When it comes to Argentine cinema, you don't need to be an expert to know that many of their films from the 2000s to the 2010s lack the necessary resources to be great films. When it comes to a film made by someone who is just starting out in this type of filmmaking, the end result can leave a lot to be desired. Cara De Queso was Ariel Winograd's first film when he was just starting out and his intention was to make something based on his experiences as a child. The goal was to make a teen comedy-drama with touches of comedy about the struggles of being an outcast and the role played by the norms of the Jewish community. On one hand, the film has a functional idea for a fairly decent teen drama, but on the other hand, the film conveys the idea in a rather vague way. As is common in these Argentine films, the humor and comedy is mostly based on dialogue and some situational acting in a light-hearted manner. The film offers a good introduction with good music and the soundtrack features good songs. The best of them all is the incomparable "Te Quiero Tanto" by Sergio Denis and it's good that the film had the decency to give this singer-songwriter a part to contribute something. Apart from Denis, they also decided to include Federico Luppi, although his part is short and feels somewhat wasted.
The film features several young characters and Ariel becomes the center of everything when he has to attend a trial for being a witness to a case of bullying towards a classmate. This character is the director when he was a child. All Ariel and his classmates want is to have a good summer before the trial. What we see is the typical case of marginalized young people trying to move forward despite the difficulties. The film deals with fairly common themes of adolescence and involves some things about Judaism. Ariel has quite peculiar classmates who are only there to add some humor to the film. Coper is the classic obese child and also has an attraction to Felman's mother. This is the typical joke of a young man who has an attraction to the mother of one of his friends. Something that has been seen in American Pie and although it is not a very used joke, it works. The Russian is a kind of young version of Stifler who likes to brag about sex. This character gives some humor to the movie and is that young man who likes to address these issues to prove his manhood. Of course, he is just a show-off and seems to be attracted to his maid. The latter is something that should have been addressed a lot because it would have served the comedy of the movie, but it was only used as something minor. A subplot that could have contributed a lot is that of Natalia and Felman. This young man with glasses does not stop following Natalia because of the love he feels for her and Natalia always rejects him for being clumsy. The interesting thing is that Natalia has a conflict with her own community because she cannot stand living in that land and just wants to live outside like any other girl. Her friend Ruthi tells her that she cannot live like other girls or find a boyfriend on her own because of her Jewish ancestry. Thus, Natalia is forced to choose only two suitors from her community. This subplot would have worked perfectly as a second plot, but it is discarded halfway through the film. Nothing more is known about Natalia and Felman afterwards and they are left out of the film. David and his girlfriend Romina have a relationship that as a subplot does not contribute much, but they had something interesting that would have contributed as well. Grandfather Mollo warns David about the risk of marrying a Jewish woman. He says that the mothers of young men establish a friendly relationship with the brides to advise them on how to control the future husband. This is somewhat reminiscent of the episode of the series Married With Children, where the Argento family suffers a curse in which the sons are forced to marry a woman who is exactly like Monica in every way. Mollo concludes his talk with something that suggests that the lots in which these communities stay are part of a social stratification not very different from that in Germany.
All of the above shows that Cara De Queso has a lot of good ideas, but they were not fully utilized. They were not even able to give it a completely satisfactory conclusion. The most correct thing would have been for Ariel's other classmates to be present at the trial so that the ending would be more intriguing. By not doing that, the film ends in a rather empty way and the truth is that by not knowing how to take advantage of the good ideas they had, the film does not become memorable apart from the Sergio Denis scene. It is not surprising that many who have seen this film to the end have ended up feeling that they were just wasting their time. In conclusion, Cara De Queso is a film that could have worked as a good teenage comedy-drama and I wish they could have taken better advantage of the ideas they had. It is not one of the worst films in Argentine cinema because it has a couple of good things and some funny moments, but that does not save it from being one of the most forgotten films. My final rating for this film is 6/10.
