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The Real Cancun
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Wikipedia article
'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 1323, 2003 as they celebrated spring break in Cancn, Mexico and experienced romantic relationships, emotional strife, or just had a good time.[https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-real-cancun/review/136186/ TV Guide]
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. 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 aka Skye P 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
Release
'The Real Cancun' was released theatrically only a month after filming was completed, and was released on DVD and home video only a couple of months after that.
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. 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.Critical response
'The Real Cancun' received generally negative reviews from critics (with 'Variety's Scott Foundas causing to remark in his review that 'The Real Cancun' billed itself as "the first reality feature film" is "apparently ignoring last year's 'Jackass: The Movie'").[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117920552.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 The Real Cancun], Scott Foundas, 'Variety', April 20, 2003. 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." Metacritic reports a 34 out of 100 rating based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.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 both awards to 'Gigli' for the former and 'The Cat in the Hat' for the latter.[https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/2004-razzies/ 2004 Razzies - Photo 1 - CBS News][https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/2004-razzies/2/ - 2004 Razzies - CBS News]Thematic analysis
Carol Siegel, a professor of English and American Studies at Washington State University Vancouver, interpreted 'The Real Cancun' as about society's expectations of juveniles' sexual behaviors; despite visuals such as near nudity and simulations of the act, the characters try to present themselves as being abstinent and not "slut"-ty, and only two couples make love by the end.
Aftermath
A reality movie based upon the 'Girls Gone Wild' video series that MGM bought the rights to was never put into production, while the Universal Pictures effort 'Drunken Jackasses: The Quest' was delayed after the flop of 'Cancun'[https://film.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-case-file-56-the-real-cancun-1798212173 My Year of Flops Case File #56: The Real Cancun|AV Club] and ultimately went straight to video.[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/fashion/04WILD.html?ei=5007&en=cdf42db840ca69e2&ex=1396414800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position= The Very Long Legs of 'Girls Gone Wild'], MIREYA NAVARRO, The New York Times, April 4, 2004.[https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2003-04-27-box-office-usat_x.htm Moviegoers resoundingly reject reality of 'Cancun'], Scott Bowles, 'USA TODAY', 4/28/2003.
References
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