Directed By Tracie Laymon

Starring – Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, French Stewart

The Plot – When lonely 20-something Lily Trevino (Ferreira) accidentally befriends a stranger online who shares the exact same name as her own self-centered father (Stewart), encouragement and support from this new Bob Trevino (Leguizamo) could change her life for the better. Inspired by a true story.

Rated PG-13 for brief strong adult language, and thematic elements.

BOB TREVINO LIKES IT | Official Trailer | In select theaters March 21

POSITIVES

Feel good dramas typically come with an evidential telegraphed formula that draw so many of these films interchangeably with one another, however there’s plenty about Laymon’s direction that satisfyingly deviates from expectations, all the while supplanting an endearing engagement sure to tickle one or more of the intended emotional impulses that this movie reaches tenderly towards. For starters, the film is not only based on a true story, but it’s also Laymon’s own story to tell as a reeling young adult who suffered from a distant relationship with her father, which in turn imbedded her own internalized feelings of longing and loneliness that drove her undiagnosed depression. Because of such, the movie feels like a therapeutic epiphany for Laymon, who fearlessly and admirably delves back into the very uncomfortable territory that once plagued her, with tastefully balanced execution that never feels like it exploits Lily’s grief for convenience or even entertainment value, instead combining patience and awareness about the inferiorities that many people her age stemming from a broken home deal with, which already puts it one step ahead of February’s “The Unstoppable Boy”. Aside from the movie continuously having its heart in the right place, the script isn’t half as predictable as I expected it to be, particularly in both the journey taken with our duo of imperfect protagonists, as well as a poignantly stunning climax that I truly didn’t see coming. The fact that Tracie doesn’t glamorize or embellish the traits that define her characterization is what I truly found most refreshing about the film, defining Lily and the her newfound Bob with an air of discontent in isolation that makes it easy to define what each of them supplant to the other, in order to make them whole, and while typically a movie will be more worried about using these conflicts as periodic conveniences that pop only when the movie needs them to enhance the dramatics of the movie, here they’re very much a continuous part of their respective illustrations, which in Lily’s case makes it all the easier to comprehend why she does the illogical things she does in order seek resolution for her mind often getting the better of her. As for the aforementioned climax to the movie, I refuse to give away the details of this bombshell that levels everyone and everything in the wake of its devastation, but I can say that it’s very much the memorable blow that a movie like this needed to truly cement its story as memorable, with factual accuracy towards the details of the real life story that once more couldn’t have been easy for someone like Tracie to experience once more, only this time with more clarity and well-rounded earnestness from attaining a bigger picture from coming out better on the other side of it all. Then there’s the performances from Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo that supplant a wide range of emotions and personality to their respective undertakings, particularly Ferreira whose 26-year-old version of Lily feels like a child stuck in place from several traumatic experiences with her father. Because of such, Barbie revels in the internalized discourse of the character that articulates all of the longing and rage that come with being a virtual punching bag to someone dealing with their insecurities, and while it’s certainly nothing surprising, as Barbie often stole the empathy from the audience during her time on TV’s “Euphoria”, here there’s a far more confining element to her lack of self-esteem that transcends even everything that we’re seeing play out on-screen, with body language playing just as much of an important role as personality to the character, in ways the maximize the vulnerabilities of her psychological paralysis. Leguizamo is such a great comedic actor that we sometimes forget how great of a dramatic force that he is, and as the titular Bob Trevino, John combines a subtly sedated form of social awkwardness with a comforting significance as Lily’s nurturing hand, and it makes Bob not only the sturdy foundation that she needs to fill the parental gap plaguing her life, but also offers Leguizamo ample opportunity to command a screen with the kind of charismatic presence that charms, even with an abundance of ineffective dad jokes that he’s forced to unload towards his youthful opposition.

NEGATIVES

There’s been much praise about the movie’s dramatic depth, and while I constantly commend Laymon for even attempting to revisit such a tenderly vulnerable time in her life, the conflicts unloaded in the film lack any kind of effortless nuance towards summoning some uncomfortable situations between Lily and her father. Part of it is in the ridiculously over-the-top performance of Stewart, which even for a deadbeat feels wrongly cast for him, but the characterization towards this father is every horrible person trope that you’ve ever heard in your life, and it makes for the incarnation of evil, with a notebook of parental expenses unloaded at Lily’s hands, or him quite literally cutting her out of every family picture that he has in his possession. This is not to say that people like this don’t exist, as I myself come from an abusive father, but it’s almost comedic in the remarkable ways that this character continuously underwhelms in the eyes of his victimized daughter, where even as the only parental unit in her life, makes her character feel stupid for sticking alongside him. Then there’s the instances of illogic that became a bit distracting towards fully investing myself to these scenes, with all of them revolving around Lily and the lack of insight that she has towards everyday functions like cell phones or water valves on a toilet. I can forgive the latter on account of her possible inexperience working on toilets (Even if everybody should know that all toilets have water valves), but there’s absolutely no reason other than an aesthetic choice towards the movie’s imagery to have both a laptop and cell phone. It becomes silly when Lily continuously runs back and forth to her laptop, in order to see if the stranger Bob has replied to her constant barrage of messages, and it led to me nearly screaming out in a theater, “DOWNLOAD THE FACEBOOK APP, SO YOU CAN CONVENIENTLY JUST SEE EVERYTHING IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND!!”. This won’t bother most people, as others are able to suppress logic for the sake of being entertained, but my intelligence is worth a little more to suppress the idea that young adults aren’t spending a majority of their days on the phone, and after a while it just continued to frustrate me to go along with this charade, knowing that the movie is only doing it for comedic influence in making her look as desperate as possible. If this isn’t enough, the manipulatively meandering score from Jacques Brautbar continuously intrudes and overbears towards the interpretation of the audience, with these wet blanket compositions that hammer home emphasis towards scenes that lack any semblance of subtlety in order to sell them. The tones themselves are uninspiring and lack any kind of depth or diversion from the expectations of other films of the genre, but they’re made so much worse within the alarming levels of volume mixing that accommodate their springing influence, and the result comes across not only as these sappy and melodramatic drillings, but also a constant intrusion on the talents of Ferreira and Leguizamo, who can effectively garner emotional connection without these desperate schillings.

OVERALL
“Bob Trevino Likes It” offers just enough humanity as a stimulating crowd-pleaser to audiences seeking an inspiring story, or at the very least a good cry, but unnatural drama and overbearing obviousness are two conflicts that Tracie Laymon can’t overcome in her biggest and most personal film yet, enacting an unintentionally wallowing experience that nearly wastes away all of its good intentions. While the film is periodically plagued by the overzealousness of its own execution, it’s ultimately saved by the impeccable performances of Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo, who are undoubtedly the heart at the center of this melodramatically congested story, who upend and uplift such a poignantly bittersweet film about valuing what you have.

My Grade: 6.4 or C