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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: March 16, 2007 Distributor: Archangel Entertainment Director: · Judy Hecht Dumontet Cast: · Jose Zuniga · Miguel Sandoval · Olivia Hussey · George Lopez Related Sites: · IMDb: Tortilla Heaven · Official Website Grade: B+

Needful Things gets a shot of salsa in this morality play set in the off-the-paved-path town of Falfurrias, New Mexico.

Falfurrias is barely a blip on the map -- a dusty village of less than a hundred that centers around the Catholic mission run by Father Pancracio (Marcelo Tubert), and the restaurant, Tortilla Heaven, run by the not-exactly-pious Isidor (Jose Zuniga). The folks are poor, and they long for more -- but they're happy, and they get by.

And then one of Isidor's tortillas comes off the burner with the image of Jesus Christ burnt into it. Not a "turn it and squint and it kinda sorta looks like a face" image, but a "Rembrandt... or maybe Polaroid... could have put that picture there" kind of image. Isidor is frightened, and instructs his wife to tell nobody.

But as the movie's slogan goes: You can't keep a miracle a secret. Quickly, the word spreads about the "Jesus of the Tortilla" and everyone wants to take a look. Spying an opportunity, Isidor decides to charge three dollars a head: one dollar for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit. As he's showing off the tortilla, a truck that's never run is pushed by and blocks the road, giving one woman the idea to rush out with the tortilla and heal the truck. Which would look ridiculous, except... the truck starts! And immediately runs over the pig in front of it. But have no fear, for the Jesus of the Tortilla is capable of resurrecting pigs as well!

The mayor declares that the tortilla is the property of the town, while Father Pancracio argues that the image of Jesus is trademarked by the Holy Roman Catholic Church. But they both leave calling Isidor a "capitalist swine" and a "heretic" when he adamantly refuses to give up the tortilla, swearing to use it for the betterment of the everyone.

Which is just about when Gil Garcia (Miguel Sandoval) comes into the picture. Slick looking and slick talking, accompanied by three gorgeous hotties, Gil turns off the main road when he sees the hand-painted sign advertising the holy tortilla. Gil is a jack of all trades. He's a management consultant who offers Isidor the chance to branch out with franchises. He's a trademark consultant, creating contracts and deals for people to license the image of the Jesus of the Tortilla for use on t-shirts and coffee mugs. And he's a lawyer -- and when everyone in the town ends up suing everyone else in the resulting fracas of greed and backstabbing, he ends up representing all of them, resulting in one hilarious scene where Garcia is objecting to his own objections.

 

The Art of the Deal. The mayor brings the sheriff to cite Isidor for operating a shrine without a license -- but what he really wants is a cut of the money. (L-R: George Lopez, Geno Silva, Miguel Sandoval, Jose Zuniga)

Isidor's big test comes when Gil's construction company (yes, he has one of those, too) is ready to build the paved road to Falfurrias -- the road the whole town has waited for to bring the longed-for prosperity. But it can only be built if it comes through the farm of Isidor's best friend. It's up to Isidor to make the right choice, even when the whole town is against him and his best friend is hurt and betrayed.

George Lopez takes the role of Sheriff Everardo, whose son is wheelchair bound from a strange ailment. Also starring is Olivia Hussey as Petra, a new age nudist whose teenaged daughter Dinora (Judy Herrera) -- a budding cosmologist -- begins dating Isidor's son Marco (Alexis Cruz), himself a promising oceanologist. The relationships of the teens is a subplot that really doesn't get much play until Petra, in a bid to send Marco away from her daughter, calls in a favor and gets him a scholarship with an old colleague of hers. Enraged that his son is leaving the family after consulting with "the witch," Isidor calls upon the judge and sheriff to arrest her -- but they end up taking Dinora into custody instead, as state laws dictate they must when a minor is involved.

Throughout the film, there's no doubt that Miguel Sandoval's character is none other than the devil himself, displaying some miraculous powers of his own when no one is paying attention, and Sandoval delivers a show-stealing performance. But it's the big payoff at the end that turns the whole plot on its ear and causes the viewer to see the whole thing in a brand new light. You'll want to see it again with new eyes to catch exactly who are the sinners and who are the saints.

A light comedy with a few sluggish bits, "Tortilla Heaven" is a "masa" see for fans of magical realism -- a modern parable of friendship and faith.