I understood the point of this movie's satire perfectly. And if you come from a small remote town in Mexico, you REALLY understand it.
So I applaud this film's producers for attempting to bring light to Mexico's underlying social problems. However, this film is very flawed.
For starters, 3 hours and 11 minutes is WAY too long for a comedic satire. Even TWO hours might have been way too long. So that right there was the film's major undoing.
The plot itself strikes me as odd (and yes, I fully know it is satire). The entire extended family in the small mining town is basically dirt poor. But the deceased grandfather is secretly filthy rich with who knows how many millions in gold and property. And he decides to leave it all to the one person in the family who needs it the LEAST?? I get that this is satire and it is meant as a subtle jab as to how poorly the country of Mexico manages its riches in reality. I get that. It still doesn't make sense. But I get that.
The only way I can make sense of this movie is that the producers used this film as a subtle way to say F YOU!! To Mexico's ignorant and selfish ways. They are trying to tell you that Mexicans only look out for themselves and no one else. And that's why Mexico is the way it is now.
It is grossly exaggerated. But there is SOME truth to that. For far too long, Mexico has failed to properly invest in itself because so many of their nation's richest people know that everyone else is just itching to take their money away at every turn. So instead of investing in the future of their country, they hoard it all for themselves instead.
So if that's what this film's message is, then I think I understood that part. But I didn't need 3 hours and 11 minutes of bland comedy to understand it.
