This film is a perfect example of a brilliant idea with some poor follow-through. When I watched the preview to this film, I was handed the impression that this would be a documentary of sorts filled with potent information and life-changing ideas. I will be the first to say that the marketing of this film misled me. What I actually found when I started this film was instead a movie, filled with shallow characters, horrible acting, and clichéd moments. The only redeemable value of this film was the brief interruptions throughout the film that stop the motion to give us a moment of trivia about the lines from some of the characters. Outside of that, this film imploded into itself. I say this because by the end of the film, I felt that nothing was resolved and the end of the film changed nothing about California. Did anyone else feel that this was still a very hypocritical and racist film? I felt that the purpose of this film directed by Sergio Arau was to bring the Mexican population into a new and blinding light. What I witnessed in A Day Without a Mexican was that all the personal clichés that we assume about them are true, and that without them our economy in this country will fail (especially in California). It did not give a personal touch to the subject, it just reinforced the fact that they are our workers, not our friends or neighbors.
Director Arau had the platform to make an amazing social satire, but ultimately fell short. Why? Let me explain some of the downfalls of this film. The first is the acting. 'C' grade actors reenacting the events of the day that all the Mexicans disappeared is not a good start. There was not one actor or actress in this film that I could say was great to watch. These actors decreased the value and the overall effect of this film. Several times I was so caught up with how bad these actors were delivering their lines that I didn't care about any of the statements that Arau was making. I could have cared less, just get these actors off my screen. The two that stand out in my eyes as the worst were Caroline Aaron playing Aunt Gigi and John Getz (of my favorite film Blood Simple.) as the racist Senator who finds his heart of gold. Both of these performances were laughable. Everything they said and did drew attention away from the actual points of the film, thus decreasing the effects.
Second, it was the production. I kept waiting for two things to occur during this film. One, I felt as if at any time the set was just going to fall apart. The overall cheese factor of the production limited my excitement for this film. It reminded me of a child's drawing that you laminate. It may have that glossy look, but what's inside is just scribbles. Second, and I am serious here, I kept thinking that this was going to turn into a soft-core porn. It had the acting, the production, and even the sounds of a soft-core porn
so where was it? I think this accurately describes the feeling you have as you watch this movie. It is not pretty in any way.
Third, let's talk about the music. I wouldn't have minded some influential Mexican music being played throughout the film to set the scene and to place the emotion, but instead what I found were horrible covers of American music about California. It was pathetic. The tone of this film was ruined. A Day Without A Mexican was ruined from the beginning, but by this point (when the first song blazed through my stereo) it was forgotten.
Fourth, I mentioned before about how this film fails to successfully bring sympathy and knowledge about the Mexican population in California because it never addresses the clichés and stereotypes. This was a major flaw in this film. I wanted to feel as if they were just like you or me, just wronged by America. This never happened. From the opening scene when one of the actors says that her husband never goes anywhere without his teeth (and it was not addressed, but used as humor) I felt offended. Arau built threw in stereotypes as a form of humor that destroyed his film. Another one was the entire bit about the Mexican Files (parody of the X-Files) and the reference between UFOs and aliens towards the sombrero of a Mexican and America calling them 'illegal aliens' was prejudice in my eyes. It was an unfunny joke that continued to drop this film down several notches in my eyes. Couple this with all the references to Jose on the back of the milk carton as missing was just despicable. If an uneducated person watched this film, they would have seen it as a comedy instead of a social commentary on California. Those that argue that the trivia was helpful, it was not. It seemed random and thrown in at the last minute just to counter arguments that the film was becoming too much of a comedy.
Finally, the insanity of the ending is hardly worth mentioning.
Was this a cheesy sci-fi film, or an honest attempt to show the world the power of the Mexican population? Who knows? I don't think one could tell by just watching this film. Arau did a horrible job in creating this film. While I could see where he wanted to go with this picture, he never quite left the driveway. Instead he blew out his tires and ran into the main support of the house. Overall, it was pathetic. This was a horrible film that was marketed to bring in those hoping to see a well-crafted documentary. I felt cheated and lost by the end of this film. I do not suggest that anyone watches the movie or gives their money to this director.
It was a waste of time. This is your Public Service Announcement.
Grade: * out of *****
