a candid woman whom has never been really understood since her childhood and that spends her life in a world of fantasy that she draws by and for herself. Her wedding is only a week away and she's engaged to Fabián (Corres), the editor in a teen magazine, and his coworker and best friend is Ana (de la Reguera), a "rebel type" girl who's more than evident that has a crush on him. Ana doesn't like Alicia and vice versa, so when the bachelorette party for Alicia comes, an uninvited Ana comes along and she as a secret surprise for the party, she hired a male stripper named Rocco (Guzmán) to spice up things, 'cause Ana and her friends are very uptight. But, after performing his act, fate arrange things for an instant click between Rocco and Alicia. Then, after some events that involves a small robbery and a video tape with scenes from a previous encounter between Ana and Fabián, both girls have to go after Rocco but with different intentions: while Alicia tries to find him to make up her mind about the marriage, Ana tries to recover the tape so Alicia won't find out.

This plot leads to an odyssey through México City with Alicia and Ana, and it is also the perfect excuse to create a romantic comedy to be treated under the label of a buddy movie but with girls. It's the same old song in which two antagonist characters comes to the end of the trip becoming best friends (take Por la libre as an example) and OK, even if this is not new neither anyone expects it to be, is in the way the plot develops where lies all the holes, failures and misguiding. Also, the level of intelligence in it has been dumbed so low that it couldn't be done without hurting the whole idea, and not to mention that the acting is flat, the characters are unidimensional (it's profiles are based on clothes, not in personality), and the language they use sounds pretty much fake.

Basically, Ladies' night is a very light motion picture with it's target on girls who are supposed to talk "dirty" and feel cool about it. There's some sexual situations but none of them are graphic neither sensual, and for the "irreverent" parts it uses the source of cartoons. And don't get me wrong, this is not about a hunger for seeing flesh but for watch witty, edgy material, that even if it can't really entertain us, at least be one that can make us feel the real needs in the main roles for each other, the deep passion we are supposed to buy, and the fire that burns only as minimum sparks in here. In the end, this film comes across as one more light teen mexican movie which is predictable, not funny, and with no good things to offer at all.

It scares me the idea of how can I start to talk about this film, from the moment it started I was sure that someone gave a 35 mm camera to a 6 year old kid and he just started to shot with the ability of an orphan to show love and tender, so many of the shots were out of focus!

The attempt to present the characters in a sort of Amelie way is in technique and narrative style, a SHAME. Those poor actors, especially those wanna be actresses that lead these film, are in their worst day for style and histrionic abilities, they just talked those dialogs as if they were not bad at all with the confidence of a blind woman when she tries to cross a highway by herself.

The script has only one merit that only mexican people will probably (with enough pity) appreciate, and it is that the story can give you a bite of the social complexity that mexican women live and the boundaries that needs to be brake in our society, but just telling it gives to this film too much credit, that actually was only my own achievemnt on reflection, this movie sucks! and especially because the script, which it feels as the work of a kinder garden student with too much hormones, thinking in strippers and dirty language, there is not even a good connection between one scene and another and there is NO moment when you can feel that you are been guide by competent people.

I feel shame for the people who see this film, and even more for those who spend their money on the way for neural destruction and actually aprecciate. If the people that produce it has the nerve to send it to another countries I will down my head in shame and pray (for the first time in my life) that foreign people won´t see it, AVOID IT AT ALL COST!

The movie runs pretty fast, and has some amusing scenes between the two lead actresses. A couple of moments are quite funny, and all in all it manages to entertain, in spite of the predictabilty of the romantic comedy structure.