Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

trentonjones A slow, unsettlingly voyeuristic opening shot isn't the only thing that this film shares with it's younger brother Y Tu Mama Tambien. Both films use sexuality to explore the psyche of the protagonists, and tread the line between sex comedy and revelatory drama.Do not walk into this film anticipating some sort of deep thinking, however. Tenoch and Julio were completely broken down individuals, we saw what made them tick, etc...That multi-layering isn't existent within Tomas. He's a womanizer intent on attaining the most beautiful woman he's seen, nothing more. It's a much more straight forward goal and development, seemingly lacking the dimensions that Cuaron's future characters are comprised of.Tomas Tomas is an enthusiastic playboy adamant about not using condoms. When a scorned fling is put in a situation perfect for payback, she falsely marks his AIDS test positive, setting him off on a darkly comic quest to kill himself, but not before the love of his life finds out her husband is cheating on her and decides to end her own life as well. Tomas takes this opportunity to take her with him into death, as the one woman in his life, as far as we know, that he has a shred of respect for. This is revealed as he makes a list of the women he's slept with, laughing as he remembers their nick names, not necessarily even their real ones.Visually, this film marks a point before Cuaron adopted his now staple handicam cinematography. The shots are graceful and smooth, the editing the same. It was gorgeous, with more than one shot inserted solely for the composition (off the top of my head, the vial of Tomas' blood filling up in front of a black background, though the room was white) At more than one time I felt like pausing the film just to take in the images.While it marks a step toward what he will become, Solo Con Tu Pareja is a much more accessible and enjoyable film than the challenging ones that Cuaron eventually becomes known for. As a ribald comedy it succeeds, and it may be due to it's not trying to be. I'm not saying it's trying to be popcorn, but it also doesn't strive to change lives.

jzappa Solo Con Tu Pareja is a buried treasure. It's a bombastic screwball comedy by Alfonso Cuaron, who has since masterfully crafted Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men with stunning individuality and creativity, both of which are within the consistent, crisply paced spirit of slapstick and farce that flourishes throughout this enormously entertaining movie about Tomás Tomás, a yuppie playboy, and a young publicist. Silvia Silva, the frustrated dupe of one of his sexual misadventures, tries to get back at him by typing "positive" on his AIDS test. Tomás, wanting to end his life, meets Clarissa, a flight attendant, who is also trying to end her own after finding out that her boyfriend is having an affair.It seems tasteless to make humor out of AIDS, but if it's funny, what's the problem? There isn't one then, is there? And one can't dispute that it's admirable for a film, not to mention a comedy, to break the myth that AIDS is a seclusively homosexual disease, a myth built by masculine ego, which this film parodies by its womanizing protagonist, played by an admittedly less than charming actor though it is a role that would not be far from ideal for Cary Grant.Really, what makes the film so funny is how insensitive everyone is. So many characters laugh at someone's tragic misfortune, are cavalier with life-or-death situations, are indifferent towards farcical situations which tie themselves in knots and Clarissa, the flight attendant, winds up quite accidentally with Tomas's stool rather than the lunch she has packed. Cuaron, along with his brother Carlos with whom he collaborated on the zany screenplay, loosens us up with affronting insensitivity splashed all over his broad comedy.Aside from some explosively hilarious moments, a lot of one's enjoyment derives from the time and place in which this obscure gem was made. It has the feel of a high-production- value 1990s movie and conceives an expressionistic treatment of Mexico City as a personality, as a character in this film. Everything in this movie is alive, so how can one be offended by the film's seeming tactlessness? The filmmakers clearly have enormous strength of mind. They merely show us that life is life and fate is fate.

Joseph Sylvers HA! The first film by Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children Of Men, HP: Prisoner Of Azkaban), is a multi-layered satire of Mexican culture, and a hilarious lighthearted dark comedy? Tomas is an ad agent, and ladies man by reputation. He's...(read more) trying to think of a new slogan for the worst Chille in Mexico, sleeping with his boss, and trying to balance a revolving door of woman, with an interest in a mysterious new neighbor....which is all pretty standard Spanish language sex comedy(at the time this film was financed by the Mexican government the overwhelming majority of Mexican films where the saucy soaps you see on Telemundo)...which is why a little over half way through the film, a jaded ex lover of Tomas, falsifies his AIDS report to make him think he is HIV positive, and then the fun really begins. It's as well crafted and gorgeously shot as any of Cuaron's other films, and the in-titles used before the film, do not merely recall the french new-wave, they serve as linguistic puns for each section of the film, be they the poem by E. E. Cummings about the color green(used again and again in this film, shoes, rooms, the Aids report),to the Itsy Bitsy Spider(and the crossing the ledge sequence), to Newtons third law of thermodynamics, to the Olympic Slogan, each heading really does say a lot. It's appropriate that the last heading be an actual slogan, which is what Tomas is trying to come up with for most of the film. And in the end, a slogan is what he get's "love is the cure for those sick of life". Like the traditional comedies of old, it even ends with a marriage! The film is a satire of Mexican soaps, but also the way Mexico sells it's stereotypes,(Tomas's neighbors ditch, two Japanese business associates who don't speak any Spanish with Tomas, to go watch "the new Kurosawa film". Tomas takes them through a montage of traditional Mexican debauchery, Mariachi's, bars, something that looks like shots of Tequilla..?, etc), and let's not forget the scene of the Aztex running epically down the beach (one of the first scenes), only to run into a Conquistador and offer him Gonzalez Beans. Or the dream sequence on the plane with Mexican wrestlers, Mariachi's and a host of assorted references. I can see how some could compare this to Pedro Almodvar, the zany surrealism of "What Have I Done To Deserve This" comes to mind, easy. But even at his best he was never this laugh out loud funny. In some ways it's also a coming of age tale, it begins with a sex scene(like Y Tu Mama Tambien), where Tomas claims he has no condoms, though a few moments later we see that he has plenty(not that he ever uses them, this scene plays out more than once). At the end he is buying a pack for himself, just as his friend the gynecologist, so envious that Tomas can indulge in the desires he represses, by the end of the film, is able to see his relationships in a new light as well. That being said, this was really, really, funny, clever, and just a pleasure to watch.

Brian Ellis Hilarious Mexican version of 70's and 80's sex comedies but with a contemporary theme. Some may find this film veers a little too close to bad taste but it is done with such enthusiasm only a really repressed individual would complain. Shot in cinemascope, the film takes advantage of this to show a cosmopolitan and modern Mexico City that is rarely shown in film. A film that never lets up with the humor until the end credits.