It is a pleasure to be at the opening night of the Hola México Film Festival at the historic Montalban Theatre in Hollywood, the vibrant home for Latino arts, in week-long showcase of new films from México. Selected as the opening night film by Cinépolis Distribucíon was Loco México Mágico, an ironic comedy centered on an ambitious mayor from Avándaro, Veracruz who decides to secure the nomination for state governor by producing a blockbuster film. This zany project is fueled by the mayor’s sense of the importance of social media and he is convinced that he can entice the world outside to notice and visit his town of Avándaro.
Director Carlos Santos has a good time with the script making the ironic comedy as “Mexican” as possible. The citizens of Avándaro are foul-mouthed and direct, speaking their minds regardless of what seems politically correct. Santos satirizes Mexican politicians, who seem to understand money shapes decisions and laws. Veteran actor Silverio Palacios is Benito, the Mayor of Avándaro who wants to produce a blockbuster film that combines action, romance, and the scenery of his town, but has no idea how films are actually made. But he gets it into his head that he needs a sexy, preferably blonde Mexican starlet to make this project sell. So, he sets his goal on convincing a popular Mexican singer named Melinda (Sofia Carrera) to be in the film.
Once the Mayor gets this idea in his head, he tries to convince young Juan (Daniel Sosa) to direct his movie project. Up to this point, Juan has only shot wedding and quinceañeras and knows nothing about Hollywood-style film production outside of YouTube videos. He teams up with his friends Adriana (Rocio Guzman) and Tribi (Carlos Horcasitas) as his sound man. This being a screwball comedy, the Mayor Benito has his earnest assistant Pancho (Fernando Cuautle) offer incentives to local residents to help with the movie project. Pancho offers free food for their cooperation but that completely fizzles. Benito the Mayor has to deal with his wife and his son Fabio (Alberto Gorgonio) who has ambitions of going to Mexico City to become an actor.
Director Carlos Santos—creator of Señora Influencer and ¡Qué Huevos, Sofía!—clearly stamps his signature style on this film. The first two acts of the film are hilarious, especially the antics involved with convincing Melinda (Sofía Carrera), an A-listed star who arrives in Avándaro with no idea what she is getting herself into. Of course, this involves a 2 million peso bribe to Melinda’s agent Nina (Marianna Ovchinnikova) to make it happen. The challenge for Juan, the young filmmaker, is how to create a movie in few weeks without a script and no experience.
Since the Mayor has managed to convince Melinda to part of the project, the “team” has no idea how to proceed. Fabio, the Mayor’s son, wants to be a romantic lead. But the Mayor needs a very Mexican action plot and they land on the idea of having Melinda play an archeologist who discovers a hidden ruin in the jungle with a secret glowing stone inside. This becomes the device for turning the film into an action thriller become with bad gringos after her.
Things are going well – with Juan, the director, and his team improvising however they can to get the movie made while dodging the meddlesome mayor. The ideas – as proposed and visualized by Benito – are wonderful, especially when they bring out a “Trump” character with a voice what definitely sounds like Donald Trump. Benito the Mayor needs white-looking actors to play the evil gringos sent by the CIA to steal the glowing rock that Melinda has found in a jungle temple. So, his assistant Pancho (Fernando Cuautle) tries to cast gringos from the actual residents of the town looking for the whitest faces he can find. However, he manages to happen upon some shady white druggies hiding out in town who can fill the roles.
Now Juan has the cast he needs for the action part of the film project – complete with gun fire and explosives. Led by Johnny (Steve Kisicki), the gringos are suddenly transformed into CIA operatives sent by the U.S. President to steal the glowing rock from Melinda the archeologist. And the reason is hysterically funny: Americans are suffering from chronic depression and the experts at the CDC cannot figure out why Mexicans are so happy all the time. They are convinced that there is something magical in that rock so that want badly.
Although Mayor Benito is the main focus of the film, it is interesting to see how Juan emerges as a counter-force and comes into his own as a film director through this crazy comedy. Melinda as a singer and actress is horrified by the lack of organization and professionalism in working on Mayor’s film in Avándaro and threatens to quit, but her agent who signed the deal with Mayor was bribed to keep her there. What endears her to the town and its people is the elderly Pacha (Norma Reyna), the blind grandmother of Juan, who we learn lost both of his parents who died when they tried to cross the border into the USA. Pacha raised Juan and Juan casts her as the bearer of ancient traditions with secret knowledge related to the glowing stone.
Blending all these back stories in a zany comedy is an accomplishment by director Carlos Santos, but I find that the third act of the film loses steam as a comedy and veer into drama as Juan turns the film into a Hollywood thriller. The movie isn’t afraid to laugh at Mexican culture, its absurdities, and ultimately, itself. The satire is effective but the third act of the movie seems a bit confused in its own plot. Loco México Mágico proves once again that Mexican independent cinema can sometimes be far more creative and entertaining than its supposedly “big” productions.
