Set in Mexico, two teen-aged slackers (Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna) who spend their summer days getting high while their girlfriends vacation in Italy meet up with an older woman (Maribel Verdu,
PAN'S LABYRINTH) at a wedding. The three go off on a road tour together in search of the perfect beach but it is a summer that will affect the boys lives profoundly. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron (
CHILDREN OF MEN), the film plays out like a raunchier, sexed up version of
SUMMER OF 42 but in the end, no less sentimental. Curiously, the film has an unseen narrator who provides background information about the character's past and their future which fills in the gaps that the narrative is unable to provide. Bernal and Luna are fine but the screenplay doesn't allow them much character development which leaves the burden to Verdu which she does with aplomb and subtlety. Despite the haphazard teen "hey dude" comedy beginnings, the film ends on a poignant note.
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