Movie Review: The Real Cancun

The Real Cancun (2003) 

Directed by Rick De Oliveira 

Written by Brian Caldirola 

Starring Benjamin Fletcher, Laura Ramsey, Snoop Dogg, Simple Plan 

Release Date April 25th, 2003 

Published April 30th, 2003 

What do you get when you cross “Girls Gone Wild” with MTV's “The Real World?” You get the tepid sociological experiment The Real Cancun. Taking the conceits of reality TV and translating them to the loosened standards of the big screen, the producers of America’s first reality show have created a new category that is not quite documentary but not exactly verite either. It's a new genre that is being called "reality movies.” Reality in it's pseudo TV definition. But thanks to this film’s box office belly flop, the genre is likely DOA. Shot over 1 one week, edited in 6 weeks and in theaters just as quickly, The Real Cancun is about a group of strangers thrown together in a beautiful Cancun hotel and filmed 24 hours a day, just like “The Real World.”

This collection of buff bodies and minimal intellect includes a pair of African American pals, Paul and Jorell, who speak more “player” than they act. A pair of friends, David and Heidi, who swear they are just friends (Yeah right). There are the twins, Nicole and Roxanne who provide the film’s “Girls Gone Wild” moment with their tandem flashing in the wet T-shirt contest. There is also Allan, the virginal 18 year old who before Cancun has never drank alcohol before. How long do you think that lasts? Another virginal character is Laura, a seemingly naïve 20 year old from Wisconsin who surprisingly maintains her virtue throughout the film.

Aside from Alan, the guys in this film are interchangeable caricatures of the worst in male stereotypes. There is the vapid underwear model Casey, who's catchphrase "Any of you girls wanna make out" is featured heavily in the film’s ads, and who is as stupid as his pick up line. Jeremy, who claims to have a girlfriend back home is the first in the house to 'get some.' In fact, he gets some from one of the girls in the house, though which interchangeably attractive girl it was escapes me. Jeremy then proceeds to ignore the girl the rest of the week. 

The other two guys, Matt and Fletch, pal around while Matt attempts to get a woman named Sarah to have sex with him. Sarah is a Vegas girl who claims she has a boyfriend she loves back home, this does not sop Matt in any way. Matt and Fletch are portrayed as such dopey testosterone-fueled morons that they will likely be the first to complain about how they were edited. Hey guys, before you complain remember you were the one wearing the Female Body Inspector T-shirts.

The Real Cancun is played as much as a good time as it is a social experiment. Of course it doesn't take much to mix alcohol and 20-somethings and end up with sex and various other debaucheries. What is surprising is how tame it really is. Anyone going for the boobs and sex won't be entirely disappointed but this is not “Girls Gone Wild.” For example, when one of the twins goes topless in the wet t-shirt contest, she covers her breasts with her hands as much as she can.

There really isn't much of a story here, though producers would like you to fall for Allan and his coming of age, so to speak. But Allan is so amazingly clueless that his minor personality switch isn't really that compelling. The movie’s best story arc involves Paul and Sky, a gorgeous African-American girl who has strict requirements on how she is to be courted and when Paul doesn't follow the rules her rebuff is quick and brutal. Paul doesn't sulk long and is soon in the sack with some girl off the beach, after which he spends his remaining days failing to win Sky back.

The Real Cancun is a tepid experiment in trying to convert the conceit of “The Real World” to the big screen. Though any of these people would make the cut on the TV show, their adventures aren't interesting enough to warrant a feature film. Remake The Real Cancun as a weekly series on HBO and maybe you have enough cheap thrills for late night TV.