Papi Chulo is charming and sweet, while at the same time somewhat sad and uncomfortable. The story is about Sean (Matt Bomer), a young, white, recently single, physically appealing gay man who hires Ernesto, a Latino migrant worker, to do some house painting. Ernesto (Alejandro Petino) is older, straight, married, and a bit out of shape. Neither of them is bilingual but soon the relationship between this modern Odd Couple begins to morph, adapt, and continually be misunderstood until it ultimately becomes misconstrued.
The underlying
themes are important, and the acting and chemistry of the two main leads are a
major plus. It has some truly laugh-out-loud moments, especially when Ernesto
tries to explain to his wife each day how his workload is altered! My one main
criticism is that I never found Sean to be a likable guy. There is a narrative-reveal that comes about halfway through the story which addresses this, but even
after that revelation, I still found I just didn’t really like the character that much.
That aside, it had a wonderful message about basic humanity, and I laughed and
was invested enough that I would rate it a solid B. I’m appreciative of the
recommendation and consider it an experience well worth the film’s 98 minutes!
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