DVD Review: Rick de Oliveira’s The Real Cancun on New Line Home Entertainment

Body shots. Tequila shots. Boobies! Boobies! Boobies! Get your freak on with this DVD edition of The Real Cancun.

The Real CancunRick 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.

Image/Sound

New Line Home Entertainment delivers a spectacular video transfer for this DVD edition of The Real Cancun, which preserves the film’s original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Every bit as libidinal as the film, this untainted transfer (save for some minor though relatively non-intrusive edge halos) features rock-solid blacks and colors that feel vibrant and incredibly alive. Sadly, the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is no where near as good. Because the dialogue for the film is presented here at a drastically lower end than that of the music, you may spend the duration of the film lowering the volume when the music kicks in and raising it whenever any of the film’s horny hotties start talking (or moaning).

Extras

No commentary track, but it’s not like a film like this even needs one. First up are 30 minute’s worth of cast insights. Recorded after the fun was had, these ruminations shouldn’t be confused with Real World-style confessionals. The film’s major players discuss the things they observed and learned before leaving their vacation paradise. Key here is catty and insightful Jorell’s breakdown of Sky’s quickie affair with his best bud Paul. A series of deleted scenes are juicy but frustrating: Fletch and the Frilot twins, under-appreciated in the film, saw some of their scenes cut; and Alan actually got play on his last night, but that his fucking scene was cut suggests that the filmmakers wanted to show him in a less lascivious light. Also included here are scenes from the film’s premiere at Los Angeles’s Egyptian Theater, seven TV spots, the film’s theatrical trailer and previews for Run Ronnie Run!, Freddy vs. Jason, Highwaymen, Dumb and Dumberer.

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Overall

Body shots. Tequila shots. Boobies! Boobies! Boobies! Get your freak on with this DVD edition of The Real Cancun.

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 Home Entertainment  Running Time: 97 min  Rating: R  Year: 2003  Release Date: July 1, 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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