The kids might not be all right

Y Tu Mama Tambien is the first great film to be released on American soil this year.

Originally gracing screens south of the border last summer, it was the highest grossing film in Mexico in 2001 – for good reason.

The movie follows the mishaps and shenanigans of two recent high school graduates from Mexico City.

Julio (Amores Perros’ Gael Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch smoke dope, drop ecstasy and talk about masturbation, group sex and anything else that takes their minds off the impending doom of responsibility.

They have a couple of months of freedom left, and they sure aren’t going down without a fight. When both of their girlfriends leave town, the hedonism really starts to fly.

While drinking their way through a high society social event, flirtatious attention is thrown at lovely Luisa, the 28-year old wife of one of Tenoch’s cousins.

A road trip to an imaginary beach is mentioned by the boys, and an invitation for accompaniment is offered. Luisa eventually accepts, and an adventure full of intimacy, self-discovery and youthful chaos is under way.

With this film, director Alfonso Cuaron has created a stunning work that shimmers with truth, gut-busting belly laughs and jaw-dropping sex scenes.

Y Tu Mama Tambien is everything that its American teen comedy counterparts are not – raw, fresh and insightful.

Nothing feels scripted, nothing even feels cinematic – it feels real.

The film touches on everything from class issues and crumbling friendships to the current political and social state of Mexico.

It’s always done with a rule-breaking maverick attitude that breathes life into every frame.

Cuaron fashions a movie that doesn’t look like it’s being made by film school grads.

Passionate experimentalism of this caliber hasn’t been around since Jean-Luc Godard and the rest of the French New Wave hooligans struggled to rebuild cinema from the ground up in the ’60s.

Additional kudos go to the film’s distributors, who secured wide release despite its double whammy of being unrated and foreign.

After the release and enormous success of Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien seems to be the official statement that a new Mexican cinema is emerging.

If films of this quality continue to make their way north, Mexico could stake a claim as a force to be reckoned with on modern cinematic soil.

Y Tu Mama Tambien looks, acts, talks and moves like no other movie you will see this year, and there could be no better compliment.

Experiencing the energy, intelligence and verve of Y Tu Mama Tambien is like discovering the world of cinema all over again.