tlamovies.com

Review

Juan (Diego Cataño) wanders from garage to garage in search of someone to fix the Nissan he crashed into a utility pole. The task seems Sisyphean, but he is unfazed as it keeps him from a distressed home in which his mother has locked herself in a bathroom, chain smoking and weeping. The eccentric cast of characters he meets on his way also carry crutches to distract themselves from their own personal plights. Like Juan’s mother, Lucia is a heavy smoker, tending an auto parts shop and blaring loud pop music as her infant child cries in a nearby crib. David, the shop’s mechanic, quotes Bruce Lee and practices kung fu moves while internalizing quarrels with his religious mother. Humorous at first, the film grows more tragic as we gradually discover the difficult situations these young characters face. In revealing their stories, writer/director Fernando Eimbcke makes effective use of sound and space, saying more about these internal dilemmas with long shots and stretches of silence than he ever could with copious dialogue.

 -- John Vettese