Engaging characters can take a light comedy a long way. (And light comedy can take social commentary a long way, too.) That’s the case with Neto Villalobos’ amiable comedy Helmet Heads (Cascos Nomados).
Mancha (Arturo Parda) buzzes around San Jose, Costa Rica, as a motorcycle delivery driver and canoodles with his girlfriend Clara (Daniela Mora). Mancha hangs out with his buddies from work. Clara tends a pack of 700 wild dogs on a mountainside outside the city. There’s a job crisis at Mancha’s employer, and Clara is moving to another town – so Mancha faces some choices.
The core of Helmet Heads is the bro-buddy camaraderie of the drivers. They all know each other by nicknames (and not their real names). “Mancha” means “Stain” and refers to the protagonist’s prominent facial birthmark. I especially loved the ever-blissed out Chito, the bombastic Gordo and the conveniently/inconveniently diabetic Gato. I was surprised to learn that most of the cast are non-actors and some are motorcycle delivery drivers.
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose. These guys, especially Mancha, value their independence, but Helmet Heads reminds us – usually slyly – that their place in Costa Rica’s society is insecure, even fragile. Even with the social comment, Helmet Heads is pretty funny throughout.
There is also a sex scene unlike any I’ve seen. The sex is conventional, but the setting is not.
[Oddly, I flashed on another motorcycle messenger movie, the 1981 French thriller Diva, even though that is an entirely dissimilar movie – sleeker production values, a Hitchcock homage, an iconic chase through the Paris Metro, etc.]
I saw Helmet Heads at Cinema Club Silicon Valley, with a post screening Q&A with director Neto Villalobos.. I’ll let you know when and if Helmet Heads can be streamed.