Sunday, April 19, 2020

Searching For A Smile with Jose Jose.

In the dire times we’re living these days, we long to smile and feel happy; so we seek this with whatever makes us feel this way. In the case of Jose Jose in his 1st feature role, he “searches for a smile” through daydreaming of days that were special & meeting someone he truly loved.


Our young protagonist Jose (Jose Jose) is a young college student who loves his mother dearly since she’s about the only person who understands him. Jose is very timid & shy, so he differs very much from his buddies who are outgoing & easily talk to girls. What was supposed to be a normal day of bowling with friends turns tragic when Jose’s mother suddenly passes away thus leaving Jose without any family around. After the funeral, Jose daydreams of the time when he went to Acapulco with his friends to have fun & pick up girls out there, but of course though, Jose distances himself from the frolicking & Just daydreams at the beach instead. When Jose meets the wealthy blonde bombshell Carla (Nadia Milton), he instantly falls head over heels for her. At first, his shyness gets in the way of being with her, as he’s afraid to talk to her and even dance with her; eventually though him and Carla spend time together and a little romance blossoms. As this daydream comes to an end, Jose is back to facing the present time where his mother is now gone and hasn’t seen Carla for a while. Will Jose’s life become well again with the help of his friends? Will he see Carla again? Or will he end his life as he once told his mother?


It took me a while to get around to finally watching Buscando Una Sonrisa ("Searching For A Smile") and once I did, I was left with an unexpected impression. The movie at first came off so surreal & puzzling. Why surreal & puzzling? Because I was under the impression that Jose was literally lost in a daydream throughout the whole movie in the styles of Muñeca Reiña. However, after multiple viewings I finally realized I was not exactly right nor wrong either since Jose does indeed daydream quite a bit, but he’s not completely lost in them. When Jose sings, we feel what he feels since he longs for Carla & he expresses it with songs like “Buscando Una Sonrisa” and my favorite “Cosas Imposibles” which he plays on the guitar on the beach as he watches Carla socializing with his hippie friend. It’s also funny to note that the opening credits song of Buscando Una Sonrisa is “El Triste” which is Jose Jose’s most popular song. Made me wonder why the movie wasn’t just called “El Triste” instead of Buscando Una Sonrisa since Jose in the movie is a really sappy guy. Oh well, though.

Buscando Una Sonrisa is one of Ruben Galindo’s best dramas and his most oddest as well. The movie at times feels for real, but with like my first viewing, It felt surreal at times with the whole daydreaming thing going on and the ending even felt unrealistic. Without giving away the ending, I will say it seems that Jose once again daydreams one last time and it’s the sappiest of endings ever. Way too sappy & way too good be true even; but again, this is a sappy drama so maybe it was for real. I want to say it wasn’t though just to make the movie more interesting sounding. (Is this kind of interpretation allowed, though?) Jose Jose at times looked awkward in the movie, but only because that’s how his character is supposed to be like and he portrays this very well. For a first movie, Jose Jose did pretty good and of course his songs will make you wanna fall in love all over again. Jose was a very talented guy for sure. Nadia Milton as Carla was very good too. Her presence alone gets your eyes so very excited. She’s a very pretty girl and her overall attitude is so special, especially since she takes a liking to Jose and sees how truly special he really is. Where do I find one just like that? Acapulco, maybe?


 Buscando Una Sonrisa is a movie worth watching for sure. It’s entertaining, it’s peculiar in the good way and the music in the movie is very good of course. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to all the songs featured in the movie, but it’s been quite a lot of times for sure. Jose Jose would go on to star in several other movies that are far more memorable than this one. Still though, I wanna hype this movie up big time. This is the Jose Jose movie that started it all and for me & others alike; it’s the best movie the Prince of Song starred in.
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