IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Tetrady not as good as all the hype

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

RichardKleiner I don't have a problem with the commentary. That's perhaps one of the movie's strongest attributes. I'm not going to talk about the issue of Mexicans in California because the movie addressed this so well.The problem with this movie is that it got lost in the way.While the movie has a form of "mockumentary" style, Sergio Arau uses the format only whenever he finds it convenient, as all of the subplots are handled in a standard narrative way.Another problem with the subplots is that they are done with an intimidating level of seriousness, moving the obviously (and natural) comedic tone of the movie into a dramatic direction, something completely unnecessary and which results in a bunch of dull moments.The jokes themselves are great. Arau's sense of humor is a gem, and when it comes to the actual funny scenes within the documentary, they do come across as funny. It is a shame, then, that he had to fill most of the gags with drama. Now, obviously, a comedy could use some drama in order to balance the emotions, but A Day without a Mexican's drama is too much.One final issue, which manages to make the movie rather annoying at times, is how repetitive it is about the main gag. Yes, Mexicans are the main work force in California. Yes, Americans say any Latino is Mexican, whether they're from Urugay, Belize, Chile, etc. And, yes, if Mexicans would disappear from all of California, it would be disastrous. We get it!Thankfuly, Arau's film is infinitely superior to Olallo Rubio's aimless "So, What's Your Price?". Still, "Naco es Chido", a mockumentary about Arau's legendary band "Botellita de Jerez", is ten times better than "A Day without a Mexican", being an actual mockumentary from start to finish and filled with better and funnier references to Mexican culture. As for this one (and as everyone has mentioned before), it was a good premise that lost consistency and grew duller. Nice effort, though.

lastliberal 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.

Squeaky8888 I could barely get through this racist piece of crap. Let's see. Here's a poorly made film that abruptly stops to splash "facts" on the screen that are either half-truths or just outright falsehoods. What's so ironic is that the entire thrust of this film is designed to illustrate the importance of Latinos in California. Instead, it simply perpetuates the hideous stereotype that whites are privileged racists and that all Latinos are saints.Above and beyond all that, it's boring as hell. If you want propaganda go watch something like "Triumph of the Will". At least Leni Riefenstahl could operate a camera. As for this, don't waste your time.Oh, and for the record, I've seen white people work in fields, wash dishes and operate vacuum cleaners. They've been doing it in the south for eons.

jooyoungie Yes, although many of you think this movie was horrible, no plot, yadda yadda yadda, the point of the movie was to take in the IDEA of what filmmaker was trying to say. It was a great movie for all of us to realize that Hispanics in California should be more appreciated. Now, as an Asian American, I can understandably say the fellow Hispanic minority group has portrayed in the movie justifiably. his film achieved to interrogate the relevant stereotypes we have this race (and also the confusion of the sub-races among Hispanics). Rather than bashing on how the movie was not entertaining enough or whatever, i feel that, not just for this movie but for others as well, we should appreciate more of what the movie is trying to tell us.