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Here and There

Released Apr 26, 2013 1h 50m Drama List
59% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A man (Pedro De los Santos) returns home to Mexico after many years in the U.S. He hopes to make a better life with his family and pursue his dream of starting a band.

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Tom Long Detroit News Esparza's working with untrained actors and at times they stumble haltingly through scenes, seemingly grasping for lines and straining for reactions. But there are also moments when it seems as if life itself is being captured. Rated: B- Aug 29, 2013 Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader By the end it achieves a poignant, impassioned tone reminiscent of classic neorealism. May 10, 2013 Full Review Cary Darling Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Set in a village in (Mexico), the slow, thoughtful and absorbing portrait of a working-class family whose father has just returned from being an undocumented worker in New York, Aqu y All puts a face ... on the immigration debate. Rated: 4/5 May 9, 2013 Full Review Joseph Walsh CineVue The writing itself is of a low calibre, and we are literally told what the characters are feeling rather than shown, inexcusable in a film with over a two hour run time. Rated: 2/5 Aug 23, 2018 Full Review Marty Mapes Movie Habit Slow-paced family drama a mixed bag Mar 28, 2013 Full Review Donald J. Levit ReelTalk Movie Reviews 'Here and There/Aqu y all' does not consider politics, border polemics, cartels or global recession but, rather, is an unshrill rumination on family, love and hope. Dec 17, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (6) audience reviews
Audience Member Unfortunately I don't have time to write full reviews right now, but I have to jot down capsule reviews of two movies I saw a week ago before I forget them. So: Aqui y Alla, or Here and There, is basically a low-key Mexican neorealist film about a man who returns to his family in Mexico after having been away working in New York for a few years. The film is extremely slow and naturalistic, without any heightened drama or stylistic flourishes. There's quite a lot of silence and long, still takes. It works okay, but I have to admit I'm starting to suspect that such films are starting to take on this critic-proof aura: if you depict people, especially non-Americans, in slow, realistic, undramatic ways, everyone will think you automatically have a masterpiece. Other films that come to mind in this vein are Silent Light, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (a film that remained mostly mundane even with its supernatural plot elements), Shame, Amour, and The White Ribbon. At their best, these slow, undemonstrative films can be truly enchanting and touching, as in the case of the truly wonderful Israeli film Jellyfish. Often, though, they run the risk of being simply boring and unenlightening; and while I wouldn't say this film totally fell into that trap, it didn't completely escape it, either. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Une fresque sociale peu convaincante, mal jouée, trop longue, mais qui illustre bien un contexte de vie difficile, empreint de réalisme. Un documentaire serait préférable. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Shin Y ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/13 Full Review Audience Member Quick Review: For the humanistic viewer this is a great film for looking into the lives of the illegal mexican immigrant. This is a slice of life film that follows a father returning to mexico and his family in the hopes that he can start a band with the money he earned in New York. From the beginning of the film you can see the scars that his absence has left of the family. To the wife that believes he's been unfaithful to the older daughter who distances herself from him and doesn't care about school. This is a slow heart wrenching film about a family that tries to stay together under the hardships of a poor 3rd world country. Everything about this film feels authentic and although it doesn't really follow the stereotypic rise and fall of plot points, Aqui Y Alla is rare film that tells the true story of the torn immigrant families. The ending is a bit sudden but I think that's what the director had in mind. One day he's here and you think everything is going right, but underneath the surface your parents are hiding heavy responsibilities that are impossible to communicate to a child. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Not recommended for lovers of fast-action movies. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Read and comment on my review at http://bit.ly/UzSPZM Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Here and There

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

A Better Life 86% 79% A Better Life Good Day, Ramon 100% 82% Good Day, Ramon Not Today 50% 84% Not Today Arcadia 67% 41% Arcadia The Big Picture 86% 63% The Big Picture Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A man (Pedro De los Santos) returns home to Mexico after many years in the U.S. He hopes to make a better life with his family and pursue his dream of starting a band.
Director
Antonio Méndez Esparza
Producer
Ori Dov Gratch, Pedro Hernández Santos, Tim Hobbs, Antonio Méndez Esparza, Diana Wade
Screenwriter
Antonio Méndez Esparza
Distributor
Torch Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 26, 2013, Limited
Runtime
1h 50m