The Real Cancun
| The Real Cancun | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rick de Oliveira |
| Written by | Brian Caldirola |
| Starring | see below |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Michael Suby |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $5.3 million[1] |
The Real Cancun is a 2003 American reality film directed by Rick de Oliveira and written by Brian Caldirola. Inspired by the reality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13–23, 2003 as they celebrated spring break in Cancún, Mexico and experienced romantic relationships, emotional strife, or just had a good time.[2]
The film received negative critical reviews and was a box office flop, earning a little over $5 million in the United States from a $7.5 million budget.[1] Most of the film's cast returned to general obscurity after release, with the exception of Laura Ramsey, who launched an acting career.
Cast
- Benjamin "Fletch" Fletcher
- Nicole Frilot
- Roxanne Frilot
- David Ingber
- Jeremy Jazwinski
- Amber Madison
- Paul Malbry
- Marquita "Skye" Marshall
- Laura Ramsey
- Matthew Slenske
- Alan Taylor
- Heidi Vance
- Casey Weeks
- Sarah Wilkins
- Jorell Washington
- Adam Miller
- Grant George as Miscellaneous voices
- Hot Action Cop
- Simple Plan
- Snoop Dogg
Production
Some early media reports suggested that this film was a theatrical spin-off of The Real World reality series, also produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, but in fact there was no direct link between the two productions.
Release
The Real Cancun was released theatrically only a month after filming was completed,[2] and was released on DVD and home video only a couple of months after that.[3]
Box office
The film earned $2,108,796 in its opening weekend from 2,261 venues, ranking tenth in the North American box office and fourth among the week's new releases.[4] It closed a month later, having grossed $3,825,421 domestically and $1,519,662 overseas for a worldwide total of $5,345,083, coming well short of its $7.5 million production cost.[1]
Critical response
The Real Cancun received generally negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 35% score based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's consensus states: "The footage is predictable and rather tame, and most of the people are uninteresting."[5] Metacritic reports a 34 out of 100 rating based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]
Film director Michael Tully argued that the timing of the film's release during the U.S. invasion of Iraq makes the film's depiction of young American hedonism "one of the more unintentionally brilliant statements of hypocrisy of the decade" and the film itself "a disturbingly relevant historical document".[7]
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for Worst Picture and Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content) at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards. It lost Worst Picture to Gigli and Worst Excuse to The Cat in the Hat.
References
- ^ a b c d "The Real Cancun (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ a b "The Real Cancun Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie The Real Cancun".
- ^ "Warner Bros". www.newline.com.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for April 25-27, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. April 28, 2003. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ "The Real Cancun (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ "The Real Cancun Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ Tully, Michael. "Films of the decade: 'The Real Cancun'". Salon.com, 15 December 2009. Accessed 15 December 2009.