Soccer tale ‘Mexico 86’ shoots wide of the net
With the World Cup getting underway next week in North America, Netflix is capitalizing with the debut of “Mexico 86,” a satirical look back at the last time the Land of the Aztecs hosted the matches. And it’s not a very flattering portrait, as director Gabriel Ripstein exposes multiple examples of corruption and broken promises that more than validate Henry Kissinger’s infamous quip that, “The politics of soccer make me nostalgic for the politics of the Middle East.”
He should know. He was the head of the U.S. delegation sent to Zurich in 1983 to bid for the tournament after Colombia, the original host, backed out. But he and the rest of the American delegation, which also included international superstar Pele, were woefully unprepared for the shenanigans unleashed by their chief rival, Mexico, and its top negotiator, unscrupulous Martin de la Torre.
Played by a charismatic Diego Luna, Torre proves a finagler of the lowest order, lying and cheating his way to unimaginable success before his checkered past caught up with him. He’s the star of this loose-with-the-facts production chronicling how he burned every bridge ever opened to him, including those extended by his travel agent mistress, Susana (Karla Souza), and his deep-pocketed benefactor, Emilio Azcárraga (Daniel Gimenez Cacho).
Persuading us to get behind Torre is an enviable task for Luna, yet he renders his character an affable scoundrel. There’s a charm about him that, when accompanied by his disarming smile, almost instantly melts the defenses of all he meets, or more accurately, steps on, in his climb to success.
Luna’s great, but he can only go so far in bailing out scenarist Daniel Krauze’s scrambled, underwritten script, which rushes through the story without incorporating anything beyond the basic details. Like how Torre rose to head the Mexican Football Federation by usurping his bosses and then employing similar underhandedness to outsmart Kissinger (Frank Crudele) and wrest the tournament away from the infinitely more suitable bid from the United States.
You cheer for Torre, but not in any sort of “Rocky” manner because deep down you know he’s a conniver with an advanced case of malignant narcissism. This is particularly problematic in the depiction of his romancing of Susana. Theirs is a highly unconventional partnership that deserves far more fleshing out. As is, Susana projects as not nearly as autonomous as she seems. For too long, she allows Torre to subjugate her. She’s basically an accessory abetting him ascending the aristocratic ladder, either blind to his antics or naively permissive.
It’s the same short shrift afoot in the exploration of how Torre convinced an intuitive kingpin as lofty as Azcárraga to back him and his grandiose ideas. As with Susana, it’s all surface. And it’s frustrating because these are compelling characters, each with their own selfish agendas. Further bogging down the film’s already sluggish pace are multiple cutaways to the Mexican national team’s prowess, captained by Hugo Sanchez (Memo Billegas), as it advances toward a shot in the semifinals, a feat the national squad had never before achieved.
On the plus side is an engaging segment in which Torre snows a clueless FIFA official into changing his mind about moving the World Cup out of the country in the wake of the devastating 1985 earthquake in Mexico City. It’s manipulative fun in a way the rest of the film isn’t. But one cannot deny how sensational Luna is as Torre. Ditto for his potent chemistry opposite the sizzling Souza. Without him, “Mexico 86” would be an absolute bust. With him, it’s a mildly diverting entertainment that, like the World Cup, is forgotten not long after the last kick.
Movie review
Mexico 86
Rated: Not rated
Cast: Diego Luna, Karla Souza, Daniel Gimenez Cacho
Director: Gabriel Ripstein
Writer: Daniel Krauze
Runtime: 97 minutes
Where: In theaters (limited) June 5 and streaming on Netflix on June 5
Grade: C
