Review: The Real Cancun

Girls Gone Wild meets The Real World in miniature, with Snoop Dogg’s seal of approval.

The Real Cancun
Photo: New Line Cinema

Rick de Oliveira’s The Real Cancun is Girls Gone Wild meets The Real World in miniature, with Snoop Dogg’s seal of approval. Geriatric critics predictably dismissed this disposable but frequently funny catalog of fucked-up teenagers and young adults getting their groove on south of the Equator. Thoroughly repulsive Jeremy fucks housemate Laura one night and beds another girl the next. Laura gets mad but never realizes that the reason the idiot pays so much attention to working out his pectorals and nether-regions is that he has nothing going on above the neck. (Insert gratuitous shots of boobies.) Sentimental stud Matthew bonds over the course of the week with silicone hottie Sarah, who has a boyfriend back home. Matt fucks a girl on their last night in Cancun and Laura throws a shit fit as a result. (Insert gratuitous shots of male asses.) Boy-next-door Alan has never downed a drink in his life and has a particularly difficult time acting on whims. After succumbing to peer pressure, his sense of humor wins him a hot-bod contest and the affections of every horny gal on the beach. (Insert humorous jellyfish attack.) Sky teases Paul’s cock for a few days, driving him into the arms of an easy Asian gal. Sky gets mad, but rather than push Paul away she forces his tongue between her legs. The moral here is: guys are assholes and girls are all about the double standard. These are familiar stereotypes the Bunim/Murray cameras love to uphold but no one here is really putting up a front. Sans the talking-head confessional interviews familiar to fans of The Real World, the film makes everyone’s hang-ups readily available but with none of the personal introspection. Because of this, there’s a certain ambivalence that clouds the entire film, but it’s no less real or fun as a result.

Score: 
 Cast: Jeremy Jazwinski, Laura Ramsey, Matthew Slenske, Sarah Wilkins, Alan Taylor, Marquita "Sky" Marshall, Paul Malbry, Jorell Washington, Heidi Vance, David Ingber, Snoop Dogg  Director: Rick de Oliveira  Distributor: New Line Cinema  Running Time: 97 min  Rating: R  Year: 2003  Buy: Video, Soundtrack

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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