Review: Puerto Ricans in Paris
A guarantee of the comedy genre is the revolving cast of actors who seemingly appear in every movie as a standout supporting character. They aren’t the headliner, but these character actors are always good to steal a scene or two. One of those actors is the hilarious Luis Guzmán.
Guzmán has flaunted his comedic chops from the wings in many films, but he takes center stage in the buddy-cop comedy, Puerto Ricans in Paris. Fans of the Puerto Rican actor will thoroughly enjoy the goofy story of two New York City cops traveling to Paris to find a missing handbag. The movie lacks depth and has a cookie cutter plot, but it has a few heartfelt moments.
Puerto Ricans in Paris follows Luis and Eddie, brother-in-law's and police detectives with a specialty in handbag operations. Luis is the brains and Eddie is the brawn. They use this dynamic to expose an underground knock-off operation when they catch the eye of a very special client.
Luiz Guzmán and Edgar Garcia - Official Puerto Ricans in Paris Trailer
Colette, a famous Parisian fashion designer, is getting ready to release a highly anticipated line of handbags. Unfortunately, one of her top designs has been stolen and is being held at an extremely expensive ransom. If the handbag isn’t retrieved, Colette could risk an outbreak of knockoffs or face a major financial blow.
She insists Luis and Eddie are the men for the job and offers them a high reward for the bag’s retrieval. Both men could use the money. Louis wants to fund his easy, breezy lifestyle while Eddie’s marriage is taking a toll from financial struggles. So, the pair travels to Paris to find the thief amongst Collette’s inner-circle.
The most enjoyable part of the movie was the very beginning, before they even begin their Parisian adventure. It was funnier and had a more vibrant cast of supporting characters played by three amazing actresses. Rosie Perez, Rosario Dawson and Miriam Shor play Eddie’s wife Gloria, Luis’ girlfriend Vanessa and the police sergeant Nora respectively.
Rosie Perez - Official Puerto Ricans in Paris Trailer
I wish these characters could have had a bigger role in the narrative. For one, these actresses just deserve more screen time. Their characters were also hilarious. I especially loved Dawson and Shor’s performances. Alas, we get only a scene or two of each of them until the story is whisked off to Paris and doesn’t check in on them until the very end.
The movie’s main action in Paris isn’t bad, it’s just a little bland. Puerto Ricans in Paris is such a fun, exciting title. I expected an adventure! The finished product just doesn’t stand out. The storyline ends up being a little too simple and the characters are just not exciting enough to carry the slack.
Luis Guzmán is unsurprisingly the comedic standout. His personality just shines, and he can just spit out funny lines with ease. His energy is enjoyable even when the story is not. One of his funniest lines in the movie is when he defends having a cigarette because the cigarettes are heathier in Paris. The fact that this line of dialogue is the one that stands-out tells you that the jokes are few and far between.
For a comedy, it wasn’t very funny, and the mystery wasn’t very interesting for an inadvertent genre switch. The potential suspects we’re super forgettable and are blown through quickly. There is a final gotcha moment at the end, but depending on how big of a cinephile you are, its somewhat predictable.
Luiz Guzmán and Edgar Garcia - Official Puerto Ricans in Paris Trailer
Edgar Garcia is kind of insufferable the whole entire movie. I did not like the character of Eddie at all. He is kind of a buzzkill the entire time and really kind of plays second fiddle to Guzmán’s Luis. The entire time is keeps denying any chance of him giving into temptation and hooking up with Collette.
This portion of the movie bothered me because the script really does not allow the viewer to think Eddie would be loyal to his wife. The one and only scene with Gloria finds her and Eddie in a very tense relationship. She then disappears from the narrative. Why, as viewers, are we supposed to believe their relationship is golden?
If we’re supposed to think this just from Eddie’s words, then we are looking at a weak script. His constant reminder of him loving his wife when we didn’t really see that in depth just comes across as annoying.
Collette is also a boring character. Her character is all over the place and no matter how hard the script tries; it never really reveals who Collette really is. She’s a boring female protagonist and the whole sub-plot between her and Eddie is just plain weird! Luis and Nora had more chemistry when went undercover as naïve tourists.
Luiz Guzmán - Official Puerto Ricans in Paris Trailer
The end of the movie is heartwarming and sort of makes up for the movie’s lackluster middle section. There is a unique tie-back to the beginning of the film in its final act, something to look out for. Luiz and Eddie come together in a sweet turn of events and both guys get a happy ending with their girls back home. It’s a cliché ending but when Rosie Perez and Rosario Dawson are happy, you are happy.
I would not go out of my way to watch Puerto Ricans in Paris, but I wouldn’t turn it off it was the only option. It had an amazing start and a sweet finish; it just got lost in between with forgettable characters and a sloppy script. Luiz Guzmán deserves better because he’s a riot, but something tells me we’ll see him pop up on our screen’s sometime soon.