Sr. Pig (2016)

A beautiful road movie, and a chance to talk about love for Mexico through the eyes of an American.

Director:

Diego Luna

Writers:

Diego Luna, Augusto Mendoza

Stars:

Danny Glover, Maya Rudolph, José María Yazpik

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Danny Glover	...	Ambrose
Maya Rudolph	...	Eunice
José María Yazpik	...	Payo
Joel Murray	...	Gringo
Angélica Aragón	...	Chila
Gabriela Araujo	...	Brianda
Paulino Partida	...	Ermilo
Johanna Murillo	...	Payo's Wife
Juan Pablo Medina	...	Customs Agent
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nadia Bastarrachea	...	Toll Woman
Erick Blackmer	...	Guard
Pablo Cruz	...	Tourist
Carisa de Leon	...	Payo's Wife's Friend
Gerardo Elizalde	...	Police
Mary Paz Gonzalez	...	Woman at Showers

Storyline

A kind, broke and dying man , whose best pal is a beautiful pig named Howard , needs to find him a new loving home before he dies. He has what he thinks is the solution in Mexico and drives there with Howard only to see he will be horribly mistreated like all the other pigs waiting to be slaughtered. A great lesson in the sentience of animals, human connection and humanity.

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Plot Keywords:

indie movie | selling a hog | illegal livestock transport | ill father | guadalajara | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Eunice: What the hell? Why is there a hog in your hotel room?

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Soundtracks

Por Mujeres Como Tu
Performed by Mariachi Nuevo De Tecalitlán
Composed by Fato (as Enrique Guzmán Yáñez) (Fato)
Edited by Editora Musical Musart, S.A. De C.V. (Edimusa)
Courtesy of Mariachi Nuevo De Tecalitlán

User Reviews

Howard the pig steals the show!

Mr. Pig is a road movie about an old man called Ambrose (played by Danny Glover) and his friend Howard the pig. Ambrose is not well. In fact he is dying. Last thing on his agenda seems to be the task to deliver Howard to someone he trusts who will take good care of him.

This premise appealed to me quite a bit. A tale about a dying man spending his last hours with a good friend has feelgood written all over it. And I can't resist feelgood films. However Diego Luna (who you might know from Star Wars: Rogue where he plays as Cassian Andor) doesn't deliver on this. Or at least not the extent I had hoped. Biggest problem is that while most of the acting is done competently it is far from memorable or impressive. Not enough is happening on a dramatic level to make me feel or care for the characters. I did care about the pig though. He easily tops every human character in the film acting wise. He is the only one to be expressing real emotions at some pivotal moments, Maya Rudolph barely has any chemistry with Danny Glover and for the most part she is rather annoying than compelling. If she would have not been in this film it would not have mattered a single thing. To me this is quite astonishing since you would think much more would be happening between a father and daughter in the father's last moments. Especially since it is made clear that he wasn't a particularly good father and never around when he needed her. I had expected some fireworks or at least some interesting dynamics. None of that. I guess there was something of a reveal that perhaps could explain Ambrose being so very passive. Although I think Luna should us have given us more on Ambrose and how he was before we get to meet him. Maybe then I would have been more invested. But like I said I only cared about Howard and what would happen to him.

I think Diego Luna has duped Howard into thinking he was going to be a part of something special instead of this generic film. Not bad but not good by any means. I hope this film will give Howard the exposure he needs to be noticed for better productions. He truly deserves it.

If you liked this review then please check out my website (chrichtonsworld) for more.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 2016 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Sr. Pig

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canana Films, Relic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1