‘Hombre Al Agua’ Review: Gael García Bernal’s Chaotic Comedy

The winning combination of whimsy, gravitas and good looks that Gael García Bernal has brought to both the big (Amores Perros, Y tu mamá tambíen) and small (Mozart in the Jungle) screens fails to translate to his second stab as director, Hombre Al Agua, an offbeat dramedy that’s too chaotic and muddled to hit its marks.

The actor, who wrote the script with Mariano Pensotti, does double duty as star and helmer in this overcooked story of a Cuban lifeguard who becomes the right-hand man to a Mexican business tycoon, only to have his life quickly unravel because, well, that’s what these quirky dramedies do. The film strains for laughs and meaning despite a good cast that’s easy on the eyes, even if they play characters who seldom feel like real people. After its premiere in the Venice Spotlight sidebar, Hombre should make headways in Latin America but will have a harder time navigating international waters.

The title translates to “man overboard,” which applies to both the topsy-turvy tone the actor gives his third feature after his more restrained 2019 debut drama, Chicuarotes, as well as to his new movie’s inciting incident. Following a rather hilariously botched opening sex scene between Cuban émigré Camilo (Bernal) and his pro athlete wife Juana (Esmeralda Pimentel), we flash back to see how Camilo went from being a lonely lifeguard on Cuba’s Varadero Beach to a successful father and businessman after saving scion Don Abel (Jorge Salinas) from drowning, marrying the man’s daughter soon after. Now he lives on his boss and father-in-law’s bodacious country estate in Yucatán, helping Juana take care of their baby daughter and managing a factory that holds a monopoly on zip ties.

The set-up is fast and the humor on the wacky side, like a Coen brothers flick minus their mastery of narrative rhythm, which here remains erratic throughout. Lots of crazy things start happening to Camilo, beginning with the breakdown of his marriage as Juana gets too close to a striking Brazilian actress, Fabiana (Débora Nascimento), whom she’s training to portray a professional pole vaulter onscreen. Meanwhile, Don Abel gets hit by a truck and confidentially asks Camilo to take care of his pregnant Argentine mistress Silvana (Natalia Oreiro), whom he tucks away on the estate for most of the film. Things are also coming apart at Camilo’s factory, where he’s forced to lay off a chunk of the staff.

The actor-director tosses all he can at his protagonist without much logic, in what feels like a rudderless midlife crisis scenario that never finds a strong throughline. It’s hard to know what the unifying principle is in Hombre Al Agua, aside from Bernal surrounding himself with three beautiful women — and one beautiful man in the form of Ricky Martin, who makes a fun cameo — in a beautiful location.

He seems to be having a good time, flexing a Cuban accent and his usual charms to play a decent man who’s desperately hanging onto a privileged life that fell into his lap. There’s some running social commentary in the film about the Mexican class divide, whether it involves Don Abel’s complete disregard for his workers or Juana prancing around like a spoiled princess in gym wear, but such observations rarely dip below the surface. A black-and-white Brazilian telenovela, starring Fabiana as the wife of a blue-collar rebel, constantly plays in the background but doesn’t leave much of a mark. 

At best, Hombre Al Agua is a passion project in which the Mexican star dishes out some thoughts on fatherhood, masculinity and moral purpose. But tighter scripting and less mayhem would have helped make his message heard, instead of diluting it with too many shenanigans. “This is like a bad sitcom,” Camilo exclaims at a point when things really get silly, and you can’t help wondering if Bernal is saying aloud what we’ve all been thinking.