“Squeeze” Premiers in Puerto Vallarta Thursday, February 26th, 2004 The much-anticipated screening of “Puerto Vallarta Squeeze” premiered last Saturday night, February 21, to a sold out audience of locals and tourists, some of whom had to literally squeeze themselves into the aisles at the Cinema Bahia to watch the movie. No matter. Most of the throng that turned out for the premier was thrilled with getting a sneak peek of the flick, which is based on the novel by Robert James Walker, the best selling author of Bridges of Madison County. It’s doubtful that “Squeeze” will enjoy the kind of big screen success Clint Eastwood’s 1995 adaptation of “Bridges” did; the movie wrapped over a year ago and was only recently picked up for distribution by Showcast. According to Variety magazine, Squeeze will be shopped again at next week’s American Film Market in Los Angeles. The movie was directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman (whose lengthy credits run heavy toward television) and was shot on location in Puerto Vallarta and nearby environs, in late 2002. This weekend marked its public debut. Blending equal measures of passion, danger and adventure, Squeeze spins a tale around the fateful encounter between a down-and-out American writer, Danny (played by Craig Wasson), his lovely, worldly-wise Mexican girlfriend Luz (Giovanna Zacorias), and a covert CIA hit-man turned renegade, Clay Price (Scott Glenn). Danny and Luz are semi-witnesses to the murder of two men shot dead in broad daylight on the crowded Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. The assassin Price enlists the wary but opportunistic Danny (for $5,000 Danny agrees to drive Price to the border) in a desperate attempt to escape Vallarta and the tightening dragnet thrown out by the police. Of course, the road trip wouldn’t be near as spicy if the senorita, Luz, didn’t have a reason to tag along. The trio’s entangled escapade becomes more complicated when Price’s CIA handler, Walter McGrane (Harvey Keitel), arrives on the scene to rein in the ruthless Price, whom McGrane now wants to get rid of. On the run and hiding out in jungle clearings and small villages, the tension escalates between the three desperados as they shake off the police, their clothes, and the tough veneers they’ve layered on themselves over the years to get by in life. Luz discovers that she is drawn to the dark but intriguing Price while clinging to her deteriorating relationship with the self-absorbed Danny. Price is startled to find himself touched by the defiant honesty of Luz, leading him to reconsider his own fate as well as the destiny of his innocent accomplices. And Danny is… Well, Danny is just exasperatingly whiny, in the way writers typically are. (Spare me the need to explain). Set amidst the tropical ambiance of Puerto Vallarta and the wilds of Mexico’s backcountry, the cat-and-mouse game with McGrane, the police, and one another spirals into a broiling, edge-of-the-seat, nail biting, cinematic climax. Oh, come on… Do you really believe that? It’s a plodding Robert James Walker story, for goodness sake. Squeeze has its share of entertaining moments, and an agreeable audience Saturday night applauded all the familiar scenes of Vallarta—the Malecon, the Church of Guadalupe, and Los Palomas Restaurant, for instance—and the catchy lines offered up by the characters: While racing over the jarring, cobblestone streets of Vallarta to elude pursuing police, Danny warns Price of the menacing Federales and terrorizing banditos that prowl the desolate byways to the border, to which the knocked about Price deadpans, “Mexican roads aren’t any safer.” Whether or not these characters come to life will likely depend on one’s notion about the actors who portray them. Scott Glenn has always been a personal favorite (“Urban Cowboy,” “The Hunt for Red October,” and “Silence of the Lambs” come to mind) and Harvey Keitel is one heck of a versatile actor (“Goodfellows” and “Sister Act” as contrasting examples). These two veterans can handle any role well enough. But not much can be said about Craig Wasson because, well, he hasn’t done much that I know of, even though his acting credits run over fifty feature films and span three decades, which makes me wonder if I have a very exclusive taste in movies or need to get out more often. img src=images/luzpray.jpg align=right> Kudos can honestly be dished out to up-and-coming Mexican actress Giovanna Zacorias. She is young, pretty, fiery, talented, and bi-lingual—all the right stuff needed for a future in big time show biz. Don’t be surprised to see Zacorias develop into a substantial actor. Acting is just one leg of the table that supports a motion picture. There are many other important pieces that, once assembled, buttress a film’s chance for success, such as the strength of the original story, the size of production budgets, the talents of screenwriters, directors, and other crew members, all of which is hard for recreational movie fans to fairly assess. So I won’t. Much of a film’s opportunity to see the light of day depends on the decisions made by big-wig Hollywood insiders, including the opinions voiced by critics. If Squeeze has flaws, and it does, pundits may kill the flick before it can breathe on its own. Still, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze should do just fine, and it certainly passed muster with the partisan viewers in Vallarta. If three million visitors come to Vallarta every year to take in the fun and sun, the title alone will attract enough curiosity to make the film a qualified success. Squeeze’s Vallarta premier was made possible by the good graces of one of its co-producers, Carolyn S. Chambers, whose affection for Puerto Vallarta and Mexico goes back at least twenty two years, during which she’s also owned a home here. At a post premier cocktail reception held at the Vista Grill Restaurant-Lounge, Ms. Chambers said she “insisted on using only Mexican crews” in the film’s production. “I’m very proud we were able to make the movie in Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding area,” Ms. Chambers continued. “I got a lot of resistance to filming some of the scenes in out of the way places…. But I was determined to make it happen.” The film was presented by the organizers of The Puerto Vallarta Film Festival of the Americas as part of their on-going series of events to raise awareness—and money—for Vallarta’s first international film fest set for November 6 – 14, 2004. By Ed Hutmacher Ed Hutmacher can be reached via email at: ehutmacher@msn.com.