Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Director:

Alfonso Cuarón

Writers:

Carlos Cuarón, Alfonso Cuarón

Stars:

Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Daniel Giménez Cacho

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 38 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Giménez Cacho	...	Narrator (voice)
Ana López Mercado	...	Ana Morelos
Diego Luna	...	Tenoch Iturbide
Gael García Bernal	...	Julio Zapata
Nathan Grinberg	...	Manuel Huerta
Verónica Langer	...	María Eugenia Calles de Huerta
María Aura	...	Cecilia Huerta
Giselle Audirac	...	Nicole Bazaine
Arturo Ríos	...	Esteban Morelos
Andrés Almeida	...	Diego 'Saba' Madero
Diana Bracho	...	Silvia Allende de Iturbide
Emilio Echevarría	...	Miguel Iturbide
Marta Aura	...	Enriqueta 'Queta' Allende
Maribel Verdú	...	Luisa Cortés
Juan Carlos Remolina	...	Alejandro 'Jano' Montes de Oca

Storyline

In Mexico City, late teen friends Tenoch Iturbide and Julio Zapata are feeling restless as their respective girlfriends are traveling together through Europe before they all begin the next phase of their lives at college. At a lavish family wedding, Tenoch and Julio meet Luisa Cortés, the twenty-something wife of Tenoch's cousin Jano, the two who have just moved to Mexico from Spain. Tenoch and Julio try to impress the beautiful Luisa by telling her that they will be taking a trip to the most beautiful secluded beach in Mexico called la Boca del Cielo (translated to Heaven's Mouth), the trip and the beach which in reality don't exist. When Luisa learns of Jano's latest marital indiscretion straight from the horse's mouth, she takes Tenoch and Julio's offer to go along on this road trip, meaning that Tenoch and Julio have to pull together quickly a road trip to a non-existent beach. They decide to head toward one suggested by their friend Saba, who seems a little confused himself of ...

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Plot Keywords:

threesome | on the road | cleaning a swimming pool | female pedophile | female sex abuser | 

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Taglines:

La vida tiene sus maneras de enseñarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de confundirnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de cambiarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de asombrarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de herirnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de curarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de inspirarnos.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content involving teens, drug use and language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

26 April 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Y Tu Mamá También

Filming Locations:

Tepelmeme Villa de Morelos, Oaxaca, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$408,091, 17 March 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$13,622,333, 28 July 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anhelo Producciones, Besame Mucho Pictures, Producciones Anhelo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

The image of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara hanging from the rear-view mirror keeps appearing and disappearing during the first part of the road trip, right before it is substituted by the toy rabbit Luisa buys at the township.

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Quotes

Tenoch: I fucked Ceci a few times
Julio Zapata: No big deal. I poked Ana a bunch of times.
Tenoch: So we're milk brothers!
[Luisa toast]
Luisa: To your girlfriends who are having 10 Italians at a time!
Julio Zapata: And your mother, too! You know?... Honestly, the day she cleaned my aura
[two boys raised their shot glasses]
Tenoch: Luisa! To all mothers!
Julio Zapata: Luisa! To all mothers!

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes edited out of the final movie were made available for public viewing on the movie's official Web site. The director claims to have created multiple edits of this film to satisfy censorship rules around the world. According to the director, one of these edits, allegedly intended for Mexican distribution in protest of that country's heavy censorship, runs less than 10 minutes.

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Connections

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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Soundtracks

To Love Somebody
Written by Barry Gibb (as B. Gibb) and Robin Gibb (as R. Gibb)
Performed by Eagle Eye Cherry
100% Gibb Brothers Music (BMI), all rights in the USA administered by Careers-BMG Music Publishing,
Inc. (BMI)
Artist appears courtesy of Diesel Music AB

User Reviews

Sexually explicit and hilarious, yet at the same time very compelling

I read an article about this movie and some have referred to this movie as a Mexican version of "American Pie." I believe the joke was that it should be called "Latin-American Pie." Now, I enjoyed the "AP" movies, and don't believe them to be crappy movies, but they possess no depth and substance. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is much more sexually explicit than those two films put together, but it's in no way exploitative. It's a slice-of-life story involving teens, and who's gonna deny that 80 percent of a teenager's life revolves around sex?

The two main characters, though utterly repulsive in nature, aren't totally unsympathetic, like the characters in Larry Clark's "Kids." Through the narration, we get a sense of the characters' backgrounds and why they are the way they are. We aren't simply thrown into this torrent of teenage decadence without a net.

I'm sure very few people will regard this as a comedy, but it's filled with hilarious moments, mostly involving the explicit sexual conversations. Though it leaves you with a sad feeling at the end, it doesn't keep you depressed the whole way through.

As well as being a character-driven youth drama/road movie, it's basically a film about life, most specifically fate and how it works in mysterious ways and how many people live parallel lives and simply aren't aware. I'm not going to pretend as if I wasn't stimulated by the sex scenes, or seeing the Spanish actress who plays Luisa naked, but I didn't enjoy it just because of its sexual content. Too many movies nowadays forbid you the pleasure of going on a character's journey. Too many movies are all about plot, and more specially about plot devices. Screenwriters spend so much time developing plot that character development is put on the backburner. When you get to know the characters this deeply, you're able to connect with them, feel their pleasure and feel their pain. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is one of those rare, character-driven gems that is definitely worth a trip to the video store!

My score: 9 (out of 10)