Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

How to Be a Latin Lover Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 9, 2017

How to Be a Latin Lover relentlessly skewers some stereotypes about “south of the border” types, but the fact that the film features such performers as Salma Hayek, Raquel Welch and Eugenio Derbez suggests that those sharing this general ethnicity are in on the joke and all too willing to poke fun at themselves. This is a film with some laugh out loud bits as well as some comedy that doesn’t quite hit the bullseye, but for less persnickety types it provides a decently consistent amount of laughter as it details the adventures of an aging lothario who finds his status as trophy husband seriously threatened. The film begins with a wonderfully funny sequence introducing Maximo and Sara as children, mindful of their exhausted father’s mantra that “you get what you work for, not what you wish for”. Unfortunately their father’s penchant for constant employment leads to a catastrophe (including a really great sight gag) that leaves the kids living in the back of the family station wagon with their distraught mother, which is when Maximo shares that he’s going to solve any future financial issues by simply marrying a rich woman. The film segues forward ten years to reveal Maximo as a young stud “working” as what amounts to being a gigolo at a tony resort, which is where he meets Peggy (Renée Taylor), an elderly widow. The film quickly segues forward again another several decades to depict a now middle aged Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) married to Peggy and more or less waiting around for her demise (he shoves a mirror under her nose every morning to see if she's still breathing). The film succinctly details what a schmuck (is there a similar term in Spanish?) Maximo has become, showing him getting from room to room on one of his countless hoverboards, while also treating the mansion's staff as disposable pieces of human garbage. On his anniversary with Peggy, he has obviously forgotten to get her anything, at which point he takes her shopping for a new car, which he just as obviously wants for himself. Unfortunately for Maximo, Peggy is smitten by the nerdy car salesman (Michael Cera in a cameo) and Maximo soon finds himself tossed out on his veritable ear.

Maximo attempts to take refuge at the home of his buddy Rick (Rob Lowe), another smarmy guy who has made a career out of bedding wealthy elderly women. Rick is involved with Millicent (Linda Lavin), a beyond rich woman with some decidedly kinky sexual proclivities. When this temporary housing situation doesn’t quite work out, Maximo has no choice but to go crawling to Sara (Salma Hayek), who is not exactly thrilled to see a brother who never seemed to care for the “little people” in his life before this moment. Sara is a widow herself and is attempting to raise Hugo (Raphael Alejandro) as best she can. (It’s some measure of Maximo’s general cluelessness that he keeps calling his nephew Hector.)

Maximo’s strategy is to simply find a new “older and richer” woman to pay for his life, but he soon discovers that being a middle aged trophy husband is not as easy as he might have hoped. The middle part of the film details his trials, including his repeated failures at a number of potential “real” jobs, while at the same time he finds himself bonding with Hugo, perhaps against his will. Hugo is smitten with a little schoolgirl named Arden (Mckenna Grace), whose grandmother Celeste (Raquel Welch) would seem to be the perfect target for Maximo’s ambitions, but of course things don’t go exactly as planned.

How to Be a Latin Lover has a rather large cast that is filled with a number of cable TV regulars like Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle and Rob Huebel (evidently being named Rob was a requirement for the supporting cast), all of whom deliver well timed bits in unavoidably underwritten roles. Kristen Bell is also on hand as a lonely worker who might be a decent match for Maximo if he can get past the fact that her net worth is zilch. But this is by and large Derbez’s film, and he does a nice job detailing Maximo’s journey toward fulfilment (even if that doesn’t necessarily mean any cathartic self realization).

The film’s writing is often very smart, and there are a number of well done sight gags along with some perhaps less effective verbal sparring going on, but the film is bright, colorful and fast paced, making it a pleasant if ultimately not very meaningful diversion. One tangential but refreshing element in the film is the inclusion of women far past their “ingenue” (supposed) prime, none of whom look like they’ve gone under the plastic surgery scalpel. Some of the bits feel like they may have had improvised moments, not all of which land successfully, but there are some other bits, including some goofy physical humor, that are often pretty funny. This may not exactly be a primer for potential trophy husbands, but its humor lands with enough consistency to make it a fitting lesson in cheerful, unambitious comedic filmmaking.

How to Be a Latin Lover Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

How to Be a Latin Lover is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Panavision's site lists the Arri Alexa XT as having been utilized, and this bright, energetic looking presentation offers traditionally sharp and well detailed imagery. There's a nicely wide palette being employed throughout the film, and fine detail as well as saturation are excellent in elements like the matching pink- purple suit jackets Maximo and Hugo wear to a party. Some select moments have been digitally tweaked to up the comedy, as in flashes of light which accompany Raquel Welch's first appearance. There's very little soft focus employed on the older female actresses, and as such fine detail reveals the nooks and crannies of an etched face, which I personally find refreshing and commendable. The final scene with a bit of a family reunion looks slightly softer than the bulk of the presentation, perhaps a result at least in part of some location photography.

How to Be a Latin Lover Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

How to Be a Latin Lover has an occasionally quite boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, with nicely placed surround effects in a number of scenes, including a party scene where Weird Al Yankovic makes an appearance. The film makes fairly liberal use of source cues, all of which feature good separation. Because at least some of these feature pretty propulsive percussive elements, low end is also effective. Dialogue is cleanly delivered and well prioritized.

How to Be a Latin Lover Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Ken Marino, Producer Ben Odell and Editor John Daigle


• Show Me Your Sexy! Learning to Be a Latin Lover (1080p; 17:35) is a typical EPK that benefits from a good selection of clips from the film and some fun interviews.


• A Little Help From My Friends (1080p; 11:10) documents the efforts of director Ken Marino calling in a bunch of his acting buddy chips to staff the large supporting cast.


• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p; 33:39)

How to Be a Latin Lover Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One's tolerance for Three Stooges level shenanigans may predict how much the sometimes silly humor of How to Be a Latin Lover will resonate. (The film actually has a very Stooge-esque face slapping sequence, and I as an inveterate Three Stooges lover found moments like these to be laugh out loud hilarious, but other, perhaps more discriminating, tastes may not agree.) While resolutely predictable, the film is also undeniably sweet and even ultimately affecting, and kudos need to go to Eugenio Derbez for making a perhaps unavoidably unlikable character actually kind of lovable. Technical merits are strong, and How to Be a Latin Lover comes Recommended.