Review: INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED

One of the most anticipated films in Mexico finally arrived to our theaters. It has been out in the U.S. for a few weeks now. This is our review of Eugenio Derbez's 'INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED'.

By Staff

Small note to begin with:

It probably didn't have such a big marketing campaign in the U.S. as it did in Mexico, but somehow this film broke single-theater records in its opening weekend.

Written, produced, and directed by Derbez himself, this movie tells us about 'Valentin', a gigolo from Acapulco who gets a present from a former girlfriend. This adorable present cries, eats, poops, grows every day, and goes by the name of 'Maggie'.

Valentin obviously has no idea how to be a father for the little girl so he goes in search of her mother all the way to L.A. in California. Problem is he doesn't know how to speak English and it, for what it seems, no one is going to take his problems away. Now he must do everything he can for his daughter, for whom he has now fallen madly in love for in just a few days.

Opinion:

We are not gonna sugarcoat it: We went into the theater expecting a good movie, but nothing close to the "superior film" the media wanted to sell us. We were wrong. It is an amazing film.

It is said that it took Derbez 10 years of his life to develop this material. For what we saw, it could very well be true. The movie is well developed, produced, taken care of and worked. Maggie and Valentin, the main characters, will steal your heart from the very beginning. The story never stops entertaining you and gives you plenty of new and interesting stuff to watch for at every sequence.

An added detail that we thought was risky was that Derbez not only used Mexican pop-culture to make people laugh, but also he included regular comedy stuff that audiences from any country can enjoy. It worked beautifully.

We want to ask you to give this film a VERY deserved chance and find it in your local art-theater (the only theaters that show international films in the U.S.).

It isn't a perfect film, but as close as only a few can get.