Review: La otra familia (The Other Family)

The line went around the block at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre Sunday night for the premiere of La otra familia (The Other Family) at the 2012 Hola Mexico Film Festival.  Gustavo Loza’s crowd-pleaser is about Hendrix (Bruno Loza), a 7-year-old in search of a place he can call home.  Through a series of random associations, he drifts from his crack-addict mother to an affluent gay couple, who, of course, never planned on being parents.

Luis R. Guzman and Bruno Loza clowning around in one
of the film's many heart-melting moments

When Hendrix ends up in the hands of Jean Paul (Jorge Salinas) and Chema (Luis R. Guzmán), everyone including their gardener Gabino (Silverio Palacios) and maid Doña Chuy (Carmen Salinas) brings their own baggage-clouded perspective on what is best for the boy.  The unflinching portrayal puts those with reservations in their place, as it displays the slow bending of Catholic culture as the times change.  Loza examines our misplaced concern for the protection of children, which gets lost in unfounded degrees of paranoia about pedophilia in the context of two men raising a male child and the awareness of the human body. 

Luis Gerardo Méndez
plays photographer George

The director expertly handles the heart-warming family comedy-drama, striking a balance between poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of Chema’s newfound parenting style or the overly cautious nature of all the people in Hendrix’ life, and the tragically dire environment where the boy springs from.  From a hilariously passionate kiss concluding a commitment ceremony (love, indeed was “in the air” of their nuptials) to the carefully chosen expletives accentuating the unrelenting pounding at an ultimate wrestling match, the director is adept at several humorous styles.  If the audience’s reaction was any indication, one might wonder if he’s too good, undermining some of the film’s more unfortunate moments. 

The model good-looks of
Luis R. Guzman

The discussions dealing with defining parenthood are ample and rather seamlessly incorporated into Hendrix’ journey, at first.  Loza covers everything from non-traditional guardians, natural birth verses adoption (nature verses nurture), the idea of passing on genetics, surrogacy (egg verses gestation), etc.  As well, there is talk about society’s perceptions regarding skin color and masculine verses feminine.  Everyone has their role in a relationship, regardless of gender or sexual identity; it’s the personality and skill-set that dictates their role in a relationship more than their gender or sexuality identity.

The first half is sublimely edited, that is, until Loza kneels before the ambitions of his script.  The agenda is to present a successful model gay couple.  They are professional, attractive, and loving.  One half even stays home.  The socioeconomic gap between the have’s and have not’s is apparent, as here, if you’re not driving around an expensive car or living a comfortable life as an artist, you are a servant and/or living in the slums.  This surprisingly works, even though it paints the straights in the film an unflattering color with a broad brush.  The treatment is negligible up until a point.

But, the desperation to be loved and accepted becomes too thick.  A pop montage promises a denouement, but the plot presses on.  The involved storyline is determined to tie up all of its loose ends and give every last character their full arc.  The movie runs thirty minutes long and its formula collapses underneath its own weight.  The whole affair becomes maudlin when impressing upon points already clearly made: a gay couple can provide just as good of a home as any and some people aren’t fit to be parents, regardless of their sexual orientation.  The film also touches on the unifying effect a child can have on a community and how government can step in the way.  Expertly cast, Jorge Salinas’ pensive eyes lead the cast as the patriarch, of sorts.  I dare you not to fall in love with the first half of this tearjerker.  And I dare you not to place a pair of editing clippers in Loza’s hands as you patiently wait for the credits during the latter.