User reviews

After watching this movie, I looked at what a few critics had to say about it and I was shocked to see some of them refer to this movie as a "teen sex comedy". Wow, I didn't get that impression at all! Yes, the movie is infused with sex, and the two lead characters are horny teens, and there are quite a few comedic moments, but this is far from a teen sex comedy. It's treatment of the subject matter is real, for one thing, and backdrop of the Mexican countryside (and the director's detached observation's through third-person narration) bring some sobriety to the film. Be warned, though: there is a lot of sex, so not exactly a movie you're going to want to watch with the in-laws.

`Y tu Mama tambien,' a stunning new product of the New Mexican Cinema that is achieving crossover success in the American film market, is a frank, open and uninhibited celebration of teenage sex – masterfully directed by Alfonso Cuaron and beautifully enacted by a trio of first-rate performers. Don't miss it – provided you are not offended by sometimes-graphic depictions of sexual activity (please note that the film is unrated). The matter-of-fact, unflinching way in which Cuaron films his sex scenes purges them of indecency and helps to bring a new frankness to a subject all too often approached by American filmmakers from the angle of tittering exploitation (wherein the directors and writers seem as adolescent in their attitudes as the characters on the screen).

Not so here. The film centers around two boyhood chums, Tenoch and Julio, just embarking on their careers as university students, who, for one last glorious summer, decide to revel in all the wildness, hedonism and promiscuity that carefree adolescence has to offer (the title of the film is emblematic of the youthful immaturity of the characters). With their girlfriends away in Europe, the two decide to take a road trip through Mexico with Luisa, the attractive young wife of one of Tenoch's stuffed shirt cousins. While on the journey, the three of them not only indulge in all the bizarre sexual hijinks that both the situation and their hormones would lead one to expect, but they also learn a thing or two about life, about relationships and about how sex can be used both to bring people closer together as well as to pull them farther apart. For indeed, one thing the film makes very clear both to the characters and to us is that sex can often be employed as a weapon to wound those we care most about, especially with all the power shifting that takes place even in some of the most non-sexual of relationships. The boys also discover that sex can be used as a sublimation to avoid recognizing what one REALLY wants. This awakening leads to a final scene that is almost heartbreaking in its understated poignancy and pathos.

One of the most unsettling – and thereby controversial – aspects of the film (and the one that will make it uncomfortable for many in the audience) is that it refuses to take a moralistic stance regarding its characters' behavior. The filmmakers neither approve of nor condemn what these young people do – they merely record the events with an attitude of detached objectivity that precludes any finger-wagging disapproval. If the characters learn any `lessons' from their experiences, they do so strictly on a subliminal, subconscious level – and the same goes for the audience.

As a director, Cuaron displays a confidence and spirit rarely seen in filmmaking today. Along with his co-writer, Carlos Cuaron, the director has chosen to take an objective, almost documentary-style approach to the material, allowing the scenes to play themselves out in a way that makes them feel realistic, spontaneous and almost unscripted. He uses a shaky, handheld camera much of the time to enhance the immediacy of the experience. We often feel as if we are eavesdropping on the lives of these three fascinating individuals. As a result, not a single moment of the film feels forced, contrived or artificial. (Only the fate of one of the characters seems a bit convenient and contrived). Cuaron is not afraid to let the camera linger on a scene a moment two longer than necessary – nor is he afraid to let the camera wander off on its own from time to time, such as when it spontaneously follows a woman into the back of a roadside café to show us the cooks hard at work in the kitchen. Many of the shots even have an elegiac, travelogue feel to them.

Cuaron has been blessed with three outstanding young actors – Diego Luna, Gael Garcia and Maribel Verdu – who bring his characters to vivid, endearing life. Utterly naturalistic in their every move, gesture and facial expression, the three of them play off each other in such a way that we never doubt for a moment the truth and sincerity of what we are seeing. American actors please take note!

`Y tu Mama tambien' is a stylistic triumph from first moment to last. It has a playful, expansive spirit, as reflected in its openhearted attitude towards sex, its wry humor, its affection for its people and its country, and its visual appeal and inventiveness (Emmanuel Lubezki did the glorious cinematography). The film has heart, soul and chutzpah. What more could a jaded filmgoer want?

This is a very different Mexican film. One in which you can really appreciate the sure hand of director Alfonso Cuaron working at the top of his form with an excellent group of actors, which proves that when someone of this magnitude decides to make a good film about interesting characters in contemporary Mexico, one can expect a fine finished product.

Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron have created people and situations that are very believable. The script is fine. "Y tu mama tambien" is about awakening and about reaching maturity. It's a great Mexican Road movie done with a lot of care.

The Cuarons shows us a slice of life that could happen, not only in that country, but one that is universal. Producers and directors in Mexico should see this film and learn how to do future movies, even though the popular taste runs into the horrible soap operas, popular in Mexican TV. The Cuarons have turned out a magnificent script and have turned away from those popular melodramas that are a staple of the film industry of our neighbor to the South.

Gael Garcia Bernal, who was excellent in Amores Perros, here demonstrates once again what an actor can do, given the right scenario and obviously a lot of freedom to give life to Julio. Diego Luna is also very credible in his portrayal of the son of a rich man on the road to discover himself. Obviously, the underlying theme is that both like each other, but it never comes out, as they both are so closeted and think themselves of being straight in such a macho atmosphere.

Maribel Verdu plays the pivotal role of Luisa. She sees right through the boys, but has to play the part since they are the salvation from her miserable marriage. Here as in other Spanish films, she lets us know she is an actress who likes to take chances. This was the right vehicle for her and she takes advantage of a role that makes her outshine the rest of the cast.

One can only hope more interesting things coming from this director and Mexico's gain is our loss, as it's obvious Mr. Cuaron's incursion into American films have not been as satisfactory as his work here.

Julio (Bernal) and Tenoch (Luna) are typical arrogant seventeen year old boys whose girlfriends have gone away to Europe. Bored and sexually frustrated, they invite an attractive older woman (Verdu) on a road trip to a beach that doesn't exist in order to try and seduce her. Startlingly she accepts. As the days progress, the boys' relationship with Luisa develops and they soon find themselves entangled in a lecherous love triangle. An intoxicating fusion of sex, friendship, politics and death, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a mix of sober realism with carefree fun. While an omniscient voice narrates the past present and future of seemingly meaningless background events, the boys continue their trip, oblivious to all but their own libidos. Although skilfully executed through voice overs, the political statement doesn't quite cement with the main storyline as intended. An interesting watch, if you are patient enough to handle the slow moving storyline but it does feel like Alfonso Cuaron is trying a bit too hard to be arty and missing out on simple clarity. After opening into an explicit sex scene, you're bombarded with names and background information and spend the next few scenes trying to work out who's who, when it really doesn't matter. Well worth a watch though, if only for the exceptionally well written characters. The boys are especially believable and development of Luisa's character from fragile tag-along to free spirit is well-paced. Good… nothing special but worth watching nonetheless.

From the recent comments on this film board, it's amazing how people can watch this film all the way through and at the end not have any idea what it was about.

This was quite simply one of the best films I've seen in recent years. Using three central characters -- two immature adolescent males and a young woman in crisis -- set in a road-trip situation, it was hardly a road-trip movie. Nor was it an adolescent movie. Nor was it a woman-in-crisis movie. Nor was it about sex. Instead, what starts out with a sizzling but ditzy prologue becomes something much deeper and much more profound as it goes along. By the end I was breathless and somewhat stunned. The character study is amazing. The societal insights are haunting. The shared humanity it exposes is painful at time but ultimately reaffirming and uplifting. These are three of the most memorable, identifiable and completely human characters I've seen on screen in ages. They taught me more about life and the human species than the last ten movies I've seen put together. I'll not soon forget Julio, Tenoch and Luisa and their eye-opening journey to Boca del Cielo.

'Y Tu Mama Tambien' is a nicely acted and filmed drama about a woman who, escaping her existing life (for reasons only full explained at the end of the movie), hooks up with a couple of randy, affluent teenage boys. However, it's the relationship between the boys that is really at the heart of the film. The film's attitude to them is ambivalent: the occasional scene hints at their boorishness, and a strange, deadpan commentary, draws attention to their relatively privileged status in impoverished Mexico; but essentially the portrait is sympathetic, even a celebration of teenage exuberance and naiveté. Ultimately, however, to me the whole film seemed more like a preface to another movie that would have begun where it ended, in that the events have only a retrospective significance to the characters, but the structure of the movie allows no room for nostalgia until the very end. Still, director Alfonso Cuaron appears to be a major talent: this might not be a great movie, but he will surely make one in future.

I was just reading the Amores Perros reviews and someone mentioned that it seemed if you liked one you'd hate the other and vice versa. Well let's just say I LOVED Amores Perros and in my case the reviewer was right.

Well actually I'm exaggerating. I didn't hate this film, but I thought it was definitely a step backwards for Mexican filmmakers. I left the theater thinking it was an okay film, and was later shocked to see the kind of critical acclaim it's getting. Best foreign film nominee??? It wasn't one fourth as good as Monsoon Wedding (2001?) or City of God. I don't have my films of the year ranking spreadsheet handy, but I don't think it was even in my top 30. Maybe people want to say they liked it so everyone will know they could handle an X (oh sorry, NT-17/non-rated) art film? If you've got nothing better to do, okay rent it. But if you want to see something great, find something else. 6/10

WARNING- This is a review which I will reveal the story

Living life to the fullest can make life balanced as revealed through the characters in Alfonso Cuaron's Mexican motion picture Y Tu Mama Tambien. When looking at the movie cover and movie rating, perhaps the film seems like the Mexican version of a mix between Road Trip and American Pie, but after watching the film, deep life lessons can be found in the background of the picture. After being enthralled with the message and theme of this movie, I was excited to test Linda Seger's theory, `Creating the Myth'. I knew that most mainstream Hollywood movies would follow this theory, but was interested to see if this theory transcended both language and culture in this independent film. After the completion of Y Tu Mama Tambien an additional time, I was surprised to find that Linda Seger's `Healing Myth' theory truly explains the components Alfonso Cuaron's masterpiece. Before delving into the specific nature of the theory, describing the colloquialism of the movie helps explain the movie's cultural phenomenon. The audience is introduced in Spanish with subtitles to two Mexican teenagers, Tenoch and Julio, who are seemingly free for the summer after their girlfriends leave for a European vacation. Despite having to read subtitles the movie is easy to understand by the characters lively expressions and acting ability. Julio and Tenoch stumble across a beautiful woman, Luisa, who happens to be the wife of a distant cousin. They lightheartedly invite her to go to a beach, really joking about it. After Luisa finds out her husband has cheated on him, she agrees to go out on a road trip to a beach named Heaven's Mouth. On this journey, she seduces the teenagers and has sex with both of them. The sexuality of the film is realistic, which in no way is pornographic or crude, but rather honest and respectful. In their journey to the beach, many scenes of the reality and blight of rural Mexican life can be seen through the windows of the old Volkswagen. People being searched at checkpoints, drug busts, deadly traffic accidents, and poor villagers walking the streets, all give the film an underlying message reminding that many people are left behind in rich economies, penniless and hopeless. Once reaching the beach, they are in paradise and relax and live in the beauty of nature. As the teenagers have to go home, Luisa decides to stay at the beach. The ending shocks the audience with a surprising twist. It is revealed that Luisa knew she had had cancer and soon died after the guys left. Much meaning is added to the movie after this realization is made and Luisa's character takes on a true mold of the healing myth. Seger's theory begins by stating, `All of us have similar experiences' (Seger 161). This theory therefore not only applies to American films, but all people in all cultures. This is evident in seeing the two seventeen year old Mexican teenagers in this film. The emotions, growing up, searching for oneself; all humans can relate to this. Although the film does not fit the popular mold of the Hero Myth, it fits the Healing Myth mold almost perfectly. The one-line description of this myth is `some character is 'broken' and must leave home to become whole again' (Seger 165). Luisa, the attractive female is this broken person, who flees home for two main reasons. The reason the audience is led to believe for most the film is because of her husband's affairs, she has left the life in Mexico to get away from her problems. What the audience does not realize during the duration of the flick, is that Luisa is actually diagnosed with cancer, and is terminally ill. Her need for rejuvenation and balance takes her to Heaven's Mouth and allows her to become whole again. She does this by simply living a life which is meaningful and seeking the truth. In telling colorful stories of old times and sucking the marrow out of all interactions, this allows her to become whole and ready to die. In realizing her frailty and death, she realizes the importance to live up to the ideal of `living life to the fullest'. As Seger's theory gets more specific, it discusses the many ways the character can be broken. Whether spiritual, physical, emotional, or even sexual, the journey which the character goes must heal the broken aspect of them. Luisa is broken on many levels. The one that is apparent to the audience is the sexual and emotional brokeness. She cries her self to sleep after she hears her husband has cheated on her and sexually misses his love and presence. This is the `outer wound' in a sense that the audience can see it. Just as the theory states, this outer wound forces Luisa into exile, which begins her process of transformation. Seger discusses the `inner wound' as something that the character does not know about. This is a different variation in the theory because in fact Luisa knows that she is suffering from cancer. The interesting twist is that the audience is the one who does not know about this wound and is hidden until the film's conclusion. Although this shows a difference from the theory and the film, it does not disprove the theory. It is merely a trapping which is a product of the culture. As Seger states, `The trappings may be different, the twist and turns that create suspense might change from culture to culture,...but underneath it all, its the same story' (Seger 161). In noting this variation the audience can fully appreciate the beauty of the film's writing. Although her cancer is a physical ailment, this brokeness is also inner due to the place she keeps it. Luisa does not let cancer slow her down but rather she lifts herself to live life to the fullest. This transformation of the way she lives her life can inspire all people to break out of their shell and live everyday as if it were their last. The archetype present in the film also adds to the cultural phenomenon and proves Seger's theory in yet another way. The archetypes, usually found in hero myths, are commonly present characters. Y Tu Mama Tambien does not have the typical archetype, in that it is not a character, but rather the narrator's voice who fits the archetype. This archetype is the wise old man who provides the audience with special knowledge. This part is essential to the success of the film. The narrator has an older, deep, calm, and soothing voice which gives the impression he is wise and intelligent. The narrator's voice fills in all the gaps of the movie which are not said by the characters, which allows him to serve as the wise man for the audience. One example which summarizes the narrator's purpose happens during the long car trip. Suddenly the noise of the movie becomes silent for two seconds and the narrator's voice calmly comes in. The voice explains that the village they were passing was the village which Tenoch's nanny was born in. His nanny was forced to leave the village alone at the age of thirteen to look for work because of the desperate poverty she was experiencing. This really contrasts the two worlds present in Mexico, the rich upper class, and the marginalized poor. Throughout the film the narrator's voice provides similar comments which opens the viewer to an entirely new insight of the often painful Mexican life. The narrator even reveals the secret of Luisa's cancer in the end. He then tells of the way she continued on with her life as balanced and full of energy. The narrator captures the essence of the film in his wise old man archetype which he beautifully fulfills. Balance in life is something that all people want, but do not necessarily seek out actively until it is too late. Luckily for Luisa she balanced her life by simply taking a trip with two guys to a beach. In this journey she learned life lessons of friendship, humor, compassion, pain and joy. The movie has certain differences from the exact mold of the Healing Myth, but those minute differences do not affect the overall theory. Rather they add to the uniqueness and power of the movie. In closely following Seger's `Healing Myth', Luisa truly has been healed, maybe not from cancer, but healed from all worry and fear of the painful world, and she enjoys life as a blessing.

This movie is less about sex among teen-age boys than it is about Mexico. As Maribel Verdu, in the role of Luisa Cortes, tells the boys near the end of the movie, "You should be glad you're Mexicans! You should be glad to live in Mexico!" To which the boys whimsically agree with a bizarre, tequila-soaked toast to "Mexico, magical, musical!" The boys themselves enjoy that rare thing in Mexico: a middle-class lifestyle, even though they are actually the "aristocrats" of that country, attending fancy weddings and spending substantial sums of pesos on marijuana, beer, and road trips.

The road trip which comprises most of the movie's action is a two-day sojourn through the countryside, beginning in Mexico City and ending somewhere on the Pacific coast. Film makers Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron (Alfonso directed it) want very much to show Mexico as a quaint but non-threatening place, interspersed with convenient motels, friendly restaurants, and the odd roadblock set up by the Mexican military. But the road is always clear for adventure, for "imporant" life experiences, and most importantly for sequences that resemble so many American-made "coming-of-age" movies, of which "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is often a replica. "See?" the Cuaron Brothers seem to say, "we Mexicans are no different from you norteamericanos!" They are completely wrong, of course. But that's what makes this movie interesting. Nobody in this movie suffers from that particular North American trait borne of Northern European Protestantism: guilt that derives from failure to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Nobody in this movie has a sense of anyone or anything outside themselves; they live with passion for the moment, they fly into rages when it suits them, and sex is no different from any other kind of activity, though it does have the potential to get males and females worked up about each other. Such treatments make this movie so Mexican: it's still very much the Third World down there, even if there are cars, fancy houses, and even paved highways.

So eager are some viewers to feel sophisticated and unshockable, they'll acclaim any pointless mess with nudity as a masterpiece.

The story: two teenage boys get stoned and talk boringly about sex. (Sample insight: they agree that masturbation feels good.) A woman joins them, adding nothing to the mix. After two hours it ends. There is no story, no characterization, no relationships, not even a hint of writing or directing talent.

It's not the actors' fault. They dutifully disrobe, simulate intercourse, and they look okay naked. But there is less meaning here than there is in the average porn vid.

I guess some of these rave reviews are from kids who are excited to see nudity and hear dirty talk. I direct these children to their older brothers' socks drawer, where they'll find more intelligent handling of sexual and gender issues in any 4-Hour XXX video.

Though the cast is attractive, even the sex scenes boring. There is not an interesting or original thought, shot, or line of dialogue in the whole film.

The idea that this movie has anything to say about politics or "sex roles" or "coming of age" is ludicrous. The morons who compare this movie to masterpieces by Truffaut, Fellini, or Almodovar should be shot for sacrilege. It takes more than two actors and an actress on screen to make JULES ET JIM.

To repeat: ALL THAT HAPPENS in this movie is two boys and one woman ride in a car, get naked, sit around on the beach, have sex, and read page after page of pointless, clichéd dialogue. These aren't characters, they're voids with names.

The filmmakers haven't the talent to even begin to suggest characterization or plot development. The "political" side, which some posters find so intriguing, amounts to the narrator telling us, near the end, that the PRI lost an election -- which has no connection to anything said or done by the characters. Faux meaning doesn't get any more faux than this.

It would have been easy to append a phony political point to the film, maybe by having the leads murdered by the oppressed masses -- giving the film at least an illusion of meaning -- but the filmmakers aren't smart enough to figure this out.

I've seen many films I've disliked, even hated, but there was always SOME talent involved in their making. This one provokes nothing -- no emotion, no thought, no reaction of any kind. It's like staring at a blank wall for two hours.

I recommend Y Tu Mama Tambien to very horny, very stupid teenagers and to anyone curious to see what happens when people with absolutely no talent and absolutely nothing to say get their hands on a movie camera.

Alfonso Cuaron is simply one of the best Mexican directors in recent years in Mexican film production. His incredible AIDS-driven comedy, "Solo Con Tu Pareja" was maybe the most funny Mexican picture in a long time, and his always present criticism to the way of life of Mexican people in a city such as Mexico City, is incredible accurate and clever. His other projects in the United States, "Little Princess" and "Great Expectations" were beautifully-manufactured motion pictures, with the help (or support, if you may) of the marvellous photographer Emmanuel Lubenzki ("Sleepy Hollow", and the above-mentioned Cuaron movies). Returning to his home country this time, Cuaron displays such magic and poetic visuals, in contrast with the subtle criticism to the society in Mexico, and the clever and sharp dialogs between the leading stars, using every word young Mexicans use to apply in their conversations.

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" (And Your Mother Too) is, in the surface, a really funny story about 2 friends-almost-brothers, Tenoch Iturbide (an outstanding Diego Luna) and Julio (a really incredible performance for the recent Ariel, the Mexican Academy Award, winner Gael Garcia Bernal, in another excellent portray of a young guy with "issues"), that plan a trip to an imaginary beach, "Boca del Cielo" (Heaven´s Mouth) in order to flirt with a Spanish girl, married with Tenoch's cousin, and portrayed by a credible Maribel Verdu.

But this is only the "surface" of this road movie. In fact, we are dealing with dreams and realities, with social problems and political ones. Tenoch is a young guy living with a millionaire family, son of a wealthy businessman with friends in the highest "stairs" of Mexican politics, with a second name such as Iturbide (one of the most important and powerful leaders of Mexican politic history). And, in contrast, Julio is a middle-low-class guy, living with his mother, brothers and sisters, in a small department, with a last name such as Zapata (a revolutionary leader in Mexican history, with native origins, that took part in the Revolution at the beginning of 20th Century). This is a clever and sharp critic of the different models of living of these 2 friends, and in fact, of all Mexican citizens (I know it, because I'm Mexican, too).

Also, the movie has an excellent narration by Daniel Gimenez Cacho, star of a previous Cuaron film, "Solo Con Tu Pareja", that explains the things we cannot see, but that we can understand and feel. The "subtle critic about Mexican society and traditions" that I have talked about all along this comment, is the one thing that makes this picture go from a funny comedy to an intelligent essay of the lives of young people, social classes, discovery and re-discovery of personality and our own soul, and the final revelation of who we are and what we become when time passes by. In the lives of Julio and Tenoch there is no redemption, but a clear message of their goal in life, their true feelings about friendship, and their sexuality. This road trip is only a pretext to tell a story about discovery and finding our true nature.

Yes, maybe it is a little provocative and bold, but because of these characteristics, "And Your Mother Too" is an incredible motion picture, true to its meaning and compromised with the reality it is trying to show. We care about this people, we care about their problems, and at the end, we care about our own society, and we care about what we have become with time. And the true meaning of the movie's title, "And Your Mother Too", within the narrative of the film, is simply hilarious.

Give this movie a chance, and see it. You won't be disappointed. It has an excellent direction, excellent photography, its is very sexy, it showcases credible performances by all its cast. But above all, it has a real story, real character development, and real power. One great movie from a great Mexican director. Maybe not his best, but really near.

The "Coming of Age" genre is so well worn, that when a movie like Y Tu Mama Tambien comes along, the frank authenticity can be jarring. Although the plot doesn't steer far away from convention, at each point the viewer's anticipation is deftly sidestepped, and the scene is injected with a dose of raw emotion that has little to do with Drama, and everything to do with reality. It is so refreshing to see characters behave in a way that resembles personal memory, if not actual experience.

The guys are by often banal, bratty and obnoxious – in other words, quite normal teenagers – but not without their charm. They float along in their privileged bubble, largely oblivious to the social tensions wracking their country, except for facile quips like "left-wing babes are totally hot". They have a lot to learn, and their trip with Luisa is a catalyst to confronting their adolescent fantasies and indolence with a dose of reflection.

As for the much talked about sexy bits, they are funny, erotic, and utterly non-pornographic. What a pity that such a candid portrayal of sexuality seems to be nearly impossible in American film.

Highly recommended.

It amuses me to think that some Warner Brothers executives watched Y tu mamá también and thought to themselves. Alfonso Cuarón is the right man to direct the next Harry Potter film.

The film begins with two sex scenes. Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael García Bernal) are two privileged 17 year old brats in Mexico City. Both are having one last intimate moment with their respective girlfriends before the young women go off to a summer trip to Europe.

The charmless arrogant pair belong to a privileged fraternity. Life revolves around sex, drugs, alcohol and jerking off. Tenoch's father is a politician. Both boys attend a wedding reception where the President is due to attend.

At the wedding they meet enchanting Luisa who is from Spain. She is 28 years old, a dental technician. The invite her to a secluded beach in the Pacific coast and invent the name of Heaven's Mouth.

That is before they find out that she is married to Tenoch's cousin, a writer who got educated in Spain.

A few days later Luisa accepts their invitation after her husband drunkenly admits to having cheated on her again.

Tenoch and Julio need to get hold of a car and find some directions of any beach that matches the description they gave to Luisa.

Obviously both of them fancy their chances with Luisa on the trip.

Cuarón peppers his film with voice overs that show another side to Mexico. A highway where there is a traffic jam as someone got run over by a bus. He did not take the bridge as it would increase the walk to his work by several miles. His body was identified several days later. The fisherman and his family that the boys meet at a beach. He takes them on boat trips and has a small shack that serves food. He will later lose his livelihood when a luxury hotel is built.

Along the way they see a different more rural part of Mexico. They also see constant police roadblocks but the boys are ignored by the police, another sign of their privileged background.

Luisa when alone cries uncontrollably. She speaks to her husband on the phone unsure whether she is angry with him or misses him but does tell him that she will not go back to him.

Luisa also initiates a seduction of Tenoch which Julio witnesses. It causes a rift between the boys as Julio tells Tanoch that he has had sex with his girlfriend. Later she seduces Julio as well which then upsets Tenoch and he responds by telling Julio that he also had sex with his girlfriend.

Luisa later takes control of the situation by criticising both of their lack of sexual prowess which is more about their own satisfaction. She later gets intimate with both of them while noting the latent homo eoriticsm between the two.

Cuarón is another director from the Mexican new wave. His influences are the European new wave directors such as Francois Truffaut.

The movie was dubbed as the Mexican version of American Pie. The films are vastly different.

Cuarón takes a mature approach to relationships and betrayal. It is a summer where the boys grow up and move on. There are constant hints of underlying darkness beneath Mexican society, something Tenoch and Julio have been shielded from. You get a voiceover where until he was four years old, Tenoch thought his nanny was his mother.

It also has a coda when the boys meet up one year later where they catch up and talk about Luisa.

Humor can make the awful truth palatable especially when merely speaking on issues of political corruption, oppression of the meek, and outrageous standards of virility imposed upon Mexican youth--leaves a sour taste in one's mouth. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN with one cinematic brush paints quite a critical and yet laughable picture of Mexican(much of Latin American?) culture. The two main male characters are ever so subtly portrayed as unwitting victims who have been sucked into the "machine" of National Idealism. This idealism does not ring true with their personal quite imperfect human relational experience. The main female character, though unwittingly wise , is yet a victim nonetheless as she identifies with the poor with whom she finds solace. I found the movie thoroughly delightful and laughed so hard that even the more revealing, erotic scenes(by some considered soft porn)only served to accentuate how deeply penetrating and pervasive"lies" of a society influence the young, restless, brave and idealistic even in their more intimate moments...though they think they know better! I highly recommend this to anyone who wishes to view a first class cinematic "event", which may well become a classic in Mexican filmmaking.

• You have to make the clitoris your best friend.
• What kind of friend is always hiding?

"And Your Mother Too" is a Mexican road-trip drama about growing up, imbued with a bit of vulgar humor, a teenage look at life, friendship, love, sex ... It is slow-paced, but the atmosphere held my undivided attention. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and it is its strongest asset.

7/10

People don't get this movie..there is so much more the just coming of age and having sex. It is also about the social disparity in Mexico. That is what all the overdubs were for. Every time there was an voice-over something of meaning was said about the surroundings and the way the average Mexican lives. Don't think of this movie as a story about three people, think of it as a story about a whole nation. I encourage everyone to watch it again. Please pay attention to the scene in the boat. that almost makes me cry. It is so well worded also. And the way the voiceovers just cut abruptly is a great. There are so many small things about this movie that make it so much better then your average Hollywood movie.

It seems many reviews of this movie are overblown and gushing (I'm not convinced it's anywhere near as profound as others seem to think), yet I would recommend it if for no other reason than the incredible backdrop of rural Mexican life.

I knew it. Invariably when I have seen a film with especially sordid unappealing characters, a lot of crude sex scenes, and a morally incoherent worldview, I know that the film will receive rave reviews from the sort of pseudo-intellectuals who think the presence of drugs and sex in a movie, along with a lack of dramatically satisfying resolution is somehow proof of a film's high merit. And I can see from many of the reviews here that I am sadly right.

Y Tu Mama Tambien is a fairly schizoid film in that on the surface the story is of two spoiled brats whiling away summer break and their coastal trip with a sad young wife who is leaving her husband, but there is a constant subtext of commentary, some of it voice-over, some woven subtly into the story about contemporary Mexico, the disillusionment of young people with their world as well as general angst of the people with their nation.

Unfortunately, the surface story is not very interesting. A lot of explicit sex scenes starring the two teenagers, Julio & Tenoch, cannot distract one from the fact that their characters, as well as the actors themselves, are, physically unattractive, dislikeable, and one-dimensional. As a result, the sex isn't even very sexy. The young woman, Luisa, is the only character in the film, other than some of the kindly villagers met during their trip, for whom I felt the slightest sympathy, and even she struck me as somewhat unbelievable. She alone seems to have something of a conscience, or to show concern for anyone other than herself. Julio and Tenoch evince no affection for their family members, no interest in anything outside of sex, nicotine and drugs, view women as receptacles, have no obligations of any sort---where are their parents? So, although Julio unlike Tenoch is not from a wealthy family, he seems to be remarkably free from responsibilities. Spending time watching them was painful, and I kept thinking, okay, surely there is something more to this film.

On the other level, the one which seems to reach for some sort of political/economic/philosophical commentary, the movie didn't really work. The voice-overs imply that we can expect something deeper, some really pithy observations, but the story doesn't really deliver anything. The narrations serve to put distance between us and the drama. I couldn't see the point in observing what would happen in a traffic accident on the road in the past or the future, for example, yet it takes up time in the film. Once it became clear that these interruptions would not develop further, the film seemed increasingly amateurish.

At the end I felt somewhat depressed at the narcissism and vacuousness of the lead characters and felt I'd been drinking from a septic tank.