Common Sense Media Review
By Tracy Moore
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sweet Spanish-language romcom hinges on night of drinking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Pulling Strings
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
After a night of excessive drinking at her goodbye party as she leaves Mexico City for London, embassy worker Rachel (Laura Ramsey) has a chance encounter with mariachi player Alejandro (Jaime Camil), whose visa request for his daughter she rejected the day before. Soon she enlists him to help her pick up the pieces of one wild night and discovers that people aren't always what they seem at first glance.
Is It Any Good?
PULLING STRINGS has a fun charm; the leads have good chemistry, and the supporting characters give this subtitled bilingual flick some familiar faces. Overall, it's a pro-family movie with positive images of single dads, modern women, friendship, and the vast potential for cross-cultural understanding and comedy. There's some romance but nothing too risqué, and, aside from the fact that the premise hinges on and often references one night of heavy drinking, the rest of the film is a quiet, sweet look at romance and cultural barriers to trust, as well as some nice pondering over what it means to put down roots. Bonus points for some lovely singing and mariachi music.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about drinking responsibly. Do you think the film shows drinking realistically? What sorts of things go wrong after drinking too much? What might have been a more responsible amount to drink to celebrate?
How does the film portray cultural misunderstandings? What assumptions do both groups in the film make about one another, and how do they come to see them as unfair?
What kinds of stereotypes does the film work to undo about what it means to be a "good father" or a good provider? How does Alejandro challenge those notions? Do you think society is coming to view fatherhood as more important than it used to be? How so, or how not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 25, 2014
- Cast : Laura Ramsey , Jaime Camil , Omar Chaparro
- Director : Pedro Pablo Ibarra
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Lionsgate
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Adventures
- Run time : 112 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Rated PG for language and brief smoking.
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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