How to Be a Latin Lover (2017)

“How to Be a Latin Lover” stars Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, Rob Corddry, and Rob Riggle.  Released on April 28, 2017, the film follows a man who made a career of seducing rich older women.  When his wife dumps him, he moves in with his estranged sister and her son and tries to recover his Latin lover skills.

The film is directed by Ken Marino, who was a cast member of MTV’s The State and produced and wrote films such as Diggers and Wanderlust.  This latest feature comes from Pantelion Films, who is known for distributing films that are aimed towards Latino audiences.  To be honest, I was surprised that my cinema decided to include this film since they didn’t get the other films that are distributed by Pantelion Films, including the 2013 film, Instructions Not Included, which also starred Derbez.  The film’s concept sounded pretty weird from the trailers, and by that, I mean the “man seducing older women” type of weird.  It’s almost like something that Adam Sandler and his friends would make for Netflix.  After seeing it for myself, I was quite surprised at how it turns out.

Pros:
The cast delivered some good performances, including Derbez as Maximo and Raphael Alejandro as Hugo.

The film’s theme about family was heartwarming.

Healthy mixture of comedy and heart.  Most of the jokes were hilarious.

Cons:
The story can be predictable at times.

The runtime was a bit too long.

Final thoughts: While nothing special, “How to Be a Latin Lover” follows the steps correctly to deliver a heartwarming, yet often hilarious, story about the importance of family.  At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like this film because of the jokes that they used, but when its central theme came into play, it surprisingly left a big smile on my face.  I think if you like Derbez in Instructions Not Included, you’ll like him in this as well.  If you’re in a mood for something that’ll make you laugh and smile, then I would say this might be the film for you.

B