Pulling Strings (film)

Pulling Strings

US Poster
Directed by Pedro Pablo Ibarra
Screenplay by Gabriel Ripstein
Release dates
  • October 4, 2013 (2013-10-04) (USA)
  • November 8, 2013 (2013-11-08) (Mexico)

Pulling Strings is a 2013 bilingual and Mexican romantic comedy film directed by Pitipol Ybarra. It’s about a single father and struggling Mariachi singer who falls for a U.S. Embassy employee while seeking for a visa for his daughter.

Plot

In Mexico City, Alejandro Fernandez is a struggling Mariachi singer whose wife died two years prior. His daughter Maria is struggling in school and hardly sees her father because of his job. To make things better, he is planning to get a visa so Maria would stay with her grandparents in Arizona. However, Rachel denies him a visa. Rachel Simons, an intelligent diplomatic, works for the embassy of the United States of America. After getting promoted in London, Art, her boss, entrusted her last duty to take care of the laptop, loaded with data, until he returns from the out-of-town business. Rachel’s overbearing mother belittles her daughter’s lifestyle because she isn’t happy about her promotion in London. There was a going-away party thrown by Rachel’s co-workers, including her friend Carol. Alejandro spots Rachel while he performs with his bandmates. He also spots her when she became too drunk, so he takes her to his home for her to rest. In the morning, Rachel panics when she awakens. After finding about the other night, she assumes that she misplaced her laptop. As a secret, Alejandro hides it and pretends to help find her computer, with his help of his comical best friend and band member, Canicas. If he stays close to her, he can convince her to give him the visa for Maria. Alejandro also asked other people to stick with his plan to pretend to look for her laptop throughout the city. Throughout his plan in two days, he takes Rachel to the bar where she had a party, the embassy, the taxi cab, the restaurant, and the hardware store. During the second day of his plan, Alejandro was supposed to do a performance for Maria, so he arrived late. After watching his performance, Rachel has close feelings with Alejandro. Rachel explains that she had a hard time connecting with people. Her father travels with his job, which makes it difficult for Rachel and her mother. Prior to those two days, Alejandro was supposed to pay the money to Hapi. Because of not paying on time, his place got robbed, including the laptop. Alejandro has three hours to pay him 2,000 pesos. In order to get enough money, Rachel has the idea of selling his albums and performing with his band. After singing one of his songs, the two kissed. When Alejandro arrives to pay Hapi, it wasn’t enough, because he is short of 200 pesos. Rachel helped Alejandro by trading her watch that her boss gave to her. The case was empty but it was at home found by Maria with a note. Throughout her experience, she was happy that she lost the laptop because she found Alejandro. They slept together. In the morning, she found out about his lie and felt betrayed that he used Rachel over his daughter that whole time. Alejandro tried to explain that the city is not a safe environment for his daughter, that’s why he wanted a visa. Rachel left him and didn’t speak to him again. After leaving him, Alejandro has been depressed upon his actions. Rachel still chooses London to make things better. Rachel’s mother finally accepts her daughter’s choices upon her job. She wants what’s best for Rachel, and that’s all it matters to her. While feeling depressed, Canicas tries to cheer him up. As Rachel is getting ready to leave for London, Carol and Canicas helped drove Alejandro to the airport to apologize and tell her that he loves her and persuades her to stay. He also explains the truth about making things right for Maria. But she refuses and leaves, still heartbroken. One month later, Maria finishes 3rd Grade. At the evening, Alejandro and Maria heard mariachi music through the window and sees Rachel. Rachel still has feelings for Alejandro, saying “there’s no you in London.” The two embrace and kiss.

Cast

Production

Strings happen to be based in Mexico’s capital and showcases everything the city has to offer. Jaime’s Alejandro character has to help Rachel locate a missing computer and, in the interim, introduces her to a lively culture she never knew existed. But as a director for Ybarra, there were some issues when it came to meshing the English and Spanish components. Ybarra, who is a Mexican native, had to learn to overcome a slight language barrier when instructing his American actors.[1]

Release

Pulling Strings was released in theaters on October 4, 2013. It was released on DVD on February 25, 2014.[2]

Box Office

Total domestic gross is $5,842,961. The opening weekend in the USA was $2,467,168. In worldwide, the total lifetime gross was $7,891,478.[3] It’s also the second-largest opening ever for Pantelion, behind “Instructions Not Included,” which in August opened to $7.8 million and has gone on to become the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever in the U.S. with $41 million.[4] Like “Instructions,” opening weekend audiences gave “Pulling Strings” a rare “A+” CinemaScore.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. The film has a 58% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews with an average rating of 5.6/10 without critic consensus. From the audience score, 72% liked the film, with the average rating of 4/5.

Spoofs

Tom Arnold's character comments on how a GPS tracking device revealed that the laptop had taken "quite a trip," yet the laptop itself never left Alejandro's apartment.

At the beginning of the story, Rachel demonstrates sufficient Spanish skills to hold conversations with immigration applicants, yet during the rest of the film Alejandro and Canicas speak freely in front of her without being understood.

References

  1. ↑ Lopez, Michael. "'Pulling Strings' Is Next Bilingual Movie From Pantelion Film Studio (TRAILER)". Huffpost Latino Voices. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Pulling Strings (2013)". DVD Release Dates. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Pulling Strings". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Cunningham, Todd. "Independent Box Office: 'Pulling Strings' Latest Spanish-Language Comedy to Connect". The Wrap. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
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