Puerto Ricans in Paris

I expected more from Puerto Ricans in Paris. But it didn't deliver like I hoped to. I like Luis Guzman, and he's the one in this movie that makes attempts to make you laugh, but apart of the occasional little grin there isn't that much to laugh with. There is also almost no action at all. It's one of those Sunday afternoon movies. Good enough for television, for everybody to watch, without anybody really paying attention to it. The story is just weak, two Puerto Rican cop buddies that try to solve the mystery of who stole the designer handbag. You don't even care about who did it because there is just not enough action, suspense or humor to keep you interested. Good enough to watch once on a boring day if you have absolutely nothing else to do.

This is not the greatest comedy of all time; not even close. But it is funny and entertaining, and that beats the average comedy that is out there these days. The director does a fine job keeping the pacing even and Louie under control (I have known Luis since the 80s when we worked together as teachers down at Henry Street Settlement). I have reviewed several of his films as a second banana or less, and generally, with the exception of one or two roles, Lou has always done a professional job. I was not sure, as I started to roll this film, if Lou could hold up a film in the lead; but he can. He and his partner had great chemistry and the film was done straight rather than slapstick, which was a very good choice by the writer and director. The only reason the film was not rated higher, was that there was no discernable difference between these two detectives and any other Lower East Side detectives. They could have been Italian, Russian, Jewish, or a few other nationalities; there really was nothing that would catargorize them as Puerto-Rican. They looked like two AMERICANS in Paris (just not the Gene Kelly type). Actually, it was probably a good idea NOT to try and catagorize them as Puerto Ricans; their actions were no different from the vast majority of people who live in the Lower East Side, regardless of origin. In any event, I am happy for Lou that the film is a moderate success, and I hope he makes more features in the future.

I would like to stress at the outset that Puerto Ricans in Paris is not a good movie. If you take only one thing from this review, it must be this. I'm going to say some things in the paragraphs that follow -- I may even say I enjoyed it -- but let there be no uncertainty. Movie. Not good. Okay.

So here's the rub. There's a certain primal pleasure in watching a film like Puerto Ricans in Paris, an unabashed B-movie buddy comedy that knows what it wants to be, aspires to nothing more, and delivers just about what you'd expect. Granted, it's abysmally weak by ordinary standards, but let's be realistic -- you won't wander into this one expecting Fellini. From those to whom little is given, little is required. Or something.

The title pretty much sums up the premise, but here goes: Luis Guzman and Edgar Garcia play two NYPD detectives working the counterfeit luxury goods beat. When a Parisian arrives with a special request -- help a famous designer (Alice Taglioni) find a missing prototype handbag worth millions -- the pair jets off to Paris (macarons, bro?) and vapid screwball comedy ensues.

I enjoyed the early promise of the counterfeit luxury goods angle, since I recently read Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster -- and a surprising number of details in this film actually ring true: like a corporate heavy ousting a designer to profit from her name, and the faithful portrayal of Canal Street merchants and their backroom dens. That said, I haven't the faintest idea why this luxury-goods storyline was paired with overt Puerto Rican ethnic humor -- it's as though two separate spec scripts were shuffled together and promptly green-lit. Not that it matters much, since the luxury angle fades into the background right quick.

The Parisian storyline is simplistic and frankly not too important, a basic whodunnit in which even the filmmakers regularly lose interest. Guzman and Garcia go through the motions of screening various suspects (often donning ethnic disguises, because easy laughs) and in the meantime chastise one another, have heart-to-hearts about the meaning of family, and so on. Characters come and go; some story lines are left unfinished.

The protagonists are simplistic and one-dimensional, but likable nonetheless. Guzman is the ladies' man of the pair, a perpetual bachelor and womanizer -- a role that's frankly hard to take very seriously given that he's not exactly George Clooney yet he's slinging more game than a Spiderman reboot on some very young, very attractive French women. (To be fair, he has limited success -- his shlubby appearance paired with aspirational macking could've been a punchline here, but I don't think it was.) Garcia by contrast is married with kids, and we taste his workaday struggles when his wife (Rosie Perez) laments yet another unobserved anniversary. In Paris, Garcia's loyalties are tested when the beautiful designer takes an interest in him -- but the film stops short of ever causing Garcia a real problem in this regard. (One senses that family and loyalty are particularly sacrosanct here -- we mine Garcia's plight for gentle laughs, but never place him anywhere near risk of actual infidelity.) Secondary characters are double-thick stereotypes. Yes, this is ground-floor, feel-good xenophobic comedy for Trump Nation.

This movie struggles to strike the right rhythm with its two-fish-out-of-water premise. And we're never really sure if Guzman and Garcia are bumbling or actually on their game. Director Ian Edelman also does his best to reinforce an American tourist's fantasy of Paris, all gleaming cobblestones and streetlamps and whimsical bicycles and fancy hotels and baguettes and Eiffels and romance. (The less that's said about this, the better.)

Production quality isn't great. Much of the film looks like it was shot on an iPhone 6 and with about the same budget. The end credits would have benefited from an undergrad intern, ten minutes, and a free trial of Final Cut Pro. Puerto Ricans in Paris is, however, mercifully short, clocking in at just over 1 hour 20 minutes.

But all that said, and perhaps in spite of myself, I still enjoyed this movie. Puerto Ricans in Paris is just wholly unpretentious. This is real, working-man authenticity in film form. I mean, look at the title. That's real honesty. And while I wouldn't send you to see it, I also won't blame you if you do.

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I'm a big Luis Guzman fan, and now a big Edgar Garcia fan too.

This is a fun romp around Paris - with two funny and kind guys.

NOT enough of Rosie Perez!

So if you need/want some laughs and don't want to have to think a lot, this is the movie for you!

It's not the worse movie I ever saw, but had the potential to be so much better.

You see the title of the movie and the first thing you think is that this is a fish out of water comedy. Knowing who Guzman is I was expecting The New York raised Latino to have a culture clash in Paris' hi style scene, but the movie really does nothing with that idea.

He plays a cop who gets hired by a Fashion company based in France to track down a fancy hang bag prototype that was stolen and is being held for ransom.

Guzman with Edgar Garcia play partners and brother-in-laws in a buddy cop style that is obvious, but not done well. It was a badly done cop movie as the cops really did no cop work. The little that they did was really little for the movie as a whole.

What the movie does do is point out why we love Luis Guzman as a supporting character in pictures. Guzman being the lead character in this movie doesn't seem to be interesting, yet it works and makes the film watchable, but not great. It's in comparison with another Latino supporting character actor, Danny Trejo when he did Machete, it's everything you like about him as a supporting actor.

And shout out to Edgar Garcia who was a good fit for Guzman in the buddy cop relationship but the movie should have gave them more to do if that's the genre they are trying to achieve.

So overall, the movie makes little sense, but it will be fun and enjoyable if you like Guzman.