A Day Without a Mexican
# A Day Without a Mexican

A Day Without a Mexican is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Sergio Arau in his directorial debut from a screenplay co-written with Yareli Arizmendi and Sergio Guerrero. It stars Yareli Arizmendi, John Getz, Maureen Flannigan, Muse Watson, Fernando Arau, and Eduardo Palomo. The plot offers a satirical look at the consequences of all the Mexicans in the state of California suddenly disappearing (with a mysterious "pink fog" surrounding the state preventing any communication or movement with the outside world). The film earned over $10 million at the box office and received generally negative reviews from critics.

## Cast

* Yareli Arizmendi as TV reporter Lila Rodriguez
* León Singer as Lila's father
* Caroline Aaron as Aunt Gigi
* Elpidia Carrillo as Cata
* Yeniffer Behrens as Suzy
* Gwendoline Yeo as a TV newscaster
* Larry Carroll as a TV newscaster
* John Getz as U.S. Senator Steven Abercombie III
* Melinda Allen as his wife, Ellen Abercrombie
* Suzanne Friedline as Vicki Martin
* Maureen Flannigan as Mary Jo Quintana
* Salli Saffioti as Mary Jo's neighbor
* Frankie J. Allison as Officer Carr
* Fernando Arau as Undocumented 1
* Muse Watson as Louis McClaire
* Carlos Gómez as Jose Velasquez Diaz
* Bru Muller as George McClaire
* Tony Abatemarco as a television talk show host
* Eduardo Palomo as Roberto Quintana

## Release

The film opened on May 14, 2004, in limited release throughout Southern California and on September 17 in theaters in Chicago, Texas, Florida, and New York City as well as San Jose.

## Reception

### Box office

A Day Without a Mexican grossed $5.9 million in Mexico, and $4.2 million in the United States and Canada, for a worldwide total of $10.1 million. In Mexico, the film earned $2.7 million from 330 theaters in its opening weekend. In the United States, the film as only a moderate box-office success, earning $628,807 in its first weekend.

### Critical response

The film received negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 27% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Day Without a Mexican is a preachy and heavy-handed satire that fails to deliver anything of substance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 30 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Ella Taylor of the LA Weekly describes it as, "A terrific premise is mangled to a pulp, then beaten to death in this forced mockumentary." E! was less kind, stating, "This Day not only lacks Mexicans but also good acting, sharp storytelling, and humor." At the Cartagena Film Festival, the film earned a nomination for Best Film and won Best Screenplay. It also earned a special jury award at the Gramado Film Festival and Best Editing at the Guadalajara Film Festival.

