Loco Love (2003)

Awesome Movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Is "Loco Love" "Trading Places"? Not even close (despite the theme of the rich guy and the poor guy trading places in the film). "Trading Places" is a classic. But it is a nice little film, where rich guy Donald runs a restaurant and everything he has in life, is sunk into the the restaurant, but he loses it all when his new wife has an affair and gets pregnant with someone else's baby, and gets the marriage annulled. At the same time, his Gardner Miguel hits the lottery on his birthday, and becomes a millionaire. Miguel and his brother in law then go to Donald's home to resign, but find him unconscious. Earlier, he tried to commit suicide, by hanging himself from a tree, but he failed because Miguel did a bad job gardening (the branches were weak). When they spoke to him, he explained his story (spoilers ahead). And Miguel offered to finance the restaurant in exchange for him marrying his sister Catalina (Laura Elena Herring), who could not immigrate here from Mexico. The tough thing about Catalina (Kat), is she is a very strong willed woman who scared everyone she is around (Even Miguel), which is why she could not immigrate here ( or even get married). There is one scene where Miguel's son asked him what are you afraid of and he says " Your aunt Kat." She is actually perfect for Donald, which is shown early on when he makes pancakes in the middle of the night, and instead of putting on syrup as he planned , she explained that syrup is for breakfast, and makes a Mexican sauce that is for dinners. Of course, it takes awhile for Donald to realize that. Another problem for Donald is Miguel thinks that anyone who would marry for money has no honor, so as Donald and Kat start to fall in love, he sabotages the relationship by threatening to take the restaurant away unless he is not with her. For that reason, she goes back to Mexico , and he finally realizes that he would prefer her to the restaurant , keeping his home (which Miguel and the family moved into), or anything else. At the same time , his ex tries to win him back by appearing very sexy and he rejects her (although Kat thinks he slept with her). Finally he convinces her to comeback with him to his bungalow because he has presents for her. The presents were a wedding dress and shoes, which the ex thought was for her. He has her get out of the dress, drags her out, and throws her in the pool. When Kat sees that and the presents she realizes he really does love her. Coming back to California he is finally accepted into the family, because he does have honor ( choosing love over money). Of course, by then Miguel gave the restaurant away to.... Kat. As we learned in the film, She is someone who really knows how to make a restaurant work ( she has superior customer service skills), which when combined with his cooking makes a great combination. The film ends with Kat telling Donald to dance with your wife (her). So in the end, Donald has everything he ever wanted. In particularly, a wife who can not only understand his hopes and dreams, but can help him achieve them. Basically a nice little film. 8 of 10 stars.

The movie's a light romantic comedy. So how deep can the script really get? The story is harmless, and the humor is sweet, simple, and steady. The low budget only adds to the charm. They find some nice locals and have a simple but effective soundtrack.The cast is familiar and gets the job done. It is more interesting to watch Laura Harring try on a different role than to see Hugh Grant once again reprise his "usual" character in another equally implausible romantic comedy. It is satisfying to get more smiles and laughs from a film that has far less budget and star power than the weak "You, Me, and Dupree".It's worth the watch because it's what you expect...with a little more.

LOCO LOVE is predictable fun. It is one of those films that after the first ten minutes, you know where it is going, and how it is going to end. This is a straight forward story that goes from point A to point B with very few twists along the way. Boy meets Girl. Boy and Girl hate each other. Boy and Girl love each other. Boy and Girl break off their relationship. Boy and Girl get back together. Fortunately there are enough fun scenes along the way to make the journey worth taking.The beginning starts out a bit shaky with a jerky exposition and an incredibly bad mustache. It is apparent that this film was made on a very low budget. I thought I was going to hate this film. However, the story slowly became endearing. It's a Taming of the Shrew meets Trading Places kind of story.The story was hampered by the producer/director trying to be too politically correct. The relationship between Donald and Cat also seemed a bit rushed, but it worked well enough keep my interest. What made this film entertaining was the cast of character actors and the little one-liners they were given.While LOCO LOVE is not great entertainment, it is good enough to nuke some popcorn, curl up on the couch and watch this awkward, silly romantic comedy.

This modern Latin take on 'Taming of the Shrew' is a complete waste of your time and money! The script throws out a couple of interesting ideas and characters but never develops any of them. A Hispanic gardener wins a lottery fortune on the same night his boss gets dumped by his rich wife. In order to open a new restaurant and hang on to his home, the boss agrees to marry the gardener's shrewish, but beautiful sister. The 'crazy' Mexican clan move in with the uptight white guy and before you can say 'ay carumba' they are all one big happy family. The pacing is slow, the look is cheap and the actors are badly directed. It makes 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' look like a classic film!