“Y tu mamá también” offers an embarrassing, sex-obsessed story

Some films age well, gaining impact as their emotional and historical content resonates through decades. That is emphatically not the case for Mexican co-writer/director Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 “Y tu mamá también,” an embarrassing indulgence for an hour forty-six minutes in sophomoric sexual comments and behavior in a road-trip story lacking imagination.

The film begins with affluent Tenoch and working-class Julio enjoying sex with their respective girlfriends, both of them leaving for Italy. Soon, at an extravagant wedding, Tenoch and Julio meet twenty-eight-year-old Luisa, Tenoch’s cousin’s wife. The teenage boys ogle Luisa, lie to her about an idyllic beach, and, as events develop in Luisa’s life, the trio hit the road for the Boca del Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth) beach with lots of sex, drinking, and dope smoking along the way.

Applauded upon its initial 2001 release for its ground-breaking, risky honesty about sex-obsessed teenagers Julio and Tenoch, the singular fixation may have worked had Cuarón developed the backdrop seen along the road. There, several times, armed soldiers are seen stopping cars, though not for this trio. In addition, at regular intervals, voiceover narration provides political, cultural, and economic details. For example, we learn that the father of the family sharing the beach will lose his job to hotel development, eventually becoming a cleaner at the hotel. Such details contrast with the narcissistic indifference of Julio, Tenoch, and Luisa, but Cuarón relies so very heavily on the trio that the added information feels insincere, a plea for relevance.

Technically, the film lacks appeal as well. Shot with a handheld camera, the documentary style keeps viewers concerned about aesthetics at a distance. So unattractive are many of the compositions that it comes as a huge relief to see the beach and ocean in Oaxaca. The committed, talented actors contribute the only redeeming aspect: Diego Luna as Tenoch, Gael Garcia Bernal as Julio, and Spanish Maribel Verdú as Luisa. All made entertaining films. This isn’t one of them. “Y tu mamá también” screens at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium one night only, Thursday, June 13, at 7:30. For more information, you may visit the film series website.