Problemista

A wonderful quirky film full of magical realism that manages to strike a chord with all the people struggling one way or another and offering a hopeful and positiv message of perseverance against how impossible it sometimes feel to not just get ahead, but simply survive. A small masterpiece in the vain of good old indie films as they used to make them in the late 90s and early 00s with an exellent performance by Tilda with a especially great scene of her getting her way with a cablecar operator torwards the end and beautiful naturalistic cinematography Fredrik Wenzel. This film having a rating of 6.9 is a crime, don't sleep on Julio Torres magical first time outing as a feature film director.

Problem solver - well sort of and sort of not. So no pun intended - I got lucky catching this at a sneak preview in cinemas. A movie that is quite ... well inspirational and really feeds into your brain and your fantasy. It also is giving you social commentary and might be able to push you - because you may not think of feel it, but you too can be and become what you want to. You just have to change your behavior and demeanor ... I am obviously kind of kidding, but there still is some truth to this. The acting is superb - the script is just amazing! The ideas super funny. I am not sure what inspiration the actor had for his main character walk, but you won't forget it. Hitting your over the egg with it ... I mean head. But you catch my drift. Humor is weird and strange in the best way possible. Watch it if you can - let your imagination run wild.

The problem with a comedy is that you will never please everybody as we all have a different sense of humour. I read that some other reviewers found it very funny whilst I found Problemista an entertaining movie that I enjoyed watching but not really funny. It has an ironic tone but it's not a tearjerker. Writer/director Julio Torres also played the main character, a weird looking nerd that tries to get sponsored by Tilda Swinton who plays an annoying "Karen". They both did a good job with their performances. The rest of the cast was good as well, but it was more about the two main characters than anyone else. It's worth watching.

Writer/Director/Star Julio Torres' "Problemista" is a concoction that's equal parts surrealism, magical realism and outright whimsy. Born in El Salvador, Torres moved to New York City to attend The New School. He was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" from 2016-2019 and Creator/Writer/Star of HBO's "Los Espookys" (2018-2022). Several members of the "Los Espookys" supporting cast appear in this film. Many elements of "Problemista" are autobiographical. Torres stars as Alejandro, a young man who has recently arrived in New York City from El Salvador. Alejandro aspires to work at Hasbro to create new, odd versions of Barbie and the Cabbage Patch Kids. While trying to secure his work visa, Alejandro is fired from his job at FreezeCorp, where he was overseeing the remains of the freeze-dried, err, cryogenically maintained, artist Bobby. Bobby's widow Elizabeth takes on Alejandro as an unpaid assistant. Elizabeth will sponsor his visa application, so long as Alejandro helps her curate an exhibition of Bobby's paintings. As the ever-present narrator, Isabella Rossellini ("Marcel the Shell with Shoes On") provides the calm, thoughtful exposition that helps the moviegoer navigate this maze of odd events. Torres uses his platform to point out the insanity of the immigration system he endured. For example, Alejandro is required to submit a $6000 filing fee with his visa application even though it's against the law for him to work in the US without, wait for it, acquiring a visa. Torres uses sand flowing through hourglasses to depict the plight of immigrants enmeshed in this Kafkaesque waiting process. When an hourglass runs out, it - and presumably the visa applicant - simply disappears. Throughout the film, Alejandro shuffles around on tiptoes, presumably terrified of doing anything to upset the delicately balanced craziness of his visa application or the surreal world he inhabits. There's also some time spent sympathetically depicting what it's like to be a gig worker trying to survive in NYC. Along the way, the New York art community takes a couple of well-deserved broadsides. In the role of Elizabeth, Tilda Swinton is likely to induce PTSD in any moviegoer who's ever had an unreasonable boss. Elizabeth rails about service in restaurants and about service from Apple. For no apparent reason, she spends a lot of time obsessing about the virtues of Filemaker Pro (it's a real thing), which Elizabeth believes is essential to properly organizing and curating her deceased husband's paintings. Eggs are the subject all of Bobby's paintings. His entire collection includes thirteen works. Elizabeth is labelled "the hydra" because she creates two additional problems every time she addresses an issue. She's a total maniac, but she also believes in Alejandro, in her own demented way, and suggests he should take up for himself a little more. This is hardly a perfect film. The connections among the various scenes in the film can sometimes be tenuous. At points, Swinton's character feels like fingernails on a blackboard. The surrealism regularly injected into the story will be off-putting for many (include me in that group). Even so, "Problemista" is an ambitious feature film debut for a writer/director well on his way to fully finding his voice.

This comedy movie was a disaster from start to finish. It felt like the comedian recycled his stale jokes from the past eight years into a two-hour film. There was no visual translation that didn't induce cringing. His jokes might work on stage because the audience can use their imagination, but on screen, they fell flat, like props in a Terry Gilliam fever dream. He's a better stand-up writer and storyteller than an actor. The movie was forced, slow, and pretentious. I'd give it a 2 out of 10, acknowledging the effort it took for a Salvadoran migrant to break into Hollywood, but even migrant tragedies have evolved, while his humor hasn't aged well, especially when translated to the big screen.