Recently I have just gotten sick of Hollywood films. I am tired of seeing the same old actors doing the same old things. I have never seen anything like this movie before. Sure, it obviously is not big budget or anything, but it is just so watchable (is that a word?) and funny...and even moving, at times. Everything is done beautifully. It doesn't have that cheap look some indies do.
Everyone in this movie is on a quest. After a hilarious misunderstanding that occurs during a conversation, Zack, this totally crazy, totally earnest young man, becomes convinced that an inn-keeper, Alfredo, is Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan. Zack decides to work for him so "Don Juan" can teach him all his mysterious lore. Meanwhile, the kid is just cleaning up around the hotel. Alfredo and his lovely, estranged daughter Ana are on a quest to rebuild their relationship and save themselves. A young couple, Alisa and Nathanial, are trying to save their relationship. Hmmm, some of this SOUNDS ordinary, but it is just so DIFFERENT. Maybe it's the magic of Mexico -- it was filmed in gorgeous Yelapa. That place is just so beautiful. After watching the film I felt like I had been on a vacation (and watching this was way cheaper than traveling to Mexico!). I loved it.
It's a real pleasure seeing something as refreshingly un-Hollywood as this film. It's well done -- and it truly is, for lack of a better word,independent. And original. And quirky and weird. Watch it if you are in the mood for something new and different and totally beautiful.