Truly Dreadful Film

i must have seen a different film!!

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This movie lets us see that learning has no age limit. The older generations learn from the younger and vice versa. Chano learned to be opened minded and to handle new technology while reminding a group of students the importance of romance and values. The main message of this movie is to not forget our values, that we should always respect one another and that the old romance ways don't age. Friendship is a strong point in this movie and we learn that it has no age limit. When Chano's younger friends see his suffering, they want to be there for him.This movie was filmed in Guanajuato and I really enjoyed watching the scenery and the culture of the town.

I watched this movie because the buzz was too much already and I thought something good had to have. Big mistake."El estudiante" has a good idea of a story but the script is so bad it makes good actors (like Jorge Lavat or Norma Lazareno) sound and look false and overacted. With cheesy and prefabricated dialogues it's nothing more than a very sad try to do a Hollywood film but in Guanajuato, MX. Some scenes are such clichés that you could literally translate them to English and name the movies they are in.The director obviously has no experience directing actors or he is very bad at it. You can see how very talented actors struggle with scenes and end up giving a very poor performance. There are acting shortcomings one can't believe a director could let them make it to the final cut.The only thing they did good was to merchandise the movie and build buzz around it. How they did that? Publicizing the fact that the writer and director were unexperienced (amazingly in México that's a box office booster) and then using easy and shameless emotional manipulation in the movie to make everyone talk about it.Very good work by the DP but, then again, wrapped by the rest, it's sad.

Highly recommended by some people I really respect I went to see this movie. The main argument behind the recommendation was "the message" this movie delivers. After 90 minutes of excruciating pain, I can tell you: the message are bad news. This movie takes back Mexican Cinema more than 40 years - at least- and it looks like the movie was made right in the 60's, along with some Mexican Marga Lopez' classics such as La Edad de la Inocencia or La sombra de los hijos. With a cast of unknown actors -just three recognizable faces - and a generic soapy theme, it is pretty hard to expect great deliverance and quality in acting, yet the amateurish use of cameras and obvious lack of direction results in a total fiasco. However, the main problem here is the screenplay that reduces Don Quixote novel to mere phrases or quotes recited with childish style by the actors. The interaction between the old character and his much younger counterparts is never truly developed and ends up being totally unreal and not believable - not to mention the lack of modern language that clearly sets this movie as an anachronism. Trust me there is no college educated Mexican young person who speaks like the characters or who does not know Jose Alfredo Jimenez - for Christ sake , being Mexican and not knowing him is a blasphemy !!Probably the decision of not including crude language has to do with the intention of creating a "family movie with high values", well if that was the intention, the result is a pamphlet or a brochure ...mere propaganda, and as you know...propaganda is no good.On the other hand if the goal was to make a movie about bonding, friendship and the continuous learning despite the generations gap, they may had take some lessons from other sources. Grand Torino or UP rings a bell, don't they ???

This is a very nice and refreshing film. I like it because there is no need to talk about the wrong things to attract the public. Mexico is a wonderful place to live, plenty of values.The main attraction in this film is the everyday life which can be enjoyed if only you can see from certain perspective. Love, solidarity, hope are great values This film changes a little bit the parameters: in this case when the freshman at the University is an old man who follows his dreams and get into the University. He learns and teaches at the same time.Don Quixote and Guanajuato. Love and hopes seems not to be a coincidence to be blended in this film, is how it is in real life.This is a Universal film that I think will be remembered and awarded.Nice photograph, music, script, acting, message, a round film, perhaps little bit exaggerated.Last but not the least the location. It was filmed at the beloved city of Guanajuato. I lived there for several years and the colonial and world heritage city, is a silent and beautiful actress of the film where a lot of details are captured, so as the beautiful jacaranda flowers.In brief, it's a beautiful and highly recommended film.----------------------------------------------------Message to the Mexican film makers: No need to deploy our mistakes there is a lot of chances in our virtues. Congratulations for this novel director for doing so.