Y Tu Mamá También (2002)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Y tu mama también is an interesting film that fully embodies the classic, if stereotypical, coming-of-age tale. The road trip setting allows for a great variety of locations, which show several different parts of Mexico and several different subcultures, from busy urban Mexico City to an old woman alone on the side of the road, grieving the death of her great granddaughter. The narration, too, interrupts the story at appropriate times to broaden the audience's perspective and give more depth not only to the characters' personal histories, but to the political and social climate of the country. This is not a distraction from the present antics and drama of the protagonists; rather, it helps to give their relatively inconsequential story more meaning. For much of the movie, this is effective rather than melodramatic. Towards the end of the movie, these little narrated pieces start to feel excessively sad, even if they are realistic. The grim future of the fishing family from the beach is revealed: within a few years they will be trapped in the city, having lost their fishing business pursuing a bigger dream which was ultimately unsuccessful. After their trip ends, the rest of the movie is equally sad. Luisa's death feels pointless; the fact that the audience hears about it secondhand reduces her role in the movie from protagonist to adventure catalyst. The narrator reveals that Tenoch and Julio lose touch as well, although it is not explained why or what happened. The audience is meant to interpret this turn of events without much of a basis for it, as the rest of the movie is spent building their relationship, revealing flaws, and repairing them. The last scene of the movie is one in which Julio and Tenoch run into each other in the street and decide to stop for a cup of coffee. They part ways and never see each other again. This is an unsatisfying ending to an intense, emotionally charged story. The individual moments and narrated pauses in time in Y tu mama también were charming and intriguing, and were generally more satisfying than the movie as a whole.

I've seen a lot of coming of age movies, this one is no different. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a Mexican coming of age movie that is more brought out than most that I have seen. This movie also deal with political,social, and economic views that goes into the points of life. Here you have two friends, Julio(Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch(Diego Luna) who just had sex with their girlfriends. The girlfriends go to Europe, while the best friends do different summer jobs. Bored, they fool around in-between. Then, they go to a wedding where they meet Lusia (Mariel Verdu), who is the wife of Tenoch's cousin. They talk about a secret beach. She balks at the offer. After the doctor visit and news of her husband's infidelity, she gets back with the boys' offer of finding the beach. They get a jalopy, drive around parts of Mexico, reminiscing of past relationships and experiences. When they stop at a hotel, Luisa leaves a message to her husband. While Tenoch come in her room asking for some shampoo, he finds her crying. However, after seeing her, she becomes enticed when he appears. She would seduce him intentionally. Julio discovered the situation, flies off in rage, after that, the two have an oral fisticuffs. Midway, Julio and Luisa do it in the back seat of the car. Equal justification. When they find the beach, they are able to put things behind. From the partying, swimming, and debauchery, all 3 were content. They leave without drama back home. They would later have new relationships, new friends, and new jobs. They later found out that Luisa has died of cancer. A new chapter in the making. A very powerful movie there. If you seen many coming of age films, start seeing more with impact. This movie has that! 5 Stars

In Mexico City, horny best friends Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael García Bernal) aimlessly drift as college beckons and their girlfriends are traveling overseas. At a family wedding, they meet Luisa Cortés (Maribel Verdú), a slightly older woman and the wife of Tenoch's cousin Jano. Jano is cheating on her and she gets news from a doctor. She agrees to go on a road trip with the boys to a non-existent beach and find an intense rollicking sexual journey.What a trio! It was my first introduction to these three actors. It's incredible to discover both Luna and Bernal at the same time. Their magnetic personalities are obvious right away. Maribel Verdú is no shrinking violet either. The three of them are terrific together. Some of it is a little slow especially the beginning. There are also great scenes that are absolutely electric. It's also my first Alfonso Cuarón movie and I didn't connect him to my favorite Harry Potter movie Prisoner of Azkaban until much later. He has such amazing range.

"Y Tu Mamá También" is a drama that has a real insight on teenage sexuality and surprisingly enough this actually generates a lot of laughs between the more touching portions of the film. I'm also going to admit that I find the plot pretty erotic so that's a big plus. It's a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys. Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) are, as most teenage boys are, focused on sex pretty much all of the time. They joke about stealing each other's girlfriends, seducing each other's mothers, romancing older ladies, that sort of thing. They jokingly strike up a conversation with Luisa (Maribel Verdu) and try to entice her into taking a trip with them to a beautiful beach where they can all frolic in the sand and sun. Despite the fact that she's in her late twenties, she decides to take them up on their offer and the three of them go on a road trip.One of the strongest characteristics about this Mexican film is that it genuinely feels like a true story. The sort of story that's too crazy not to be true. The characters and events don't feel manufactured or phony in any way and this allows you to really relate to the characters to the point where you may not have much in common or have experienced any of the events that they have, but you'll feel like you have a connection with them because you've all taken this trip together. The performances are all very good and when the film becomes erotic, it's very sexy. There are a lot of comedic moments but they're mostly there to make the bitter-sweet tale more digestible. This isn't some sex-comedy about a bunch of teens that need to lose their virginity by the end of the summer. The ending will probably leave you sad, but that's because you let yourself get so emotionally invested in the plot and characters that you didn't want their story to end. I've seen it multiple times and I'm not sure I understand all of the subtext that has to do with Mexican politics, but that's what special features are for, so I encourage you to track down some essays that will clear up the details, or watch it with someone that's smarter than me and knows what all of those little moments are all about. One last thing. While I love this movie and encourage you to check it out, even the R-Rated version isn't suitable for teens and certainly not kids. With that said, I strongly recommend " Y Tu Mamá También". I might bust this one out next time I have a date and she wants to see a movie… (R-Rated version on DVD, November 15, 2012)