By Samir Mathur
Contributing writer
Staff page | Twitter | Tumblr
Contributing writer
Staff page | Twitter | Tumblr
For all my Film Festival coverage, look for the tag FFF2012
MAMITAS plays in the 21st annual Florida Film Festival, at 4.45pm at Regal Winter Park Village on Saturday (4/14) and again on Thursday. (Details)
As I was watching 'Mamitas', I was thinking "Yeah, yeah. Arrogant troublemaker with difficult home life meets quiet, bookish girl who is pretty if not stunning. I can see where this one is going." And I was mostly right. The film doesn't break any new ground in terms of storytelling, but the two leads, EJ Bonilla and Veronica Diaz-Carranza, are so damn charismatic that it ended up winning me over. The film feels very authentic - it's shot in unglamourous east Los Angeles and offers the very relatable experience of a couple of young Mexican-Americans. And it's nice to see Joaquim de Almeida playing something other than the evil head of a drug cartel. 'Mamitas' looks conventional and predictable but its attention to detail and the authenticity of the performances and settings are hard to resist.