A well-intended, but problematic movie with one character we like and one character we hate.
Julio Torres is an actor whose last two movie roles were in “Together, Together” and “Nimona,” and who previously wrote episodes for “Saturday Night Live.” His directorial debut of “Problemista” has ideas worthy of an A24 movie with a leading character who wishes to follow the American Dream, but it ends up being dragged down by one of the most hateful movie characters. And this one happens to be in the form of the great Tilda Swinton.
Isabella Rossellini introduces us to Alejandro (Torres), whose childhood seems like a fantasy to us, because of how his mother Delores (Catalina Saavedra) would design a castle with the colors of Chuck E. Cheese’s SkyTubes and the obligatory CGI effects, and how she would worry he would be taken away by something evil. The red eyes look demonic, but it may also be immigration agents, because in his adulthood, he’s a toy designer who needs to accomplish his dreams before his visa expires.
His toys include trucks with flat tires, Cabbage Patch dolls with cell phones, and Barbies with one hand behind their backs. He’s the kind of artist that Charlie Kaufman, Wes Anderson, or Ari Aster would appreciate.
At this very moment, he’s rejected by Hasbro, but buys himself some time with a job at the FreezeCorp Cryogenics Facility, which is how he got his work visa. He is now the archivist assigned to the terminally ill artist Bobby (RZA), who freezes himself. However, he gets fired when he accidentally unplugs the backup generator to the cryogenic chamber, which could put the artist at risk.
Ergo, he now has a month to find another sponsor to keep him in the country. Through his eyes, the time left for immigrants on the verge of being deported is depicted as hour glasses. When the grain of sand runs out, then it’s back to his home country of El Salvador. And to him, Craigslist comes in the form of a psychedelic character (Larry Owens).
The young man also meets Bobby’s art critic wife Elizabeth (Swinton), whose hair is mostly dyed pinkish red, and is quite the rude, complaining chatterbox. She’s the most overbearing element of “Problemista.” For example, when she demands a waiter to come over to take her order, she questions about walnuts in a salad. He explains how nice they go with it, and she says: “I don’t need a lecture!” You know what? I think we can agree she’s a Karen.
She’s also the kind of person the young man would like to imagine she’s a hydra, and he’s trying to chop off her head, which would grow more heads.
However, she arranges an exhibition with Bobby’s paintings, and agrees to sponsor Alejandro if he helps her.
Torres has interesting and sometimes funny ideas regarding art and dreams. And he also has a unique character study, as Alejandro has trouble making ends meet and earning a sponsor. He doesn’t choose to be stereotypical, which is refreshing, but rather he a dreamer determined to, at least, buy himself some time. These are the reasons why I would recommend “Problemista.”
However, I kind of have to be against it, because I really tired of the Swinton character. She’s always yelling at people, treating them like they’re rude idiots, and these tantrums repeat themselves. Even if the movie was supposed to parody that kind of woman, I was more aggravated than I was tickled by her. And even if she reunites with her husband after all these years, she doesn’t change. She’s still the same unlikable Karen. I’m not even sure if I put that mildly. I didn’t watch “Problemista” to examine a bratty woman; I watched it for its main protagonist, who is optimistic to try to get his toy designs on the market.
In Select Theaters This Friday