José Carlos Ruiz Movies

A pair of scientists have their beliefs shaken while studying a holy relic in this inspirational drama. Jose Maria (Aleix Albareda) and his sister Mercedes (Ivana Miño) are archeologists who have been given a grant to study the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in which Juan Diego (José Carlos Ruiz), an ordinary man living near the hill of Tepeyac, saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in December of 1531. The apparition urged Juan to build a house of worship on the hill; he approached a bishop, Father Juan de Zumarraga, with the news of his vision, but the holy man was wary of Juan's story and demanded further proof. The Virgin returned to Juan and urged him to gather a bouquet of winter roses to present to the bishop; when he did, the petals fell on the bishop's apron, leaving behind an iconic portrait of the Virgin. Jose and Mercedes are eager to determine how much of this story has a basis in fact and how much is fiction; they travel to Tepeyac to study the artifacts of the legend firsthand, but their study has an impact upon them that neither had expected. Guadalupe was produced to coincide with the 475th anniversary of the Guadalupe apparition, and was created with the participation of leading members of the Mexican Catholic clergy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Greed and playing into the hand of providence provides the focus of this Mexican comedy adapted from a novel by Jorge Ibarguengoitia. Marcos, an architect, has just returned to the home of his wealthy uncle Ramon after squandering his money in Mexico City and subsequently finding himself falsely accused of a crime. Although he is flat-broke, he conceals this from Ramon, telling him that he has returned home to buy a local gold mine. Marcos finds the lies come easily as begins trying to induce his uncle to fund his endeavor. Irascible Ramon, who likes Marcos for his similar love of drinking and smoking is duped, but Ramon's sons are not fooled by Marcos. To them he is a threat, and they fear he will be placed in the will. Soon all of them are trying to out-manipulate each other. Even Ramon, who is not as innocent as he appears is involved in the mayhem. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In the early 1990s, Durango was a heavily forested region of Mexico, remote from citified life, and dependent on logging for income. This drama focuses on lives in transition in a town in the middle of those forests, where for decades the local movie theater has been the source for information and images of life outside the region. Now that satellite dishes are becoming more available, the local cinema is due for a serious cutback in its business. Aurelio has just moved to the town and is already romantically involved with his landlady. A young husband and wife are anxious about their upcoming separation, as the husband intends to seek work in the U.S. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This earnest and well-intentioned message drama tells the cautionary tale of three teenagers who died due to involvement with drugs and gangs. The narrator of the story is a doctor who is moved by their story and warns that "we are all to blame" for their plight. Each boy's story is told with the help of performances by various luminaries of the Mexican media. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The mere fact of a marijuana plantation in the Mexican state of Chihuahua might not be enough to upset many, and many factors contribute to escalating lawlessness of the gangsters who cultivate and sell the drug. The plantation in question was much too large for the Mexican authorities to ignore even if they wanted to, and in 1984 it was raided. What they discovered there was much more chilling than fields of the illegal herb and a bunch of gangsters: nearly five thousand poor persons worked there as slave laborers, after having been lured to the plantation with promises of high wages for picking apples. This is one of two docudramas which were made about the incident. The story concerns a man whose efforts to support his family through working illegally in the U.S. were thwarted by thieves who stole his mail. When he discovers this after being deported, he responds to the promise of high wages for apple-picking and winds up being a slave laborer. In addition to the dramatic reenactment of events, this docudrama also includes footage of the actual raid on the plantation and interviews with survivors, which the actors then comment on. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This film came into existence because the screenwriter and director won a 1983 screenplay-writing competition. In the story, a family of eight "Chilangos" are vacationing in the Mexican countryside. "Chilangos" are long-time residents of Mexico City, and they are famed for having loud, quarrelsome, demanding and generally obnoxious behavior when outside their city, similar to the reputation of New Yorkers off their home turf. Quite soon during their vacation, a group of revolutionaries have stolen the family's money, and they are thrown on the mercy of police, politicians, and celebrities looking for opportunities to gain some publicity. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

While Salvador wasn't Oliver Stone's first film (a pair of offbeat horror stories preceded it), it defined his style of fiercely dramatic, politically oriented filmmaking, staked out his territory as one of the major directors of the 1980s and 1990s, and remains one of his strongest works to date. Veteran photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) has been taking his camera to the world's trouble spots for over 20 years; while he does good work, Boyle's fondness for booze and drugs, and his colossal arrogance, have given him a reputation that's left him practically unemployable. Broke and with no immediate prospects, Boyle and his buddy Doctor Rock (Jim Belushi), an out-of-work disc jockey, head to El Salvador, where Boyle is convinced that he can scare up some lucrative freelance work amidst the nation's political turmoil. However, when Boyle and Rock witness the execution of a student by government troops just as they enter the country, it becomes clear that this war is more serious than they were expecting. Increasingly convinced that El Salvador is a disaster starting to happen, Boyle eventually decides that it's time to get out; but he has fallen in love with a woman named Maria (Elpidia Carrillo), and he doesn't want to leave her behind. James Woods gives one of his best performances as Boyle; and the passion of Stone's message, aided by the power of its truth (the film is based on actual events), propels the film forward. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Juan Antonio De La Riva's first film, Vidas Errantes is in some ways an allegory of Mexican film history as well as a salute to cinematic milestones. This quiet, understated story is about Francisco (José Carlos Ruíz) and Guillermo (Ignacio Guadalupe), two itinerant movie-projectionists who bring along the films, a projector, and white sheets as they travel from town to town in the mountains of Durango, setting up their outdoor "theater." The duo join in local festivities, have a few love affairs, make new friends, and as they do, clips of movie classics from Mexican cinema are interspersed with the projectionists' adventures. Then Josefina (Josefina González), a farm woman, falls in love with Guillermo and joins them on the road. Throughout their travels, Francisco is planning to build a permanent movie theater and when he finally has the means to go ahead with his project, construction starts. The trio still travel around showing films, but misfortune strikes when the frame of the theater under construction burns to the ground. (In 1982, a fire destroyed the Cineteca film archive and its collection -- a possible parallel to the destructive fire in the film.) Once Francisco loses his theater, he does not give up -- though it seems he will have to hit the road again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this strange, unsatisfying remake of Casablanca, directed by J. Lee Thompson, a bar owner helps a woman find a missing fortune. Right after the end of WWII, Giff Hoyt (Charles Bronson) owns a bar in Peru into which Marie Allesandri (Dominique Sanda) enters one day, in search of her lover and some missing money. Matters are complicated by Gunther Beckdorff (Jason Robards), a Nazi who has his own plans for the money. Terredo (Fernando Rey) observes all the action and helps at an important moment. Despite the very good cast which also includes Camilla Sparv and Gilbert Roland, all of the various subplots and characters fail to gel, and Caboblanco is confusing, unsatisfying and slow-moving. Any fan of Casablanca should skip this and see the original again. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Marcela Fernandez Violante directs the 1977 historical Western Cananea, based on the true story of the American-owned Cananea mine. Colonel William Greene ran the profitable copper mine in the Sonora desert, and the Mexican people who worked in the mines were exploited for their labor. This situation eventually led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910. The largest desert in North America, the Sonoran Valley was acquired by the U.S. after the Mexican-American War from 1846-1848. The low-lying area now covers parts of Arizona, California, and Mexico. Starring José Carlos Ruiz, Carlos Bracho, Milton Rodriguez, and Yolanda Ciani. Cananea was released on DVD in 2004 as part of the Latin Cinema Collection from Desert Mountain Media. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

When a worker is found murdered on the construction side, the investigation swiftly turns from things criminal to the political circumstances surrounding the building itself. Widespread corruption and neglect by the builder himself are seen to have brought the situation about. Much of the movie is filmed using hand-held cameras, and the majority of the dialogue is in the difficult-to-understand and very slangy Spanish dialect of Mexico City's bricklayers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi