Few laughs in ‘Puerto Ricans in Paris’ – Cuaron discusses power of silence

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LOS ANGELES, June 12, (Agencies): It’s conceivable that they somehow could have come up with a more generic-sounding title than “Puerto Ricans in Paris” (“Fish Out of Water Comedy,” maybe?), but it’s difficult to see how the film itself could be any less substantial without evaporating on screen. In fact, it’s arguable that even the most casually concocted “Road” movies co-starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby had more meat on their bones than this shambling, slapdash trifle about two New York cops improbably employed to crack an haute couture case in the City of Lights.

Luis Guzman and Edgar Garcia give the project much more than it ever gives them, sustaining audience interest and generating mild amusement more or less through sheer force of will as they amble through a threadbare plot that has something do with the search for the purloined prototype of a high-end handbag, and something else to with culture clashes that occur during those long stretches when the handbag hunt is largely forgotten.

Guzman plays Luis, a swaggering motormouth long teamed with Eddie (Garcia), his easygoing brother-in-law and fellow NYPD detective, for undercover takedowns of criminals who peddle counterfeits of expensive name-brand fashion items.

Their impressively successful arrest rate captures the attention of Vincent (Frederic Anscombre), a French fashion industry exec, and Colette (Alice Taglioni), a designer whose boutique company recently was purchased by Vincent’s outfit. Together, they recruit Luis and Eddie for an assignment in France: If the New York cops can retrieve a handbag that was stolen from Colette’s studio — and that is being held for ransom by someone threatening to flood the market with knockoffs — they’ll split a six-figure finder’s fee.

Luxury

Naturally, Luis and Eddie are on the next plane to Paris, where the working-class buddies enjoy luxury lodging and other similarly lavish perks during their copious free time. Just as naturally, Luis spends most of his waking hours redefining the term Ugly American while crudely hitting on any female in his orbit, while sweet-natured Eddie effortlessly charms every woman he meets, including Colette, even as he strives to remain faithful to his nagging wife (Rosie Perez) back home.

Reunited with director and co-scripter Ian Edelman, with whom they previously worked on the HBO sitcom “Making It in America,” Guzman and Garcia are given plenty of time to riff, squabble and crack wise, all in an attempt to flesh out their one-dimensional roles. Some of their comic business is tedious, but their squabbling give-and-take is good for a few welcome laughs.

The female co-stars, including Rosario Dawson as a commitment-ready beauty who’s weary of Luis’ marriage-averse mindset, function primarily as straight women to the two leads. For some inexplicable reason, Alice Taglioni sports garishly hued hair during the film’s final scenes. That, unfortunately, doesn’t make her seem any funnier.

To give credit where it’s due: “Puerto Ricans in Paris,” which Focus World is opening in theatrical and VOD release June 10, one year after its L.A. Film Festival premiere, features some attractive exterior shots filmed in the titular city. Interiors filmed in Prague aren’t bad to look at, either.

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LOS ANGELES: The sound of silence dominated ArcLight Cinemas in Culver City as the LA Film Festival closed out its 22nd edition with the US premiere of Jonas Cuaron’s taut immigration thriller “Desierto.”

“I did the film to have the audience on the edge of their seats from beginning to end,” Cuaron admitted to the audience in introducing the film.

He began working in 2008 on the story about illegal Mexican immigrants, led by Gael Garcia Bernal’s character, facing a nightmarish scenario in the desert north of the border due to a rifle-toting vigilante (played by #). He then teamed with his father Alfonso for the “Gravity” script before turning back to “Desierto.”

His father admitted that he was still struck by the contrast in terms of the amount of verbiage in each movie.

“Unlike ‘Gravity,’ which is very driven by dialogue, he decided to strip it of dialogue so it’s very visceral,” Alfonso asserted. “If there’s too much dialogue, there’s no room for poetry.”

The younger Cuaron noted that the location was essential to the movie. “I scouted deserts for two years — Almeria, Anza-Borrego, the Mojave — but southern Baja California worked best.”

STX Entertainment, which acquired the US rights following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, decided this week to launch the film on Oct 14 — just three weeks before a presidential election in which Republican nominee Donald Trump has made stopping illegal immigration a cornerstone of his campaign.

Carlos Cuaron, an uncle of Jonas and a producer on the film, said on the red carpet that the election-season date makers sense. “My first reaction five years ago when I read the script was that here was an action story with a real social conscience,” he added.

LOS ANGELES: FilmBuff has acquired the drama “I Am Gangster” on the eve of the movie’s West Coast premiere at the Dances With Films festival, Variety has learned exclusively.

The deal is the first acquisition announced at the Los Angeles-based fest, which concludes its 19th version on Sunday. FilmBuff will release “I Am Gangster” worldwide on all VOD platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu, later this year.

The story centers on three young men in East Los Angeles trying to survive on a daily basis: an idealistic rookie cop, a hardcore gang member and a rebellious teenager who flirts with gang life.

Moritz Rechenberg directed from his own script, co-written with Caroline Chang, Mark McKeown and Kelly Parker. Ralf Weinfurtner is producing.

The movie originated from a collaboration with members of the Teen Club of Hazard Park in East Los Angeles, when Rechenberg and club members created a short film called “Ticked” in 2008.

Veteran actors Marlene Forte and David Barrera star along with Rick Mancia (“East Los High”), Gilberto Ortiz (“Lady Dynamite”) and first-timer Abraham Bobadilla.

“Our collaboration with the youth, the leaders, families and community in East Los Angeles is key to the film, and we are proud to have been able to work with them in making the feature,” said Rechenberg.

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