Clara (Karla Souza) seems an unlikely candidate to be a successful high-flying L.A. gynecologist as she seems to dislike children and actually loathes how happy all of the prospective parents are. It’s not that she is not good at being a Doctor, more the fact that she really is a washout when it comes to have any sort of romantic relationship of her own. When she is off-duty she hangs out in her favorite bar, gets very drunk, sings bad karaoke, and goes home with the first man who asks her.
Meanwhile after being together for 40 years her Mexican parents have finally decided to get married in their rather spectacular house in Baja, and to save all the usual badgering from the family, Clara knows she will have to show up with a Date. The nearest man at hand is Asher Grant (Ben O’Toole) an Australian doctor who works under her, and who is more than happy to accept as he has been carrying something of a torch for her anyway.
However at the wedding a surprise guest turns up and takes the winds out of the normally confident Klara’s sails, as it is Daniel (Jose Maria Yazpik) her ex-boyfriend and the big love of her life, who walked out on her over a decade ago to work with Doctors Without Borders. When they catch sight of each other, it is immediately clear that they are still very much in love, but even so Klara is conflicted as she knows that Daniel will probably leave her yet again if they started over from where they left off. Also now there is Asher in the picture and he declares his hand, and he makes it very clear that he is not going to walk away without putting up a fight for her.
This bi-lingual romantic comedy from writer/director Catalina Aguilar Mastretta happily fluctuates between Spanish and English but is very formulaic. From the moment that Daniel turns up very early in the proceedings and shows his hand, its very obvious how this is all going to pan out. However, what makes it a real crowd-pleaser and a delightful easy-on-the-eye romantic comedy, is some very hilarious humor, plus some heading turning performances from the cast, especially Souza as the confused and conflicted Clara, and O’Toole as the long suffering Asher. Then of course there is the rather dramatic country setting which is real feast for one’s eyes.
There is no deep or profound message here, just the simple note that we have all known for a very long time, and that is at the end of the day we have very little say in who we fall in love with and who we can live with happily ever after. And also it’s good to know that everybody really does love somebody.
Labels: 2017, bi-lingual, Mexican, romantic comedy
