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Tortilla Heaven

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Tortilla Heaven
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJudy Hecht Dumontet
Written by
  • Judy Hecht Dumontet
  • Julius Robinson
Produced by
  • Gilbert Dumontet
  • Pepe Iturralde
  • Courtney Mizel
  • Judy Hecht Dumontet
Starring
CinematographyChuy Chávez
Edited by
  • Vanick Moradian
  • Hiroshi Kubota
  • Rick Fields
Music byChristopher Lennertz
Distributed byArchangel Releasing
Release date
  • March 16, 2007 (2007-03-16)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tortilla Heaven is a 2007 American comedy film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Judy Hecht Dumontet. It features an ensemble cast including José Zúñiga, George Lopez, Miguel Sandoval, Olivia Hussey, Elpidia Carrillo, Alexis Cruz, Jude Herrera, Marcelo Tubert, and Lupe Ontiveros. It revolves around a Mexican restaurant run by Isidor, who discovers an awe-inspiring image burned into one of his freshly made tortillas: the face of Jesus.[1]

Premise

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A tiny town in New Mexico is turned upside down when the image of Christ appears - burned onto a tortilla - in the community's only restaurant, "Tortilla Heaven." Chaos ensues among the townfolk.

Cast

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Reception

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Box office

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Tortilla Heaven grossed $105,401 in the United States.[2][3]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 22 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[5]

Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The experience of watching Tortilla Heaven is like a frozen smile: The film and its makers simply try too hard. Director and co-writer Judy Hecht Dumontet can't stop "helping" with overactive editing and scoring, such as tinkling bells every time the sacred tortilla is shown early on."[6]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "As flat as a tortilla and considerably less nourishing, Tortilla Heaven cooks up a muddled religio-comic fable" and "Pic's almost exclusively Latino and Native American cast is mostly reduced to playing folksy caricatures, feverishly crossing themselves and peppering their Mexican-accented English with the odd exclamation in Spanish."[1]

Tim Grierson of LA Weekly stated, "If it was simply a jokey commentary on the dangers of greed and religious fervor, Tortilla Heaven would be forgivable. But Hecht Dumontet deserves special derision for her hypocritical condescension toward Falfúrrias' simple-folk caricatures, rendering them as God-fearing dolts worthy of scorn until the patronizing finale, which tries for a spiritual uplift that's as disingenuous as it is incompetently executed."[7]

Brandon Fibbs of Christianity Today wrote, "While a fable is an amusing and compelling way to relate a story with a serious point, Tortilla Heaven at times undermines its message by stretching the comedy to its limits" and "For all of its flaws and shortcomings, Tortilla Heaven can't help but be charming and undeniably entertaining. The film's heart is always in the right place."[8]

Rory L. Aronsky of Film Threat wrote, "Oh how I wanted to like Tortilla Heaven. Really like it. Saturday-afternoon-movie like it." However, he also opined, "It's disappointing, because not only does George Lopez and many of the actors deserve a little better (Lopez, among others, is grossly underused), but Chuy Chavez's vivid cinematography makes a more extensive walk around the town seem very attractive."[9]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2008 ALMA Awards Outstanding Performance of a Lead Latino/Latina Cast in a Motion Picture José Zúñiga, Miguel Sandoval, Olivia Hussey, Elpidia Carrillo, Alexis Cruz, Jude Herrera, Marcelo Tubert, Lupe Ontiveros, Del Zamora, George Lopez Nominated [10]

References

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  1. ^ a b Chang, Justin (March 18, 2007). "Tortilla Heaven". Variety. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "Tortilla Heaven". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Tortilla Heaven". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Tortilla Heaven". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  5. ^ "Tortilla Heaven". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Ordoña, Michael (March 16, 2007). "'Tortilla Heaven' short of celestial". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  7. ^ Grierson, Tim (March 14, 2007). "Tortilla Heaven". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  8. ^ Fibbs, Brandon (March 16, 2007). "Tortilla Heaven". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  9. ^ Aronsky, Rory L. (March 21, 2007). "TORTILLA HEAVEN". Film Threat. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  10. ^ "Alma Awards nominees". Variety. August 14, 2008. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
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