Many people back home ask me why I travel to another city to attend movies at film festivals and why I put up with all of the cost and transit, and it’s for movies that you can’t see back home or want to discover a new talent that you may not know about.
BOB TREVINO LIKES IT screened at South By Southwest, which I cover on an annual basis and of course wanted to see every single movie but for one reason or another, I couldn’t. Movies play against each other and even if you make one busy schedule, sometimes movies just have to make the cut. When rave reviews came out of its premiere screening at the Zach Theatre in Austin, I was sitting in the Paramount Theatre watching the premiere of MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE as rave tweets and Instagram stories hit my feed, so I quickly made a note to add this into my schedule. I went to the next screening only to be turned away as the screening reached capacity. I then tried my best on the very final day to get a seat in the tiny, 98 seat Alamo Drafthouse for one of the final screenings and stood in line for two hours only to be turned away.
Cut to a few months later and I am seriously happy I made plans to attend the Seattle International Film Festival where the movie was also programmed as one of the headlining movies. I made it to SIFF’s premiere screening, acquired an aisle seat ….and filmmaker Tracie Laymon herself was sitting right near me. And with thanks to the SIFF media team re-posting my Instagram stories, Tracie picked a few of them up, recognized me and approached to introduce herself! To ME! (This is usually the other way around, as I usually introduce myself to filmmakers after I watch the movie) I was immediately hit with her total charm and enthusiasm (I have since run into her a few times and have never seen her NOT smiling). I told her all of the above story which she seemed pleased to hear, and I also learned this was also her first SIFF, so I think with that in common it was just fate that we were meant to meet at the historic Uptown Theatre in Seattle for her local premiere.
I mention all of this because there are lengths that I will go to just to see a movie. I fly across North America to sit in the dark for 10-12 hours at the Scotiabank Cineplex in Toronto, will take a bus up to Whistler and I even take a day trip on a ferry boat just to watch one movie ahead of time at a press screening, then take an evening ferry back that night just to write up a review a week early. This is my passion, and it all makes it worth it when a movie like BOB TREVINO COMES ALONG and makes all of the effort 100% worth it.
Official Festival Notes: Friendship can come from the oddest places, like a Facebook profile with no picture, a contractor who fixes your flooding toilet, or a stranger with a familiar name. Inspired by true events, Bob Trevino Likes It stars Barbie Ferreira (“Euphoria,” Unpregnant) as Lily Trevino, a 25-year-old loner abandoned by her mother when she was young and feeling even further abandoned when her manipulative narcissist father cuts her off. Desperate for sage advice, someone to lean on, or at least some words of reassurance, Lily chats online with a local man (John Leguizamo) who shares her father’s name: Bob Trevino. Struggling with his own disconnection from his wife after the loss of their baby, his thankless job, and his unrealized dreams of being an astronomer, Bob finds himself easily falling into a paternal role and developing a close bond with Lily. Leguizamo and Ferreira’s chemistry is warm and lively, shining most brightly through the little acts of kindness, thoughtfulness, and humor they offer to each other. Bob Trevino Likes It is about the journey of healing after trauma, the explosive sadness and riotous laughter that guides us through, and the value in the family we choose along the way. (Credit: Emalie Soderback)
(Disclaimer: I must make it clear that the following is a reaction to the movie and the screening at SIFF and is NOT a full review of the movie, as per request of the SIFF Media Team and the filmmakers.)
Reaction: BOB TREVINO LIKES IT is a movie that comes right at a time where I think we all needed someone to reach out, take your hand and tell you that the world is going to be okay. This is a total original indie gem that completely took over my soul and refused to let me go for its 102 minutes; presenting a unique idea and makes it equally real and cinematic, but also with a complete eagerness to please, told by a first-time filmmaker who has complete command of the storytelling along with her own personal pulse on the material. I loved this movie so much that I did the rare thing and watched it TWICE at the Seattle International Film Festival.
The set-up of a Facebook friendship turning real is something that has likely happened to us, but it’s the miracle of the connection between Lily (Barbie Ferreira) and Bob (John Leguizamo) at a time where Lily just needs someone to reach out to her and help is something I think we can all connect to. At the same time she is trying to connect with her real dad along with connections she is making with her friends. Lily is flawed, but she’s learning.
Everything about BOB TREVINO LIKES IT works. The movie takes incredible risks in telling this unique and lovely story involving an unlikely friendship that you would start to think it’s a manipulative tear-jerker, but the tears and happiness are absolutely earned.
Anchoring the picture is one incredible lead performance by Barbie Ferreira that is one of the best youth performances I have EVER seen in the movies. She is funny, makes mistakes but also learns from Bob and her parents. She’s matched with a career best by John Leguizamo as surrogate Bob, an unrecognizable French Stewart as not-so-great REAL dad Bob, and a unique array of supporting characters that all have their three dimensions.
This all comes together from the mind and spirit of born filmmaker Tracie Laymon, who has based this off of a personal experience involving a Facebook friend that she came across many years ago. She tells the story with such confidence, takes her time developing the connection but also keeping it absolutely real, with two particular sequences where I could not fight back tears and just let them all go. I knew I was going to enjoy this movie based on all of the accolades the movie had in Austin, but I was NOT ready for a movie that is a complete experience of cinema and has every single thing coming its way in 2024.
Again, this is NOT a review and more of a personal reaction and reflection to one of the most memorable moments I have had in my 20+ years of covering film festivals. This is more of a total plea to find this movie when it comes your way, share it with the ones you love and my biggest hope is that you love it as much as I did watching it. This movie truly went past my role as a film writer and is a complete reason why I love the movies in the first place. My congratulations to Ms. Laymon and her team for bringing the edge back to American Indie cinema after some really tough years for smaller, character based movies where even just a simple interaction between two people at a diner table can make you love the movies all over again. There is hope after all.
