Review: ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ an incomparable road movie

Friday, April 5, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

Y Tu Mama Tambien

Grade: *** 1/2

Starring: Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdu.

Screenplay: Carlos Cuaron.

Director: Alfonso Cuaron.

Rated: Not rated; has adult themes, language and scenes of strong sexuality.

Running time: 105 minutes.

Movie times: Http://www.vegas.com/movies/

Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is sexy, funny and human -- three elements that have been absent from American sex comedies since before the birth of Shannon Elizabeth. I can't imagine it even getting made in Hollywood, where sex equals two backlit figures mashing their lips together in time to a Sting ballad.

There are no Sting ballads in "Mama" -- in fact, there's little music at all, save what's spoken by the characters. Tenoch (Diego Luna) is a dope-smoking brat, the son of a prominent politician. His best friend, Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal), is much the same -- a "Charolastra," a "space cowboy." They waste days smoking, drinking and engaging in self-love.

Carlos Cuaron, Alfonso's brother, wrote Tenoch and Julio as pure-bred fools, and fools they remain until they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdu) at a government party. Full of braggadocio and a good deal more, they invite her on a road trip to a private beach, "Heaven's Mouth," that they make up out of whole cloth. For reasons unknown to them and to us, she accepts -- and begins teaching the two dolts how to live.

Road movies are almost always a pleasure; even Britney Spears' loathsome "Crossroads" had its moments. Cuaron's road trip is a spiritual journey similar to few others; the characters almost seem to be traveling through time. The trio drives through military checkpoints, past memorials and through one-horse towns; they even encounter a princess. The script traces every story to its conclusion, giving us the perspective its male characters lack.

Luisa sees everything, understands everything. She seduces the boys, a decade her junior, with an utterly level head; she's planned it all the way down. Even when the boys erupt into jealous bickering -- "Play with babies and you end up washing diapers," she mutters -- Luisa is thinking ahead. No one's getting in the way of her life, now that she's discovered how to live it.

As shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a dream territory -- a festival of light, color and movement. You get a sense of Mexico that verges on the olfactory; you wish you could taste this film. Even the characters know how good it looks: "You're so lucky to live in Mexico ... It breathes with life," Luisa says. We breathe with it.

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a film about life, not about sex. But it's also the sexiest film I've seen in years, and the truest to the nature of living. Sometimes it's just as easy as throwing a bunch of things and your car and looking for heaven, with a few stops for roadside trysts.