How To Incite A Riot, or, Oh, you were waiting?
Pandemonium reigned outside the Hotel Miramar before last night's Critics' Week screening of "Deficit," Gael Garcia Bernal's feature-directing debut. First, there was the late and very prolonged arrival of Mr. Bernal and his entourage, to the sounds cheering and chanting (and no small amount of grumbling about when they'd get their tuxedoed butts inside already).
By 8 p.m., when the screening was scheduled to begin, there was still a throng of some 200 people outside the hotel doors waiting for admission. Unfortunately, it wasn't until nearly a half-hour later that anyone realized the screening was full -- only no one bothered to announce it.
(How hard is it to get one of those beige-jacketed volunteers to go around shouting "C'est complet!" -- y'know, just to make sure everyone gets the message? Do they expect news to travel by word of mouth?)
In any event, one aggravated gentleman -- who had been waiting at least an hour near the front of the line -- got into a screaming match with an especially belligerent-looking volunteer. The latter at one point ripped off his beige jacket as if he were ready to engage in les fisticuffs -- all to the obvious delight of the crowd. It almost made missing the Bernal worth it. (Justin Chang)
(Editor's note: Given his behavior, I looked for a bad picture of Bernal. Unfortunately, none exist.)
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
Personally I think he may have bitten off more than he can chew showing his directing debut at Cannes and heading critics week.But I’m still keeping an open mind about the film at the moment. Just thinking about Bernal’s filmography he never makes easy choices, films like Bad Education, The King and Science Of Sleep are all very love or hate so maybe this one is destined to get a mixed reaction.
Here’s another review from Time Out London. This ones a lot more positive.
Geoff Andrew checks out Clooney, Pitt and Damon in action and reviews Gael Garcia Bernal''s directorial debut.
Making his debut as director in the Critics'' Week with ''Déficit'', Gael Garcia Bernal shows almost as much promise behind the camera as he has already as an actor. He plays the resolutely hedonist son of a wealthy but corrupt politician, entertaining his buddies at the family''s country villa and trying to cheat on his girlfriend while keeping an eye on his sister''s own drug-fuelled pranks. In short, it''s a variation on the country-weekend movie for slackers, astute in its dissection of a certain sector of Mexican middle-class youth, and genuinely engrossing in the last half-hour. If there''s a little too much macho larking around in the earlier scenes, at least Garcia Bernal shows that he can direct actors and knows where to put the camera
Posted by: Jen | 5/29/2007 7:35:37 AM
I think one (protracted hoopla) has to do with the other (disappointing film). I think people know when they''ve made a not so great film.
First rule of PR. Crank up the hype and restrict access before people get to see the film - so they''ll become extra desperate to get in. Maybe no one will notice it''s a dud. At least you get some red carpet coverage out of that.
Posted by: bob | 5/28/2007 11:46:48 AM
I like GGB very much and take all these negative words close enough. But even if it really was so unsuccessful debut, Gael the remarkable actor and as the actor he could not play badly.
Posted by: Lulu | 5/25/2007 11:59:23 AM
If sincere commitment and high spirits were enough, this first film by the supremely accomplished - even though still quite young - Mexican actor and heartthrob, Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Motorcycle Diaries, Bad Education) would be a masterpiece. Alas, these ingredients, while surely desirable, aren't enough, and the film that results, despite its noble intentions, is never compelling and only intermittently watchable.
Centred around the non-stop partying of a high-living rich boy named Cristobal (Garcia Bernal), the film depicts a fun day in the life of Cristobal and his 17-year-old sister Elisa (Sodi) and their friends around the family swimming pool. The more riotous the fun the kids have cracking jokes and talking at the same time, however, the less fun it becomes for the audience, especially for any adults who might happen to be present, and even more especially given the poor technical quality of the sound recording.
And that's before they start drinking. Once the inevitable booze and drugs are introduced, it goes from bad to worse, and the audience is doomed. At this point, the film begins to resemble nothing so much as a video of American college kids on spring break in Florida, but the wet T-shirt contest that some bored males in the audience might be vaguely hoping for does not materialise.
Posted by: dreamer | 5/24/2007 7:49:45 PM
No one blames the filmmakers for the disorganization of Critics Week -- but a filmmaker should show up early enough to allow his screening to start on time. And Bernal's late and protracted debut didn't help matters.
Posted by: Dana Harris | 5/24/2007 1:07:30 AM
I saw it, the movie sucked big time.
Posted by: emily | 5/24/2007 12:15:49 AM
Yes, I`ve read this stupid review too, but there is the others?
Posted by: Lulu | 5/23/2007 3:12:00 PM
I have found a review on screendaily (can't put the link here, sorry). It was not a very good one...
Posted by: Lea | 5/23/2007 2:46:09 PM
I just don`t get it. It`s seems that Justin Chang blame Gael in something? Which is strange
Posted by: Lulu | 5/23/2007 2:36:48 PM
Don''t shoot the messenger. The writer, Justin Chang, was there to review the film. He didn''t get in (as described), which means he now has to wait for a screener back in the States. Can''t speak for the other reviewers, but they may have been in the same line. Critics'' Week appears to be a particularly disorganized festival section.
Posted by: Dana Harris | 5/23/2007 2:11:26 AM
um.... a review please? this is one of the most anticipated movies of the festival and there isn't a single review on the web? WTF!
Posted by: chin | 5/22/2007 11:15:15 PM
but how was the movie?
Posted by: mexico fan | 5/22/2007 1:52:27 PM