Related Links

• AV Club Blog

More Movies

• Review: Hit man comedy 'In Bruges' mixes laughs, blood
• Coen brother, 'Old Men' top picks for Oscars
• Review: 'Be Kind Rewind' has funny bits, but not enough

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Maybe "Tortilla Heaven" isn't a bland, embarrassingly hokey film made in northern New Mexico.

Perhaps it's a subversive and ironic guerrilla project. You know, seemingly a throwaway cornball movie but really an attempt to create a clever metaphor for a state selling its soul to Hollywood. Or an eviscerating satire of the illusion of truth-telling and riches to be found in the filmmaking industry.

I want it to be the latter, because no one would release a movie like this in A.D. 2007 with a straight face.

"Tortilla Heaven" is a cardboard cutout of a film. Based on a true story, it introduces us to a northern New Mexico restaurateur, Isidor (Jose Zuniga), who accidentally burns a tortilla, burnishing it with the image of Jesus.

Before long, folks are flocking to the tiny town to witness the "miracle," including a devilish businessman, Gil (Miguel Sandoval), out to corrupt our hero. Sandoval is the best thing about this movie, but his character is so broadly drawn that he might as well be wearing horns and holding a pitchfork.

You can guess the rest: Isidor starts charging admission to the shrine, covets a fancy stove, starts selling out his town in cahoots with Gil and stops paying attention to his virtuous, college-bound son.

And you can guess even more: At some point, Isidor must see the error of his ways and rescue the town from Gil. Does he succeed? Does it matter?

"Tortilla Heaven" is a throwback to a time that really only existed in some far-away "Wonderful World of Disney" galaxy. The filmmaking is slick at times, with beautiful colors and gorgeous landscapes. But technically, Judy Hecht Dumontet splices it all together as if she were wearing boxing gloves. (There is actually one of those circle dissolves like in Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" and in, well, those old silent movies.)

Her script, written with Mitchell Lieb, is a string of caricatures and clichés. They smack you in the face with a Bible, barely even masking the constant allusions to parables. (Not once but twice someone mentions that God works in mysterious ways. And would you believe that Isidor, in his moment of doubt, literally looks to the stars and talks to God - and asks why?)

The acting is uneven. It says a lot that one of the better performances is by a fairly wooden George Lopez, who filmed his scenes years ago, before he became famous and wouldn't have gone near this project.

The rest of the characters tend to be walking stereotypes, drawn so broadly that they border on being offensive. There is the naked earth lady, the earnest teen lovers and small-town simpletons that make the cast of "Green Acres" look like sophisticates by comparison. We're supposed to find them all charming. Why, I'm not sure.

The plot is simplistic and farfetched. Its execution is ham-handed. (The image of Jesus on the tortilla is so literal and detailed that it's ridiculous; it looks like a Xerox.) Nearly every line is delivered with a pointy elbow to the ribs.

It all gives magical realism a bad name. And maybe it gives New Mexico a bad name.

Are we really perceived as a pack of yokels who will tolerate any depiction of us on the big screen? Are we easily mesmerized by local references, green-chile jokes and a panoramic view of a landscape - God's handiwork that we can see out our backdoor anytime and don't need "stylized" by derivative filmmakers?

And what if this really is someone's cruel joke, movie folks daring New Mexicans to tolerate such insulting slapstick depictions of themselves? Why do we aspire to hand out tax breaks to such forgettable fare and train our workers for careers in such a cynical industry?

For what? The chance to tailor Charlize Theron's dress? (Hey, I just made a hem-of-her-garment reference. Get it?)

Is Dumontet telling us to wake up and stop worshipping at the cineplex shrine?

I doubt it.

Dumontet spent years shooting and reshooting "Tortilla Heaven" and fighting to get it released. As you'd expect, she considers it a minor miracle that her little movie is making it to the big screen.

Will miracles never cease?