
During her first session with a new therapist, Lily (Barbie Ferreira) says goodbye to her past and takes a chance to explain the circumstances that changed her today as dramatic and energetic. Still, the ones who follow her are bound to think there are still remnants of darkness remaining within “I am not sure this was all my fault even if my father kept blaming me,” she recalls a scene when her mother left her at the age of four. That pain could have been shaped by coming from such a family, but quite interestingly, it’s the kind of anguish you keep underneath that puts you off the kind of confident woman who’s been subjected the negativity for so long she gives up.
At the end of Lily’s remarks, she looks shocked to see how the counselor is shaking in uncontrollable tears; quite criticized for her character, Lily has to reassure her how horrible her own life has been. But, of course, that contradiction is what Bob Trevino Likes It is about at its essence. The comedy finds its lady, and within so much gaiety and humor, the tears and sweetness are not far. The similarity comes through when one realizes that the heart-crushing moments are suppressed making their articulation most elegant in exactly the most innocent appearances.
Of course, the film’s heroine has quite a lot of reasons to be upset and start crying. For instance, in one of the earlier scenes in the movie, she is seen crying over a message sent to her boyfriend which he sent for another woman. Angry, she texted “LOSE MY NUMBER YOU JERK” out of anger. But after a moment’s hesitation, she deleted it and responded with a cheerful, “No prob!)”. Eventually, her affinity for catering to others in her family is quite developed due to years of exposure to her father’s (the charming French Stewart) narcissism, who on one side rants about seraphic making him miserable from birth but on the other side draws himself out to be the sufferer every single time she manages to defend herself from his nonsense.
But Don’t Like It Bob Trevino is not here to appreciate the sadness in the life of Lily. The film’s economy comes not from the repeated witnessing of some of its characters’ breakdowns, but from allowing them the possibility of beginning to recover. After a particularly heated shouting match with her father, Lily searches for him on Facebook and is instead directed to the account of a middle-aged contractor, who’s also named the same as her father. And very quickly, Lily begins to look upon Bob (John Leguizamo) as some kind of father she never had and Bob starts to treat Lily as the daughter he always wanted. As the relationship deepens, all the pain that has dislocated their lives is finally resolved by each helping the other.
The strongest objection one may have against Bob Trevino’s Likes It, based on the life of writer-director Tracie Laymon, is that the relationship between Lily and Bob is too simplistic in terms of how the two bond. Their positions overlap each other with ease in the way that parts of a puzzle do, and there are hardly any hurdles and regressions in Lily’s progress that are conventionally present in any normal growth process in real life. It is in fact a terrible perspective his part has been cast in a light that almost defies god where this individual considers the most suitable way to approach and motivate the entire genesis of Lily’s journey. The other handful of supporting roles such as Daphne (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer), who is Lily’s employer, and Jeanie (Rachel Bay Jones) who is Bob’s wife are also not taken on voyages of their own but provide some much-needed assistance to nudge the arcs for Bob and more so for Lily.
It’s also difficult to defend the notion that Bob Trevino’s Like It would have been a more coherent film if it was more barren or more violent, or even larger in scope if we might put it that way. For the audience, it is a beautiful movie because it plays the role of a love letter or a thank you card all on its own. It is natural to fantasize about Bob and Lily as a couple, however, Laymon is quick to put them in scenes surrounded by actors who do not deliver a false performance. Lily, exquisite in looking, is childlike in manner, full of love as if she’s a nervous pup, eager but frightened to show her affection as she has seen the darker side of love. Leguizamo guards her over-the-top style with understated gentleness and a slight smidgen of tragedy. Bob is a kind and peaceful gentleman, but there is a certain tension to his character that feels like something important is missing, though what could it be is not clear. Leguizamo’s and Ferreira’s on-screen chemistry captures the flame that the characters experience in one of the shooting stars.
What makes this movie work exceptionally well in addition to the perfectly executed cast is the subtle unclad nature which somehow provides an added boost to the film. Bob and Lily’s dynamic however may appear boring, particularly at the beginning. He sees her Facebook posts and wonders why nobody else is doing so. She brings up his upbringing, and so does he. When her toilet malfunctions, Bob goes to her house to fix it. Now those are ‘indescribable’ in cinematic terms. However, there is no hiding the fact, from their expressions, that these small actions of care are indeed pleasing to carry out and to receive. In the process of making Bob Trevino Likes It, which is also a text of escalation, they started restoring their defenses. Quite a bit of rage too! Initially during the shooting of the scene, indeed only in this way was I able to see Bob and Katya directing Lily’s cuddle with a puppy, well, that was quite intense for me.
Sometime in the future, though, she is able to cope with the losses her father left inside her due to the abundant love that she never felt while growing up, which her husband Bob also helped to give her during their marriage. As Bob’s numbness lifts, he can begin to share some of those dark and actually needed emotions he has been suppressing for many, first to Lily and later to Jeanie. The Lily we leave behind at the conclusion of Bob Trevino’s Likes It is far from being perfectly cured, and a heart-wrenching last sequence helps us remember that she still has more challenges and struggles to come in life. But it is Lily who finally can find the strength to believe in the most powerful words Bob said during this wonderful conversation “We’re all a bit broken. But you’re gonna be fine.” That’s quite an achievement for a girl whose tale at one point had made the therapist cry.
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