Lola's Love Shack

If I was a teen, I might go so far as to give this film 10 stars, but as a middle aged father and a high brow cinema snob, some of the humor didn't quite grab me. That's okay because I still found myself cracking up throughout the movie in spite of my cerebral taste. Mostly, I was laughing at myself as I recalled similar misadventures in my youth. Coming from a white dude who went to high school in a small town in Washington state, that fact speaks to the universality of the film's theme and its deliverance. Yes, on one level its Porky's set in East L.A., but on another, it touches on heart warming and life affirming moments that lift it above most low budget teen sex comedies. But what really sets this film apart is how well the writing does a delicate dance between the ubiquitous dumb ass experiences of all teenagers, and the deeper social issues of life as a Mexican teen in an immigrant family. How this movie has not gotten more recognition than what it has is beyond me. Its got heart, and its seriously funny!

This looked like it had potential, but it just failed to be interesting. I'm not against indie films. Some of my favourite films are indie films. This one however just had college project written all over it. It failed to be funny (I only chuckled 2 or 3 times during the whole film) and it felt amateur throughout the whole thing. I couldn't get attached to the characters, and I didn't empathize with them. They didn't have much charm and weren't written very well. There were also too many cheesy moments when they were trying to be funny but just failing pretty badly. It wasn't the worst film I've ever seem, but it wasn't good by any means. I'd recommend passing on this one. It's not worth your time.