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Y Tu Mama Tambien (R-rated Edition)

Y Tu Mama Tambien (R-rated Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very good
Review: Y Tu Mama Tambien is a road movie directed by Alfonso Cuaron (Great Expectations). Set in Mexico we are introduced to two 17 year old boys having sex with their girlfriends. The girlfriends are about to leave for a trip to Italy so they are looking to get just a little bit more fun in before the trip. They leave, and Tenoch and Julio are left to find their own entertainments. They are part of Mexico's upper middle class and while at a party (thrown by one of their parents), they meet an older woman (in her late twenties). Not expecting her to accept, they invite Louisa to a fictitious beach called 'Heaven's Mouth'. After learning of her husband's infidelity, Louisa takes the trip. Tenoch and Julio pretend they know where they are going and head towards a beach they hope will really be there when they get there.

This is a very sexual film, from the opening scenes to the denoument. There is a lot of discussion about sex, a fair amount of sex scenes (graphic and tender at the same time), and this just feels honest. We are not given nudity for the sake of nudity because in this film it feels essential to the ability to tell the story. The camera shows, but doesn't linger.

The road trip and the development of the characters are extremely well done and the film rises well above the concept of the source material. We see Tenoch and Julio begin to grow up and grow into the men they will likely become. They begin the movie very immature and only looking for sex, drugs, and hanging with their friends. This movie shows the first steps beyond their childhood. Y Tu Mama Tambien could have easily become a Mexican version of American Pie or Road Trip, but this is much, much better. Highly recommended with a warning of a lot of sex and nudity.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Delightful, meaningful coming of age movie
Review: Adult-themed movies are rarely made these days in America, the country which, ironically, is the porn capital of the world. The MPAA's rating system is confusing and often contradictory. No studio wants the dreaded 'NC-17' rating because, among other reasons, many newspapers and TV stations won't carry ads for movies so rated. To me, it's a sad, hypocritical situation. Fortunately, other countries do make movies for adults. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is from Mexico, and, while its graphic depiction of sexual situations may seem startling to American audiences, it is far more honest, compelling and intelligent than its timid, childish American counterparts. ["American Pie" is a perfect example.]

Two teenagers, Julio and Tenoch [Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna] are looking forward to the pleasures of summer. They've just graduated from high school, and their girlfriends are going off to Italy for an extended stay. After biding the girls a fond farewell, the boys set out to have as much fun as they can. At a fancy party, they meet Luisa [Maribel Verdu], the wife of Tenoch's cousin. The pair is smitten by the older woman. Impulsively, they invited her to take a road trip with them to a beach they know called Heaven's Mouth. She politely refuses. Later, when she catches her husband being unfaithful, she announces that she is ready to see the beach. [Her real reason for going is not revealed until the film's final scene.] The problem is that the guys made the beach up. Despite this technical problem, the trio sets out for the long drive to the ocean. At the end of the journey, they find a wonderful surprise. Along the way, Luisa teaches both young men how to treat a woman. They also learn other, more serious lessons about life.

On the surface, this is a comedic 'road trip' movie, one of the best ever made. Beneath the surface, there lies a poignant, meaningful coming of age tale.

This lively, well acted and beautifully photographed film is highly recommended for adults but not for children, for whom it was never intended.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Get the unrated version...
Review: I am shocked to see how many negative reviews there are on this page. Surely, Y Tu Mama Tabien is not for everyone. The film is VERY erotic - and I don't say that as a bad thing. The plot follows two lusty Mexican teens and a woman in her twenties as they go off on a wild goose chase for a private beach. Of course everybody ends up having sex. We know this from the opening shot which is a full-on copulation scene. There is a lot of sex and nudity in the film - which is the point: it's about beautiful naked people doing things nakedly. When they're not having sex, they are TALKING about having sex. However, these are a fun group of people and their little odyssey is strangely absorbing.

The movie is a wonderful trip. I wouldn't look too deeply for meaning in the film. The line that sums up the film's philosophy is: "Your life is like the ocean - you should give yourselves away." Roughly that translates to, casual sex is the answer to all your problems. That doesn't even hold up in the logic of the film - the sex, in the end, is more destructive than it is constructive. Also, the sex is reprehensibly unsafe.

But all this is looking too deeply into a character study. It is simply a well-made, independent film.

DO NOT GET THE EDITED VERSION - GO FOR THE UNRATED THEATRICAL VERSION.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Whew!
Review: Yep, this is a sexy one, and hilarious and touching - and very, very sad. Some might consider it soft porn, but in reality it's a vibrant coming-of-age story, a road show of sexuality as two sex-obsessed teenage Mexican boys set off with a 28yo woman who seems to have an agenda that defies logic - until the heartbreakingly fated conclusion. Three lives are woven together forever on this epic trip to the beach, and not only the boys' lives are changed - so are the readers'.
Really a fine movie that is far more than the sum of its parts.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: it's an okay movie, and not all about sex
Review: Luisa did not go on the road trip to get revenge on her unfaithful husband. She loved him, but she wanted to make the most of her time. Better to spend it on a road trip with some teenagers than wondering who her husband was seeing while she was sitting at home. The last sex scene wasn't a threesome--as Luisa said, they could have sex with each other, but not her, which is what she steered them towards.

I think it's about two kids learning to choose something other than instant gratification--not caring who they sleep with, what they do, or how they spend the rest of their lives. Their time with Luisa teaches them to take things more seriously, which doesn't happen until the end (there are lots of little things along the way, but that's obviously the final blow).

Of course, if you're trying to decide whether or not to buy this movie, you totally shouldn't be reading these reviews. They're so varied--stick to the synopsis, trailer, or real-life recommendations.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best coming of age road trip movie ever filmed
Review: Alfonso Cuaron has created perhaps the best "road trip" movie ever filmed and to think he had a hand in it all, co-write, producing, and directing the film. He has a flawless eye for scenery and specifically the nature of growing up, pain, and internal suffering of human relationships. All this coincides with the growth of his home country of Mexico.

The story centers around Julio and Tenoch, two very close, best friends despite their two completely different and separate family backgrounds. They are typical immature (...) teenagers. When they meet a beautiful woman, Luisa, who has her own set of problems, they convince her to take a trip to a made up beach. Along the way, they discover themselves personally and grow, and also along the way, we as the audience, can watch the the growth and maturation of the country.

Y Tu Mama Tambien is a beautiful movie with many levels and loads of symbolism that takes many viewings to appreciate them all. It's definately a movie to own and watch over and over again and appreciate every time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good but overhyped
Review: I thought that this was a good but not great movie, certainly not a waste of time but a let-down after the extreme hype surrounding it. If I had discovered this movie by accident, with no prior knowledge when I watched it, I might feel differently. After hearing so much effusive praise for a film, however, you can't help but go in with very high expectations.

The thing that bothered me most about this movie was that the two teenage boys who serve as its focus did not ring particularly true. Critics seemed to praise Y Tu Mama Tambien for its unflinchingly realistic portrayal of adolescence, but I found this to be more of an adult's conception of teenage life. The portrayal of Tenoch and Julio relies on an endless stream of fart jokes, drug references and sexual banter to highlight their teenage status, but misses the more subtle nuances that make adolescence its own unique and interesting world. Having been a teenager not very long ago, I have to say that I didn't relate to this aspect of the movie.

Other than that, a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon. Just don't go in with sky-high expectations after reading all of the hype.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well worth watching
Review: This is a good film - not great - but worth seeing at least once. And it IS a film - not a movie. For those sharp enough to pick them up, it's full of symbolism and wonderful contrasts, driven by the relationship between the two protagonists and best friends, and the older woman they meet.

Once you get used to the style of the film it soon becomes addictive. I couldn't take my eyes off it. There is a gentleness about it, and some poignant and meaningful statements about human life linger just below the surface narrative of sex and adolescent self-discovery.

Unlike some reviewers here, I don't find the sight of two teenage boys kissing each other offensive, and so am not willing to damn the film because of its homo-erotic content. This makes it realistic - not a terrible quality in a film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great coming of age movie
Review: Don't get tied up in the sex thing. While its definitely a sultry, sexy movie - this movie is a great depiction of the way that friends grow up and apart.

I think a lot of people are bashing on this movie for being too erotic, and even a bit homo-erotic. Seems just like its being honest to me. Highly recommended. (though probably not the movie to watch with your mom, grandmom, conservative co-workers)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible boring movie
Review: This movie is about two friends that go on a road trip with some woman. It's a disgusting movie where nothing happens. Lots of sex stuff that's completely disgusting and male nudity too. Then, the two guys have sex with the woman at the same time and they kiss each other. These two guys are supposed to be friends. Friends don't do that. Terrible movie.

There's nothing funny in this movie. The whole time they're either driving, doing drugs, cursing, or are naked. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. Even if I didn't like someone I wouldn't tell them to watch this garbage.


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