Mrs. L.A. stopped watching The Walking Dead after Carl died. I’ve been recording them, but can’t watch them. And she’s getting very tired of all of the coronavirus commercials. So she chooses what we watch. The other night, it was Ernesto’s Manifesto. It’s a happy little romantic comedy that was just the ticket for escaping from the generally depressing things we’ve been seeing lately.
Ernesto is a waiter in a Mexican restaurant. He’s a gentle, loving soul. Since people are shit, he loses his job, his home, and his girlfriend. Being a rom-com, he finds himself in ever-better situations. We got some good laughs.
Ernesto’s Manifesto reminded me of Being There, but not ‘heavy’ like the latter. People took advantage of Chance Gardner for their own ends. There weren’t such machinations with Ernesto. Still, like Chance, Ernesto was happy in himself. I found the acting, especially at the beginning, a bit uneven. Not bad, but typical of good low-budget productions I’ve seen. Many of the actors are known, so I put it down to the direction. Either the later scenes were better directed, or I just got used to it. Either way, it didn’t bother me as I was having so much fun watching the story. There’s a certain character who’s a giant douche. I was born and raised in Southern California, and I don’t remember encountering anyone like him. I know they exist, so maybe I was just fortunate. Or sheltered. Or something. His character was necessary for the story, but I never encountered a person acting like him in a public place
Ernesto’s Manifesto is a simple film. It’s sweet. Ernesto is sweet. We needed that.