How convenient - When I got the invite for Hawgwyld and Joubert's Manly Write-Off I couldn't think of anything to write about. "Something Men Talk About" is the requirement. Hm. And I pop Lowrider Weekend into the VCR and stare at the bikini babes and cars, and wonder ... "Something Men Talk About ...".

Doh!

So here goes, for Hawgwyld's and Joubert's Eps anniversaries, presente: Lowrider Weekend.

With the cover "art" this movie sports, it stands little chance of getting much attention. A bunch of guys dressed like typical hip-hop hoodlums, holding up a beer bottle in a brown paper bag ... Ay! Even I mostly picked this film up because it looks like something worth mocking.

Turns out, it's not a terrible film at all. Okay, it's an independent film. And it's low budget. So low budget in fact that we feature about a dozen Mexican restaurants' signage during the film, probably because those were the folks who kindly fed the film crew.

But frankly, anytime someone manages to get a film onto the shelves without Hollywood's grubby little fingers involved, I'm all for it. So here's the detailed report.

The Plot

Sonny Gutierrez, promoter of seemingly anything he can think of at the moment, gets a call from a friend he owes some money to. "Yo, where's my money?" may not be the most inventive line to start a film with, but at least it got better from there.

Charming hustler that he is, Sonny makes up a story about putting together the biggest lowrider show in Texas to make the money. He looks around his office and the magazine before him, reading out names of people, bands and car clubs, claiming them to be at the event. Oh, and by the way, it'd help if he could get another 50 grand to put on the show.

Once he hangs up, he has to get to work drumming up the acts he's promised. Above all, he needs film star Danny de la Paz. Luckily, Danny is an old friend of Sonny's and initially agrees to do the show. However, Sonny's tendency to get distracted by the coordinator of the bikini beauty contest has him lose the contract he was supposed to send out and Danny ends up agreeing to go to a car show in Japan instead.

From here on, Lowrider Weekend trails Sonny and his daughter trying to put the event together as well as numerous hopefuls with their bouncy, souped-up lowriders, getting ready to head out to San Antonio to win the 25 grand prize money for the hottest ride.

What this film does have:

Babes in bikinis.

Lots of babes in bikinis. And some wearing a bit more than bikinis. Okay, so a few of those with bikinis seem a bit well-fed, but for the most part, they're hot stuff.

And while we have the brief appearance of a few Latina valley girls, at least we are spared the typical 'tough broads with switchblade' stereotypes.

Cars. Lots of souped-up cars

Oh is it ever a heaven for people who like cars that bop around the sand pit like a drugged kitten with a tinsel ball. Frankly, some of these cars seem creepily sentient as they jump around to the soundtrack. I'm reminded of those freaky little Chevron commercials with the grinning cars talking to each other.

But there's also a few cars that are plain classics or are featured for their fancy paint jobs and some of them are just absolutley beautiful.

Characters, characters, characters.

Sonny Gutierrez is the kind of hustler out of necessity we remember from Cheech and Chong films, only minus the pot smoking. Lowrider Weekend has actually a number of quirky characters, like the lowrider grandma who runs off to the event and tries to join the bikini contest after she finds out her family wants to take her car away because she's too wild.

Then there's Baby Marin and that strange friend of his who keeps insisting that Davy Crockett has come back from the spirit world and needs to be hunted down. With a machete no less. Which turns out particularly stressful for all the participants of the lowrider show who bought a Davy Crockett hat at the local souvenir shop.

Ninjas. Need I say more?

If you can work ninjas into a Mexican film, you show at least some serious imagination.

Family Values

(Well ... men DO talk about those at times, especially when all the wives are listening. Right?)

At times, it's a wee bit strained when we get the Sonny/Daughter interaction shots to establish what a family-oriented man he is. There's the boy who buys a classic car and fixes it up to become a serious contender because his little sister needs ... yes! You guessed it! Exactly the amount of money as the grand prize at the contest for an operation or she may never walk again.

(How much money the boy spent on buying the car and dressing it up is never revealed, but it can't be too far off the 25 grand he needs to win. Small snafoo....)

And of course there's a few fatherly speeches about heritage and values and morals and pride from the head cholo or honcho or whatever he may be at one of the lowrider clubs.

What the film doesn't have

Lowrider Weekend is really, really low budget. (But don't let that stop you from checking it out).

A lot of real footage from car shows is added into the film; the transitions aren't always the smoothest, and the sound editing leaves something to be desired - some of the songs songs cut off rather abruptly.

Last but not least - the "show, don't tell" principle of script writing is often ignored. This film strives to stress values and, at times, the speeches get a bit preachy. The writer wanted to bring across principles, lessons and morals, and let characters hold speeches about it.

But while it may be executed a bit shottily at times, it does at least try to be entertaining and positive at the same time. The film is rated PG13 for "some sensuality and drug use", which I find rather moronic in this case.

"Sensuality" must refer to the bikini babes clinging to the guys like koalas to a eucalyptus tree, which is nothing you don't see at every newsstand. "Drug use" probably refers to the one scene where spirit guy gets the kidnapped de la Paz knocked out with the smoke from a huge pipe ... okay, so it really IS a bong, but in the context of the scene it's more of a native ritual thing.

Unlike the depiction of its cover, this film is drug and alcohol free and I wouldn't see a reason why kids couldn't watch it, unless your kids may be scarred for life because they see some broads in thongs strutting their stuff.

There are a few scenes where some characters speak a little Spanish and it's not being subtitled, so it leaves me clueless as to what was said. It's minimal, though, and mostly the other characters try to fill out the missing pieces.

There is also a DVD of this film on the shelves.

For further violations of good taste ... errr ... I mean, for more Manly Write-off contributions, see the web site at:

http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/mypageontheweb/page9.html

Above all, don't blame me.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups