Club sándwich

Another good film by Fernando Eimbcke about youngsters' life experiences, on the opposite side of Larry Clark's movies in terms of explicitness, or any other silly, boisterous film about male and female adolescents "in heat", wanting to lose their virginity. Eimbcke's young people Héctor (Lucio Giménez Cacho Goded) and Jazmín (Danae Reynaud) are rather deprived of what is commonly assumed as social grace, they are a bit on the overweight side and not very expressive (though surprisingly Héctor is quite direct about his need, and Jazmín is able to perform a pelvic dance as any sexy rumbera of yesterday): maybe it is their Catholic upbringing (not mentioned, but sensed), the dominant mother (in contrast to the only father figure seen on screen: an invalid old man) or those peculiar, uptight behavior patterns we tend to associate with middle class, that all make Héctor and Jazmín so vulnerable in their search for sexual discovery. A welcome film that gives space to those unpopular adolescents who are usually looked down on by their peers.

Paloma is not your average single, outgoing and clingy mom, she and her teenage son Hector do just about everything together. While enjoying an offseason vacation at a nearly empty resort, mother and son frolic in the pool, discuss the delicate details of life, and even get critical of each other's attire. Sparks and cat claws fly when a teenage girl named Jazmin gets between Paloma and her baby. This funny as well as visceral, touching and quirky film contains many hilarious scenes. It is also slow-paced and lacking in depth. One really feels for Paloma as she rides an emotional roller coaster and struggles so mightily with what may be beyond her power to control or even influence in a significant way. Seen at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival.

The film takes place in a largely abandoned summer resort where Hector and his mother, Paloma spend a vacation.

Hector and his mother are quite close and there's an undercurrent of Oedipal tension running throughout the movie. In fact, the film is quite unabashed about indicating this through regular outpourings of individualized sexuality. It's not extremely direct or glaring, but I wouldn't call it subtle either.

It has a minimalist style, with scant dialogue among the characters. In that sense, and because most of the film takes place near the water (a resort pool in the case of Club Sandwich) it strongly reminded me of another Mexican movie - Alamar (2009). If there is a genre for quiet, slow-paced movies, these two are definitely in it together.

Unlike Alamar, though, the behavior of the characters is more reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite. The topics of conversation are banal and the characters don't seem interested in nor capable of communicating in any significant way. Hector could be Pedro's brother except with less ambition.

About the first 80 - 90% of the film is barely worth watching. It's literally just two very boring people on vacation. It all leads up to a decent and tense final few minutes. Mind you, this is through no fault of the actors, who show at the bitter end that they can deliver powerful performances.

Was it all worth it? No. I was about to shut it off. I guess if you paid for the ticket in the cinema you would have had no choice but to be held hostage to this director's vulgar climax buildup, though, so it was probably just made for cheap cinema-goers.

Surely "Fernando Eimbcke" or whoever the writer was thought he was being clever or artistic by making people sit through over an hour of boring fluff just to deliver a worthwhile climax. I disagree.

Honourable Mentions: Napoleon Dynamite (2004). Same vacant-stare acting and minimalist dialogue, but the dialogue that's there is entertaining because it's ironic or outrageous. Also, the characters look funny and the situations they get involved in are pretty bizarre. I know that's not what the director was going for here, but it makes Napoleon a far better movie.

Again this sort of dramedy that we see a lot in Latin American cinema. The emotional depth of the movie is heavily felt, but the whole flick feels uneasy.

The movie works fine in the comedy side, for real it has some funny moments. The gags are effective, thanks to the seriousness and sarcasm of Hector, and the restless and young-mom Paloma.

The "family situation" of Hector and Paloma is the one that serves as background for emotions. The appearance of Jazmin, is the trigger for this fragility that is sensed since the beginning of the movie.

Both a dramedy and a coming-of-age/sexual-discovery movie, it is sadly abridged because of the story itself.

First of all, the fact that they are practically alone in a sort of cheap resort feels kind of boring. The very interactions between our main characters are slow and soundless, which contributes to the boredom. Maybe with this, the director tried to create a feeling of eagerness, for the audience waiting to see the real deal. It felt that way, but slightly.

The director's style is clear, static camera work. But I dare to say, that this directing style may not be that effective with this sort of movie.

Fernando Eimbcke took its time to write the characters, but maybe it lack time. If in any part of the movie a backstory from our leading people would have been introduced, it would have helped a lot. At the end the characters felt some sort of undeveloped.

Something I didn't liked at all, was this feeling of incest between Hector and Paloma. Something didn't felt right with their intimate moments. Inside this, our young lings age, which contributes to this feeling of uneasiness.

In the ending scene of the movie, I felt this emotional touch the director was trying to provoke, but the rest of the movie felt like an odd challenge.

My final consensus: An honest examination of human relationships, with strong direction and believable performances; but the very story itself is uneasy, and something doesn't feel right as it goes on.