This energetic tale of hormones out of control uses offbeat filmmaking to capture the feel of life for two 17-year-old boys ... without ever forgetting that there are more serious issues at hand. Julio and Tenoch (Bernal and Luna) are best friends in Mexico City whose girlfriends have flown off to Europe for the summer. They have both vowed chastity, but they seethe with desire for almost every girl they meet, especially Luisa (Verdu), age 28 and the wife of Tenoch's philandering cousin (Remolina). When she decides to finally leave her husband, she calls the boys and asks them to take her to their favourite beach. And they're off on a road trip, during which Julio and Tenoch will test their friendship to the limits ... and beyond. And they'll also find out a thing or two about women.

Cuaron and his gifted cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki join forces (see also A Little Princess) to create a film that looks stunning, capturing natural beauty while never forgetting earthy reality. This is an almost overwhelmingly sensual film as these people struggle with how they interact with each other and nature; the frequent nudity and sexual encounters add to our understanding--and make us feel these things along with them. Bernal (Amores Perros), Luna (Before Night Falls) and Verdu (Belle Epoque) play the characters perfectly--these are real people we believe in. They're also are deceptively complex roles--outwardly fun-loving yet struggling deeply against the harsh realities of growing up, failed relationships and other issues we discover later. The only thing that snaps us out of the action is the omnipresent (and omniscient) narrator, cutting in everywhere with little observations that carry meaning but continually distance us, reminding us we're watching a story about someone else just when we thought we were seeing ourselves up there.

themes, language, nudity, sex, drugs

5.Mar.02