Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

What a beautiful movie!

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Road movie is compelling because of unusual setting (Mexico) and characters (older married woman and adolescents). Also, unusual voice-over that relates what has happened and what will happen! Often about events unrelated to present and unconnected to characters. Also, camerawork is very daring, panning to another part of the scene. One sequence required actors to perform rapid-fire dialogue in continuous 5-minute scene. Every aspect of film done magnificently. But the boys irritated me at times. Adult voice-over provided maturity that was lacking on screen. I wished for a different ending, but then it would have been a different movie!

My colleague lent me this, having recommended it. Since he is a fellow film geek with good taste like me, I trusted him that this would be a good film. It took me a while to get in to, but when it did, it surprised me with it's poignancy. It is more than a sexy road trip film, and I had trouble stopping myself thinking about it after. To say it plucks at your heart strings is an understatement. A really thoughtful, intelligent and beautifully shot film which will also make you want a long hug. Or chocolate if a hug isn't available.

Y tu mama también is an interesting film that fully embodies the classic, if stereotypical, coming-of-age tale. The road trip setting allows for a great variety of locations, which show several different parts of Mexico and several different subcultures, from busy urban Mexico City to an old woman alone on the side of the road, grieving the death of her great granddaughter. The narration, too, interrupts the story at appropriate times to broaden the audience's perspective and give more depth not only to the characters' personal histories, but to the political and social climate of the country. This is not a distraction from the present antics and drama of the protagonists; rather, it helps to give their relatively inconsequential story more meaning. For much of the movie, this is effective rather than melodramatic. Towards the end of the movie, these little narrated pieces start to feel excessively sad, even if they are realistic. The grim future of the fishing family from the beach is revealed: within a few years they will be trapped in the city, having lost their fishing business pursuing a bigger dream which was ultimately unsuccessful. After their trip ends, the rest of the movie is equally sad. Luisa's death feels pointless; the fact that the audience hears about it secondhand reduces her role in the movie from protagonist to adventure catalyst. The narrator reveals that Tenoch and Julio lose touch as well, although it is not explained why or what happened. The audience is meant to interpret this turn of events without much of a basis for it, as the rest of the movie is spent building their relationship, revealing flaws, and repairing them. The last scene of the movie is one in which Julio and Tenoch run into each other in the street and decide to stop for a cup of coffee. They part ways and never see each other again. This is an unsatisfying ending to an intense, emotionally charged story. The individual moments and narrated pauses in time in Y tu mama también were charming and intriguing, and were generally more satisfying than the movie as a whole.

To describe director Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mamá También as simply a road movie featuring two immature best friends and an older, attractive woman would do it a disservice. While that is the premise of Cuarón's film, one that at times proves utterly hilarious, there is a stunning complexity to behold. Underneath the surface level, where sex and drug use runs amok, lies both a character study of the three main protagonists, Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa, and an exploration of the bliss of youthful ignorance that doubles as a provider of insights into the state of Mexican society circa-1999.Throughout the trip, Emmanuel Lubezki's camera often moves away from the trio, focusing on happenings outside the vehicle. The story is set against a backdrop of turbulent political change, made clear by the repeated mention of protests in the film's opening act. But as they travel to their destination, Tenoch and Julio remain unaware, immersed in their friendship and their blossoming relationship with Luisa. Yet Lubezki's beautiful camera-work shows everything from police brutality to the aftermath of a hit-and-run accident, displaying the style that he would later use in Cuarón's next feature Children of Men. His usage of long takes remains masterful as well, with some scenes carrying on for minutes with nary a cut to be found. These scenes make the film come alive, possessing a lively, fervent energy so rarely found in films today. His images gain further impact from an omniscient narrator voiced by Daniel Giménez Cacho, who provides intermittent commentary on everything from the protagonists' unvoiced thoughts to the history of an area. At its core, Y Tu Mamá También is a story about life, with the narrator's ruminations weaving a rich tapestry of the past, future, and present of not only these characters but Mexico itself.The friendship between Tenoch and Julio, the primary driving force of the film, feels as authentic as anything that's ever been put on screen in the history of cinema. Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal capture a spirit of boyish exuberance so perfectly, delivering plenty of laughs as they trade blows over their shared life experiences. And yet a profound sense of melancholy permeates throughout the film, made perhaps more noticeable by the presence of Maribel Verdú's Luisa. As we watch these characters on the road, we can feel that their last days of adolescence are slowly fading away. Luisa serves as the film's emotional core, a pained woman who shares with Tenoch and Julio the life experiences that have led to their trip. Verdú simply nails her character, sensual and emotional in equal measure, a reminder of both the pain that comes with living so much as the unbridled joy. The voyage these characters takes feels so real, so genuine, no doubt due to the wonderful script from Cuarón and his brother Carlos. It all comes to a head in a climax that left me breathless, one so full of passion and longing, and yet in the most unexpected way.With Y Tu Mamá También, Cuarón delivered one of the greatest coming- of-age films of all time. I was not only blown away by the performances from the main cast, but by the story that Cuarón tells. Despite the thematic complexity of the film and the potential to run into exploitative territory with such a premise, Cuarón instead masterfully directs a tale with poignant observations on sex, love, life, and the human condition. And the ending, meanwhile, is one for the ages. It left me in tears.Rating: 10/10 (Masterpiece)