Barnes & Noble

Adolescent libidos fuel an unusual ménage à trois in Y Tu Mamá También, an erotic and sophisticated comedy-drama from Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón. The story is simple -- two privileged, sex-obsessed teens (Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna) take an older woman (Maribel Verdú) on an outing to a beach -- and plays out on one level like a teen-male fantasy. But there's more here than meets the eye, as the film's buoyant tone is repeatedly mitigated by an omniscient narrator. In the style of Jean-Luc Godard, this commentary uncovers hidden motivations and places the characters and events in a broader and often unsetting context. Meanwhile, the story unfolds as a road trip of sexual initiation, including some powerful personal revelations and homoerotic tensions that threaten to destroy the boys' friendship. The actors succeed with some truly challenging material here, handling graphic dialogue and physical intimacy with a grace that is at once sexy and vulnerable. Make no mistake: Y Tu Mamá También candidly explores its subject with a healthy and stimulating sense of humor and fantasy. But there's a dangerous undertow as well, resulting in a truly striking film of uncommon power. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Mexican-born, New York-based filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron directed this Mexican box-office smash hit about a pair of randy upper-class buddies that sparked some controversy for its frank depiction of drug use and sexual exploration. With their respective girlfriends away in Europe, Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his upper-class friend Tenoch (Diego Luna) are looking forward to a summer full of drink, drugs, and cheap meaningless sex. During a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdu) -- the 28-year-old wife of Tenoch's scholarly cousin -- and try to convince her to go on a road trip to Heaven's Mouth, a made-up beach paradise the two claim is on the Oaxacan coast. To their surprise, Luisa -- who is looking to escape her troubled life for a spell -- agrees to go along. Two days into the trip, tension starts to build between the two friends: Luisa has had sex with each, and now both lads are not-so-quietly vying for her affection. Soon simmering jealousies boil over into savage arguments, threatening to completely destroy their friendship. After an enormously successful run in Mexico and Guatemala, this film was screened to much acclaim at the 2001 Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. Jonathan Crow

Rolling Stone

Cuaron's hot-blooded, haunting and wildly erotic film revels in the pleasures of the flesh without losing touch with thought and feeling. Peter Travers

Washington Post

There are so many good things to say about this film it's hard to find a statement that really nails it. Perhaps we can leave at this: Y Tu Mamá También is originality writ large. Desson Howe

Los Angeles Times

Echoes the unmistakable freshness and excitement of the Nouvelle Vague, the sense of joy in being alive and making movies, that made those works distinctive and unforgettable. Kenneth Turan

Product Details

• UPC: 883904127536
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)