The Real Cancun is the first film to bridge the gap between reality television and the big screen, with mixed results.
The movie is brought to us by the producers of MTV’s pioneering reality series, ‘The Real World,’ and Bunim-Murray productions and long time Real World director Rick de Oliveira show off their expertise in crafting reality based drama for the youth demographic.
The Real Cancun borrows many of the elements that click so well for its small-screen counterpart pretty young people living together, sexual tension and the occasional melodramatic confrontation between housemates. But Cancun kicks it up a notch with a sexy spring break location and the R-rated excitement of a semi-legitimate Girls Gone Wild.
Some things in the film do work well. About half of the 16 house members are featured, and types range from Alan, the wide-eyed Texan who’s never tried alcohol, to Casey, the goofy male model from Miami who just wants someone to make out with.
The tension between Paul and Sky (will they or won’t they?), as well as ‘just friends’ David and Heidi, heightens as the week rolls on. Sarah’s got a wonderful boyfriend back home, but why does she get so jealous when Matt hooks up with another girl in the shower? And Laura’s obsession with Jeremy starts to get a little spooky. Even with a limited cast of major players, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who when a week of booze and partying gets compressed into 90 minutes.
The heart of The Real Cancun is Alan’s story. He has to be coerced to take his first drink of alcohol and his lack of confidence seems to doom his chances with the ladies, but Alan comes out of his shell as he gets swept up in the spring break spirit.
But The Real Cancun doesn’t have many more compelling stories to tell. Yes, the requisite spats and gratuitous sex are thrown in to please the MTV teen crowd, but Cancun doesn’t aspire to be more than an empty diversion. While the television ‘Real World’s have entire series runs to flesh out its dramatic intrigues and confrontations, The Real Cancun barrels through without resolving the few it was able to set up.
The Real Cancun doesn’t try to be more than a sexy distraction, and it succeeds. But while a lot of clothes come off in Cancun, not much is revealed underneath.
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