Source: Fandango.com
Alejandro Fernandez, interpretado por Jaime Camil, un actor famoso para sus roles en telenovelas, trabaja en un grupo musical en la película.
Pulling Strings enters the bilingual world in a manner rarely seen before in North American cinema. Following in the steps of Instructions Not Included, Pedro Ibarra’s Pulling Strings brings a healthy combination of Spanish and English to the American public during an important time for Hispanics— Hispanic Heritage Month.
The plot follows Alejandro Fernandez (Jaime Camil), a musician from Mexico City struggling to earn enough money to get his daughter, Maria, a visa to stay with her grandparents in Arizona. Alejandro wants a better life for his daughter, but when he presents his documents to diplomat Rachel (Laura Ramsey) at the U.S. Embassy, his visa is denied. From that moment on, he does his best to obtain that visa for his daughter.
Days later, Alejandro encounters the diplomat again at a party at which he is performing, but she fails to recognize him. After the party, Alejandro finds Rachel on a bus stop bench and takes her to his house to keep her safe. When Rachel wakes up the next morning, she realizes she has lost her computer and begins to search frantically. Despite her denying his visa, Alejandro and his bandmate, Canicas, agree to help her look for it.
Although it may be obvious to the audience as to why he decides to help her, Rachel remains completely oblivious and accompanies the two mariachis on a daring adventure across all of Mexico City with the hope of finding her precious computer.
Nevertheless, Rachel sees firsthand how good a man Alejandro really is throughout the journey. Alejandro displays care and devotion to Maria by his chivalry, among other good character traits he possesses.
Rachel also comes to face with the reality that, despite having lived two years in that beautiful city, she has never once tried to venture out and experience the culture just outside her door.
Alejandro begins to realize what truly matters in life and what his daughter Maria truly needs. He learns that what she needs is not the perfect place or environment to live in but rather the love, affection and affirmation only a father can give.
This film combines a heartwarming and endearing tale with its own fair share of comedy as well. Omar Chaparro, plays the role of a friend we all need via Canicas. He is ready for any task or situation, whatever it may be. Despite his goofy ways, Alejandro can count on him, even though Canicas does not speak English—or at least not much. However, if his Spanish is too fast for you to understand, no need to worry—there are English subtitles.
One thing this film forgot to include was subtitles in Spanish when they spoke English—this could make it difficult for Hispanics who may not be fluent in English.
Although it is better if you can understand the Spanish and the colloquialisms, the story is well understood and can be appreciated even if you do not know a lick of Spanish. If you happen to be familiar with Mexican telenovelas, from which Jaime Camil is most famous for, you will be impressed with his bilingual role. Importantly, Camil gives great musical performance throughout the film. Given his previous roles as an actor on Broadway and his discography, he perfectly fits the mariachi role in this movie.