THE STORY – Camilo, a Cuban lifeguard, saves a Mexican businessman named Abel from drowning in the Caribbean Sea. Grateful, Abel “rescues” Camilo, by offering to take him to Mexico and become his right-hand man. Abel introduces Camilo to his daughter, Juana, whom he marries and with whom he eventually has a daughter. But soon, Camilo discovers that everything was part of a Machiavellian plan of manipulation and control. With his new life collapsing, he must uncover who is behind the plot and take control of his own destiny.
THE CAST – Gael García Bernal, Esmeralda Pimentel, Débora Nascimento, Jorge Salinas, Natalia Oreiro & Anna Díaz
THE TEAM – Gael García Bernal (Director/Writer) & Mariano Pensotti (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 116 Minutes
A chance encounter can lead to significant life changes and a whole host of headaches. Take Cuban lifeguard Camilo (Gael García Bernal), whose brave act of saving a drowning man leads him to a new job, country, and life, seemingly full of riches, in the actor’s latest directorial feature “Hombre al agua.” But just because things look glamorous from the outside doesn’t mean they’re all that on the inside. In this psychologically astute comedy of manners, Bernal takes on ambition, class, and social advancement through an eclectic mix of characters and increasingly chaotic situations. It’s an intriguing watch, with Bernal delivering a stellar performance, but the script packs too much in and holds back on its most interesting aspects, leading to an unfocused final product.
This story takes us to a gorgeous villa with doors and windows wide open to let the gentle Yucatán breeze in. However, things are anything but relaxing in Camilo’s life. After he saved Mexican businessman Abel (Jorge Salinas) from drowning, the two of them cozied up during a night of drinking, which led to Camilo getting a job at Abel’s seal manufacturing business, marrying and having a child with Abel’s daughter Juana (Esmeralda Pimentel), and moving to the family’s country manor. The marital bliss between Camilo and Juana has seemingly passed, and when she’s not ignoring his incessant calls around the house, they’re hilariously failing at keeping their sex life exciting. Unfortunately for Camilo, the chaos is only just beginning. After his father-in-law sustains an injury, he’s tasked with looking after Abel’s secretly pregnant Argentine mistress, Silvina (Natalia Oreiro). At the same time, a film crew takes over his home as Juana and Brazilian film star Fabiana (Débora Nascimento) work together to make a movie about the heiress’s life. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Abel later decides to pivot to politics, leaving Camilo with a heavy load of guilt when it comes to uprooting their business.
As far as an absurd comedy goes, Bernal hits the nail on the head with his funhouse of characters and the situations they find themselves in. His home becomes a circus with its merry band of performers, whether due to the intense acting rehearsals between Juana and Fabiana, who are either pissed at him for interrupting or eager to get into character with him, or Silvina’s restless and mysterious nature. Abel doesn’t give him much rest either, with his political aspirations, and Camilo tries to navigate his own political career by downplaying his Cuban roots. But somehow, Camilo stays cool and calm through it all because of Bernal’s suave nature. Despite losing control of almost every situation in his life, he doesn’t really let it bother him, which only adds to the absurdity of this film. The only person who could ever match his cool is The Dude from “The Big Lebowski,” who would certainly have a lot to say about all the bad vibes here.
But his quiet nature also says a lot about how he’s viewed as a “visitor” in his own home and life. Coming from meager means in Cuba and ascending to a life full of riches, he’s basically held hostage by others and expected to accept all that comes to him, good or bad. That’s most apparent in his relationships with Abel and Juana. His father-in-law, a domineering and manipulative presence, all thanks to Salinas’ great performance, will say and do anything he wants and has come to expect loyalty from those around him (sounds familiar in today’s political climate). By extending so much to Camilo, he holds power over his son-in-law and backs him into any corner he can, as seen when he forces him to bear the brunt of laying off people at the factory or making him become his chief of staff. At the same time, Juana harbors complicated thoughts about Camilo and his capitalistic ascent, and it shatters him that she thinks he’s a greedy social climber. But instead of having them get into the complexity of their relationship, Bernal has them “talk” to each other through an acting exercise, except it’s Camilo and Fabiana rehearsing for Juana’s film and discussing who knows what. In general, Bernal’s script frequently stops short of exploring the juicy parts of these characters, likely because there are too many of them, which prevents us from fully understanding what they’re all about. Lots of questions swirl about Fabiana and Camilo – he watches her strange black-and-white TV drama on a nightly basis – and Silvina, who has nothing to do but lie around and close herself off from the rest of the house.
Around the hour mark of the film, Camilo encounters a stranger who introduces doubt into his world by informing him that his life is a thriller, not a melodrama, and that things aren’t what they seem in this family. To any viewer, that would perk their ears up and get them excited for a wild, psychological ride for the rest of the film. Here, Bernal frustratingly continues business as usual until the final 10 minutes, during which Camilo’s actions send characters into a frenzy and bring truths to the surface. All of that is juxtaposed with flooding that hits the region and scenes from the black-and-white TV drama of a prisoner pole vaulting over the wall, which not-so-subtly parallels him opening the floodgates with the truth and breaking free from his life. It comes so late in the film and leaves us with so many more questions about these characters, especially Abel and Juana, but once again, he doesn’t give us any juicy dialogue or additional scenes with them.
“Hombre al agua” is a fun watch for most of its runtime because of crazy characters, intriguing performances, and increasingly weird situations. Bernal is someone you can count on to deliver an amusing performance, and it’s no different here with his controlled, man-increasingly-on-the-edge role. But as director/writer, he holds the film back from really taking off by keeping its most interesting aspects hidden until the final minutes, and once they’re revealed, you’re left wanting more. It’s frustrating, but just as life has shown Camilo, you don’t always get what you want.
