El vacilón: The Movie (2005)

The adventures and misadventures of New York Spanish-language radio personalities Luis Jimenez and Moonshadow, from the morning program El Vacilón de la Mañana.

Director:

Agustin

Writer:

Luis Jimenez

Stars:

Luis Jimenez, Moonshadow, Ruperto Vanderpool

Cast

Credited cast:
Luis Jimenez	...	Himself
Moonshadow	...	Himself
Ruperto Vanderpool	...	Platanoman
Paul Rodriguez	...	Himself
John Sialiano	...	Cop
Caridad 'La Bruja' De La Luz	...	Bruja (as Caridad de la luz)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oluwole Aboyade	...	Contest Viewer
Agustin	...	Hospital orderly
Maria E. Alma	...	Dominatrix
Armando Alonso	...	Beach extra
Dita de Leon	...	Sexy Girl at Bar
Michael Elian	...	Arabe
Wanda Ferreiras	...	Ugly Girl
Findingo	...	Himself
Mayte Garcia	...	Flight attendant

Storyline

The adventures and misadventures of New York Spanish-language radio personalities Luis Jimenez and Moonshadow, from the morning program El Vacilón de la Mañana.

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Plot Keywords:

satire | parody | hispanic | film parody | dominatrix | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Dominican Republic

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Dominican Republic

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$67,878, 18 November 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,688,757, 11 December 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babylegs Entertainment Inc.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Funny... not for the faint-hearted... could have been better

This movie is essentially a collection of vignettes that describe the mental process behind Luis Jiménez's desire to make a movie that portraits some of the (rather outrageous) phone calls he (and his partner Moonshadow) receive at their radio morning show, which is New York's most popular. Luis Jiménez, perhaps, comes across as a neurotic, Moonshadow steals the show (he's the one on the bunch, besides Juan Manuel Lebrón and Paul Rodriguez, with some acting experience) as his own self (a fun-loving prankster and notorious miser), and Rubén Ithier, acting in a very decent performance before he was deported from the U.S. permanently, does his job as bearer of the brunt of the visual jokes.

The movie suffers from overacting from almost everyone on screen at one time or another (but we're dealing with radio people, for the most part, so coming up with convincing acting in front of a camera is rather an achievement for all of them). The plot suffers a bit from predictability at most of its key scenes (perhaps on purpose: Jiménez and Agustín perhaps want to build up on it for comic effect), but the vignettes are rather clever... genius, at times (the Iraqi prison scene is a riot). The movie parodies other films (Rocky I, Raging Bull and The Matrix, among others) are quite absurd, and funny as a result. However, the movie itself has no ending, and the attempts to finish it with animation fall flat.

I loved: Carolina Cadillo, both in answering machine mode and in person (she could have been far more time on screen), the Tetona subplot and Moonshadow's Rocky scene. I hated: the Platanoman vignette not being given a more decent plot. Could have been better if: some scenes were shortened (example, the g-string incident). More visual gags and less bodily fluids, please... Perhaps some cameos.