A Day Without a Mexican (2004) User Reviews

The Mexicans among us

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 11 April 2006]

Sergio Arau's satire "A Day Without a Mexican" takes a poignant look at something that has been in the news lately. Mr. Arau's new take on the theme he has explored already, give us a vision about how inter connected we are in this country. This movie will resonate more with people from California. Mexicans in that state account for most of the immigrants, illegal, or otherwise.

We are given the premise that a fog is enveloping the state and all Mexicans have disappeared into it. The Anglos, so dependent for much of the work from Mexicans don't seem to be coping well when the reality about having to do something they take for granted will be done by their Mexican workers.

Yareli Arizmendi and Eduardo Palomo do fine work under Mr. Arau's direction.

Promising Idea Wasted in a Soap-Opera with One Joke Only

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 3 June 2012]

When a mysterious fog surrounds the boundaries of California, there is a communication breakdown and all the Mexicans disappear, affecting the economy and the state stops working missing the Mexican workers and dwellers.

"A Day without a Mexican" is a promising idea about the importance of Mexican immigrants the in the economy of California. There are several references to prominent Mexican personalities that have immigrated to USA and also to the states that belonged to Mexico and have been incorporated to the USA. However, the plot is limited to one joke only and wasted in a boring and unnecessary soap-opera. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Um Dia sem Mexicanos" ("A Day Without Mexicans")

Be careful what you wish for...

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 2 March 2007]

OK, so it wasn't some blockbuster that had a chance at an Oscar, but it did win a couple of awards at film festivals. You won't see brilliant acting or compelling dialog, but it was worth watching just to bring into focus the contributions of Latinos to our daily lives and our economy.

You may be feeding on a steady diet of Lou Dobbs' anti-immigration screed and not realize just how important Latinos are to the United States. Their contribution to out food supply and their presence in every aspect of our lives, not to mention the great Latino actors that we would miss.

It was the documentary part of this mocumentary that was satisfying and worthwhile. Check it out on the tube - you won't be disappointed; and you'll get a few laughs with your information.

Watch this, only if there's nothing else to do.

[hqahtani · 15 December 2004]

I just finished watching A Day Without a Mexican, so my comments are fresh.

As some other reviewers have mentioned, this film had the potential to be much more in terms of social commentary. The fact that it went in a comedic direction isn't bad in itself, it's just the execution of everything seemed so flawed.

There were chances to make statements, and to be relevant; one can still do that while still being funny. It's just -- I never laughed during the entire film, and I never felt as if any point was driven home, so it failed both goals.

I won't call this a bad film, but it's certainly not worth the $4 rental fee. If it shows up on TV for free, go ahead and watch it, otherwise find something else to spend your money on. Stereotypes can be used to convey a serious message (see Hollywood Shuffle), however I'm not sure what this film's message really was. Was it that Mexicans are a cheap economic revenue? That they're our maids, and token love interests?

As for bad acting, I can get over that. The problem is with the script. The initial idea sounds great, but the initial idea needs followed up with original and clever thought; that's where this film went downhill quickly.

Since it is such the polar opposite of enlightening, I wish I could at least call it interesting.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 2/10 · 5 April 2005]

I had heard so much about A Day Without A Mexican before its release, but I never got a chance to watch it in the theaters. Now that I've seen it on video, I get an idea of why it was gone from theaters so fast. They took a great idea and went nowhere with it. In fact, the movie is so unambitious that in retrospect I'm amazed I ever thought it was an interesting idea at all.

It is no secret that the immigrant workforce in California and indeed of much of America is the foundation of our economy, which is why it should have been so obvious of how little there was to do with the premise of Mexicans disappearing and leaving all of the poor, helpless Americans to pick their own lettuce and tomatoes. The result that we get is a preachy joke of a mockumentary that takes America's tendency to look down at immigrants and turns it around, augmenting the snobbish tone that this places on Americans so much that it removes any sense of realism from the story and turns it into a schoolyard lecture peppered with stupid jokes and shallow stereotypes.

Maybe it's because I live in California, but I like to think that the vast majority of Americans with two brain cells working at the same time already knew everything that this movie had to say. The only way you could not know the importance of the migrant workforce in this country is if you've lived on Mars for your entire life. In a cave. With your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears.

It's clear how strongly the people behind the film felt about how overlooked migrant workers are in America and especially in California. I completely agree with them, but it doesn't change the fact that the movie is an absolute mess. It's badly written, badly shot, and full of cheesy caricatures of Americans, each one designed around a single common prejudicial view that so many Americans tend to have towards Mexicans, like that everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican or that anyone who refers to themselves as "latino" is Mexican.

The people behind the film feel so strongly about the points that they're trying to make that they can't help scrawling little factoids across the screen like this is an informational film or an educational film or one of those Pop-Up Videos on VH-1. Remember those?

The problem is that this extra effort to slap the audience over the head with individual facts that point to a larger truth that the vast majority of the audience already knows causes the film to fall on its face.

I've always said that I'm amazed at how the migrant workers are forced to work brutal, manual labor for wages that barely allow them to survive, while people like lawyers and actors are paid millions and millions of dollars. It's not that I think actors are overpaid, on the contrary, really, I think their salaries reflect the amount of money that they personally are able to generate, but if every actor in the world went on strike or if every lawyer went on strike, the vast majority of us would be unaffected. But if migrant workers all went on strike or all decided to go to their home countries (like so many bigots in America stupidly wish they would), the country would almost immediately fall apart.

Look at it this way, if truck drivers stopped driving, Los Angeles would be out of food in six days.

Maybe that would have made an interesting movie, to have all of the migrant workers band together and decide to do something active to benefit themselves and each other. To leave the country that so misuses them and leave us to figure out how to fill the jobs that, ah, what was it Bush said? "The jobs that Americans won't take."

Instead we get this stupid, stupid premise about all of the Mexicans simply disappear without a trace, only to magically reappear at the end unaware that they were ever even gone. It's a ridiculous way to bookend what could have been a valuable, introspective film.

And don't get me started on The Fog That Surrounded California. No phones or Internet or even short wave radios could penetrate it, so Californians were left completely on their own. What about cars? Could those penetrate the fog? How about airplanes? Oh wait, the talking heads on TV told us not to approach the fog, so I guess that was out of the question. The movie places that little warning in there just as conveniently as it forgets about how many millions of people are entering and leaving the state of California at any given moment by countless methods of transportation.

Sadly, the movie has a great point to make, but it is a point that needs to be made in a way that can't be so easily written off as a stupid, childish joke. And a mysterious fog and the mysterious disappearance of millions of Mexicans is a stupid, childish joke. The only good part was how the movie showed that if millions of people disappeared all at once, those jerks in the little toy carts would still be driving around putting parking tickets on the windshields of the mysteriously disappeared.

Evidently the filmmakers had a bone to pick with meter maids, too.

Bore me to the max

[kobesunset2 · 1/10 · 12 June 2007]

The premise for this movie is actually very interesting. The title alone drew me to watch this movie. What the viewer is left with is cheap production, boring idiotic "jokes" and mundane repetition of news scenes with bad acting. Some of the actors seem like they were picked off the streets or from community college acting classes.

The movie doesn't draw the viewer in, instead it psychologically irritates and alienates the viewer by butting unrelated scenes together (which one would think might have some overall meaning in the end, however this is not the case). Viewers are more so alienated by the constant fake news cast scenes. The movies banks all it's value on the fact that viewers will be able to relate to ignorant racist white Californians. Many scenes of this nature are played out to exhaustingly boring exaggeration.

Don't waste your time on this movie as it has nothing to do with the reality of the Hispanic/white culture of California.

Skip the movie and watch the trailer.

[MrCharisma91 · 2/10 · 15 May 2004]

When I first saw the ad campaign for this movie, I couldn't wait. Then I saw the trailer which made this film look like a great satirical film. Then I saw the film. All of the best (and pretty much only) funny gags are in the trailer, and what we are left with is a preachy, poorly acted, heavy handed PSA. There are too many storylines and many of them go nowhere and make a viewer wonder why they were there to begin with. This would have been much better as a short film. Shishar Kurup who plays Alex, the cameraman, is one of the few bright spots in this flick. I saw skip the movie and just watch the trailer.

what our lives would be lacking without our Mexican peoples

[watchmash · 7/10 · 1 October 2005]

There are times when you just have to take a movie for what it is- a movie. Instead of worrying about racism and social commentary-enjoy the idea of the movie. I liked the movie as a whole because it had an original idea for a script. It gives you an idea of what an important role each of us plays in this big old world we live in. At the very least, the music can be appreciated. It was diverse, appropriate, and fun to listen to. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but if you've ever lived in Southern California, this movie will make you laugh (at least a couple of times). And if your really lucky, it will also broaden your mind.

I gave it a 1 only because a 0 was not available.

[andersonny · 1/10 · 18 May 2004]

This is without a doubt the worst non-student film I have ever seen. I see many films so this is quite an accomplishment. I envy all those who live in cities where this atrocity was not released. If I lived in New York I might have never heard of this thing and would be a better person for it.

At one point there was a single line of dialog that I almost misconstrued as a joke until the picture actually freeze framed to spell out the joke for anyone who might be too slow to have figured it out on their own. Audience respect was nowhere to be found. I have a general disdain for "films" shot on digital video, except for Richard Linklater's TAPE, this one reinforces my contempt for the format.

What is most tragic is that this is a real issue with real sides and this 100 minute monstrosity only makes a mockery of what could have been poignant and thought provoking. I wish I could muster one redeeming quality or moment about A Day Without a Mexican, but I can not.

A hilarious satire

[yaornw · 7/10 · 14 March 2021]

It's a dark comedy, people. And it's brilliantly done. Sure, it's made on a low budget, with mostly unknown cast, but it really is an interesting question-if we deport all the Mexicans, what would happen to a city like Los Angeles where they fill a major role in so many areas of life and commerce. In this case, the world falls apart, and the results are entertaining but telling. There's always a ring of truth amidst the satire and humor. I saw this on a whim years ago when it first came out, and I continue to remember it all these years later. That's how powerful it is. Deserves a look for anyone debating immigration because of the questions it inspires. And it's also a diverting film. Highly recommended.

Bad just Bad

[kylehamilton · 1/10 · 19 March 2005]

This movie was awful, I cant describe how bad it was, looks like some student film lighting was only so-so bad movie bad story bad acting I hated it. There are sometimes jokes that just are not funny, like how people are always eating burritos. And there is some connection to Area 51. WHY just WHY movies like this make me wonder how DV movies make it, that and bad green screening burned my soul. I think that the director lacks the basic understanding of how to use music in a movie, he always has things in Spanish. Also the large about of "" Video Effects only shows this films lack of creative vision and lack of technical vision. Other then that the story with idea of all the Mexicans just disappearing from California makes a poor poor idea for a movie. Also the random transition to news casts and random PAUSE and written random stupid Latino facts. Horable just horrible they tryed for a satire but instead they came out with crap.

Fantasy meets mockumentary with a dash of pop up video.

[freelancespice · 8/10 · 2 May 2005]

A Day Without a Mexican contains, quite possibly, the most unique and effective employment of a fantasy element I've ever seen.

While I'm not sure how much impact this film has on people who aren't from, or at least very familiar with, life in California, I think it speaks massive volumes all while maintaining a very witty and fun sense of humor about itself. While it gets over-dramatically silly, it is SPOT ON about the capability of Californian behavior (and I say that as a third generation Southern Californian who was raised, in part, by a German/Mexican stepmother).

I've noticed complaints about bad acting and/or writing in this film. The writing itself is strong, the dialogue is funny, and the cultural jokes are bordering on perfection. The acting did leave room for improvement, but that's standard in independent films that boast such a major societal commentary.

This is not the kind of film that's going to mean everything to everyone. It's geared toward a specific audience, which seems to include me, as I quite enjoyed this picture.

If you want a movie that'll, at the very least, raise some discussion, check it out.

Gosh - what intense response this one has provoked!

[davidals · 7/10 · 11 February 2005]

Altogether I found A DAY WITHOUT A Mexican to be highly entertaining - I would've hoped for something of the caliber of DO THE RIGHT THING or BLAZING SADDLES, and this is definitely not up to those standards, but as independent films go, this one definitely beats a lot of the competition.

Basically a b-movie, sci-fi spoof with a lot of social commentary thrown in, I found A DAY... to be a bit didactic in places - the interrupting statistics were highly unnecessary and nearly destroyed the energy in an otherwise fine film. But I think one's ultimate take on this film will come down to ones' politics - I agree with those expressed in the film, so - while I found the film to be hammering its' points a bit harder than it should (not all Americans are THAT ignorant of the rest of the world), overall I considered it to be fun and provocative.

I have seen tons of indie films, and - just in that I was actually able to watch this one all the way through - this one manages to be quite good. Film shouldn't just be about explosions, or wallowing in some hipster's fantasy of 'the underground,' or dream sequences with midgets, or boring white 20somethings screwing around - a film that tries to engage with the world is a real breath of fresh air every now and then.

A Day Without A Mexican

[stillnatural2 · 1/10 · 2 May 2006]

This movie is not original material. Or maybe I should say it is not an original idea. After you view this movie and come to your own opinion, do me a favor. Check out a play written in 1965 by Douglas Turner Ward. The play is entitled, "A Day of Absence". The play was written in 1965, and precedes this movie by 40 years. The play was performed, at that time, by The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. Ward was not only the playwright, he also performed in the play. A Day of Absence is a classic play written from a Black perspective. The plot is self-explanatory and the play itself is hilarious. But, as a warning. see the movie first and read Douglas Turner Ward's play afterwords.

don't expect too much

[cryinghyena · 6 June 2004]

This film got it's press from the "inflammatory" title, but the ad campaign was aimed to put your butt in the movie seat, and it worked for this micro-budget movie... it ended up with a profit in Los Angeles alone. This was quite clever because the film got a much larger audience than it would have received otherwise, regardless of anyone's personal feelings. The ads were done so that any reasonably intelligent person could see the tongue-in-cheek manner in which the ad campaign was carried out, and those who couldn't, well... they'd probably go see the movie just so they could be even more angry.

So I went to see the movie, not so much because of the controversy, but to see how good a film had been put together. I was really disappointed. For as clever a campaign had been crafted to get people to see their movie, the filmmakers failed miserably at keeping them interested.

The storyline is not too terribly involving, and the "morality tale" message is really beat into your head with a hammer from the first minute all the way to the end. The acting is amateurish... it had a very distinct high school film project look and feel to it, and although I'm no stranger to low budget films... this one really looked bad. The film quality was so terribly grainy that it was distracting, and the attempts at "visual effects" even moreso. I would have been more impressed and they would have saved a few bucks if they'd left them out.

The coup d'etat... I fell asleep. And I had really wanted to like this movie... I went in having a really good feeling about it.

The film would probably have made a great half hour after school special or educational video, with all of the boring and tedious plot left out and all of the interesting factoids about the Mexican contribution to American culture left in. I know many of my Mexican friends who saw it got a kick out of some of the cultural in-jokes in the movie, but almost across the board they agree with me that the movie wasn't very good.

So there you go. If you have a burning desire to learn some fairly obvious facts about Mexican culture in California, jump right in. My feeling is that people who are ignorant to the information put forward in the film are probably not inclined to care or want to know anyway... but there's never any harm in trying to get the word out. All minorities in the U.S. have historically been mistreated and maligned, and if one were really inclined to learn some perspective about American treatment of Mexicans, Indians, Blacks, Asians... I would suggest a read of 'A People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn. NOW THAT'S AN EYE OPENER.

i hope this movie dies

[fets-1 · 1/10 · 20 January 2005]

There was this one time in high school when this really insecure skinny kid brought theses yellow-tinted "inside" shades into school. He was one of those backstreet, all-for-one kinda looking guys. Anyway, he brought his shades into school and they were all super-glued b/c he had previously broken them. Regardles, he had been rocking them all day. Well, he had set them down, in class, and the hot chick from school came and picked up his shades, which were in a sense a tangible reflection of his own true level of confidence (super-glued at best). Anyway, she picks up the shades and then they break. of course. HE gets up and starts yelling at her for like a good 10 minutes about how you don't touch peoples stuff and blah blah blah. Everyone else in the room was like "i see the point that you are trying to make, man, but they are just plastic shades." THIS guy, however, was on the verge of tears. It was as though the epitome of that which he lacked confidence around was the very person to destroy those shades. I stood there without a sound. I listened thru the entire 10 minute barrage as she did, basically staring at him with a dropped jaw. I didn't say a word. It was pain for me to listen to that poor bastard cry about plastic shades, but i couldn't stop it. That is EXACTLY how i felt when i watched this film.

Why?

[ebay_geeks01 · 1/10 · 28 June 2005]

Do not waste the time or the money. The worst Social Satire I have ever seen. The direction is terrible and the acting stiff. If their is a complete opposite to the genius of Stanley Kubricks' classic - Dr. Strangelove; this would be it.

As an Hispanic, I thought this movie was going to be great; falls way short and if I can get my money from blockbuster tomorrow for it, I will (i.e. "Oh, the disc wouldn't play in my DVD player... Can I just pick another movie?")

Please folks do yourself the favor- don't do it! -Chuck

p.s. By the way I agree totally with the last comment; you go into this movie expecting a comedy with all the opportunities to make it work; however my dead dog could have written a better script.

Not worth the extra 80 minutes

[CatchyReviewerName · 3/10 · 20 May 2005]

This would have been a great 20-minute short film. Wait, it already was that? Yes, it was. It was a very good and clever short film, but the powers that be fell prey to the idea that bigger just had to be better. Sadly, the extra 80 or so minutes adds absolutely nothing. The movie is slow, drags along and isn't as funny or clever as it could be. Way too slow introducing things, and the inept caucasians and uncaring African-Americans just aren't amusing after the third or fourth wacky misunderstanding. The ensemble of no-names is solid, save for a handful of "actors" who seem to have missed a few classes at acting school (the doctor and the border patrol officers to name a few). The rest, however are not given much to work with.

More meaningful tears than laughter

[breno_bacci · 7/10 · 20 May 2010]

As most people, I assume and hope, I try to rate movies on IMDb with my own established set of guidelines. In my case, technical excellence is not overlooked, but I tend to give a bigger weight to other aspects (such as the idea behind the movie as I see it, soundtrack picks, and cultural significance) than most people, I think. So while I admit much more effort took place for a movie like Star Wars, for instance, to be made; other cheaper and with less depth movies might get similar ratings - perhaps because the subject caught my attention, perhaps because I empathise with the filmmaker's premise, and so on.

I am trying to justify my vote for "A Day Without a Mexican", because although I agree that the movie is far from being a masterpiece, I can't help but to feel like I enjoyed badly every minute of it. Not the best script or premise ever, not so thorough camera, art or sound directing, not the best acting or even the comedy, which failed to be hilarious more often than not.

Nevertheless, this is a movie I'll hardly ever forget. Despite of all its shortcomings, it managed to get me emotional - but maybe it's just my time of the month.

I picked this movie for watching expecting a light-headed comedy, and I was wrong. It does have some charming comedy on it, but the fact that so many characters - while depicted always mockingly - are quite similar to the bigoted minds around us, makes me sad. But sad in an optimistic kind of a way. After all, I believe ignorance is a finite resource.

Not muy bueno

[zamora02 · 4/10 · 28 June 2005]

Before I watched this movie I was actually excited on watching this comedy/documentary movie. However, I was led to a big time let down. I am a Mexican-American and I was thinking it was going to be a movie that jokes about our stereotypes, but it was not like that at all. It was based more on how "upper-class white" people heavily depended on the cheap work of illegal immigrants. The movie classified most immigrants of those who are very loyal and humble, and at the same time they appeared to be very weak with no character and their main purpose was to serve white people. Point is illegal immigrants are people and they do have feeling and are not just personal slaves. They do get mad and have other feelings. They also talk mess about their boss, like most people do, behind their backs. I felt that this movie did not give this illegal immigrants that chance to show that they are also people.

Even though there is still a lot of racism out there, they showed most white people as racists whom are helpless without an illegal immigrant doing cheap labor. I am not white and it might be true, but white people are people, they can easily adapt to changes in their environment. There are some white people that do cheap labor not all white people are rich.

One last thing that i strongly disagree with this movie is that what if there are not Mexicans around there is still a whole bunch of Central-Americans and South-Americans who are always classified as Mexicans. If you eliminate the illegal immigrant Mexican you still will have a lot of illegal immigrants of different places of this planet that will do that cheap labor work. Is not just the Mexican who is the cheap labor illegal immigrant in this nation. Finally, disregarding the rest, the movie was not funny, and I didn't even seem to get a chuckle at that. If you want to see a way better comedy movie about illegal immigrants I recommend you to watch Born in East L.A.

Brilliant idea, weak execution... still a good movie

[jluis1984 · 6/10 · 5 May 2006]

Sergio Arau is a Mexican artist whose main work has been done in the field of visual arts and in music, but in 1998 he along with his wife Yareli Arizmendi, wrote and directed a short comedy named "A Day Without a Mexican", a fake documentary chronicling the fictitious events that happened in California when suddenly all the Hispanic people disappeared without any reason. Their fake documentary was a satire about U.S. immigrant policy and the unfair treatment the Hispanic immigrants received. Their work was well received but the couple decided to take their message to the main audience by turning their short film into a feature length film.

Like Arau's original short, the movie's premise is that for strange circumstances all the Hispanic immigrants (not only Mexicans) disappear of the state of California and the state is surrounded by a mysterious fog that isolates the people leaving them without the work that Hispanics usually do. The movie chronicles the events happening in that situation and showcases how important are the immigrants for the development of California.

Writer Yareli Arizmendi plays Lila, a reporter hired for her Latin looks who later becomes the center of the attention as she becomes "the last Latin in California". John Getz plays Senator Steven Abercombie III, an anti-immigrant politician who becomes governor of California after the actual Governor disappears due to Hispanic heritage. Muse Watson is Louis McClaire, owner of a ranch who understands the importance of the immigrant's work but who has to deal with his overtly patriotic and racist son George (Bru Muller).

These three main stories as well as other minor subplots get together to showcase different situations of the immigrants in California. Arau mixes "interviews with experts" giving opinions on the Hispanics disappearance and noticing the importance of their presence for the country. Using comedy as a medium to deliver his message, Arau's film delivers good laughs and flows smoothly most of the time, however, at times it is notorious that the project started as a short as there are scenes that seem to be shot only to reach the runtime of a feature length film.

Being a music video director before, Arau can't help but to display the influences of his previous work, giving the movie a modern albeit a bit MTV-like look. Also, the movie has been severely criticized for its highly fictitious premise. While this criticism is valid in the sense that the unexplained disappearance and the comedic tone do diminish the importance of the subject matter, Arau makes his point clear despite the flawed conception of his plot.

The acting is good on the main roles, but the apparently undeveloped script makes it look a bit forced at times. Arizmendi and Getz shine in their respective roles and without a doubt they are the driving force of the film. The rest of the cast is also good, but nothing spectacular. This in my opinion is due to the lack of details in the script that leaves some characters at a very shallow stereotypical level.

"A Day without a Mexican" may not be subtle in its approach, and probably it forces its message a bit too much, but still raises very important points and delivers its message without problems. The Arau couple had a brilliant idea and raised very good points, however, the film still feels as if it could had been better. Hopefully the couple will continue making films that will be better than this first attempt. 7/10. Interesting film.

quirky humor but dialog disappears faster than the mexicans did

[mxracer157 · 5/10 · 20 February 2005]

the title makes you think this is going to be a serious drama. anyone with Latin heritage knows what racism is about. this movie depicts racism back and forth. the writing is horrible in this. it seems as if a bunch of 3rd graders got together and wrote a movie trying to make their parents some money. movie doesn't have many well recognizable stars, but some are noticeable. the best acting of all the people in it are of the kids of the musician and teacher. they are latino and latina and do a fine job of being a child. thats it for acting notices. the writer wrote a drama, figured out without humor the movie would go nowhere, so he or she added in some comedy. it is nice to see a ethnic writer try to make a point. as non white, we each have seen many problems we have had to overcome. but movies such as this, make it look even more pathetic. yes, latinos do a lot of work that wouldn't be done by white or black Americans because they make less. and yes latinos spend much more than they earn. this is true of any race. the only point that stood out is that all of us latinos are not Mexican. each of us from south of the border, be it central America or south America are Latin. we contribute in our own way. this movie is a 1 in writing, a 2 in acting. but because of what they tried to do. i will give it a 5.

Muy Bueno!

[calnavels · 10/10 · 14 September 2004]

Finally, a movie that says so much that needs to be said about the relationship between latino and anglo-Americans. A few people seem to thinks it's racist, but I don't see how. Some people may not agree, but I think most people will find it to be an enlightening experience. Even as a person who is half Latin American, I was surprised at how many inaccurate stereotypes I accepted about my own people until I saw this movie (the little pop up facts on the screen were both entertaining and informative).

Also, the film's star, Yareli Arizmendi, was in "Like Water for Chocolate", so it's worth it just to see her again. And Eduardo Palomo makes his final appearance in this film, if your a fan of Mexican TV. Despite the controversial ad campaign, this is actually a fun, entertaining movie that I would recommend to most people. See it and decide for yourself.

All in all a good movie

[kellita_solita · 7/10 · 18 February 2006]

I thought that this movie was great. I really feel that it was supposed to be a silly way of conveying the importance of immigrants in society. Though the setting was on a small scale, (the state of California rather than the entire U.S.) it shows the chaos of what could happen and that is just in California. However it was a little far fetched and didn't make sense in some places. I don't believe that the country as we know it would come to an end as the film portrays, but it would suffer some very painful consequences. I thought that overall it was a very good movie. The director, Sergio Arau, is known for his interesting artistic take on his films. This one is really no different. The overflowing glass and leaky water faucet was nice symbolism as well. Although this film is a comedy, it does a nice job of bringing across its serious underlying message. Through some of the fluff and nonsensical points this movie in the end makes its point. Also, the special features interviewing some of the Latino population and their points of view were also a really eye opening complement to the movie.

Horrid

[bnorton111 · 1/10 · 27 May 2004]

OK, this movie had a chance. The premise could have been quite funny and still got the point across (Mexicans and other Hispanics are an important part of the country and such), but they did a horrible job pulling it off. The state of California is cut off from the world by this mysterious pink fog and no one can leave or call out or anything, except for the Mexicans who up and disappear. The characters are worthless and you feel nothing for them. This is a purely political film that fails on all levels. There are maybe 3 or 4 funny parts, all the rest of our laughs were at this pitiful movie, not because it was suppose to be funny. Do Not See This Movie. I could not recommend a film less than this.