Even though it’s a small world — it’s a world with vast diverse cultures. Yet we are not that different from each other. We can find common ground in each other’s lives to live a harmonious life as we strive for a better future with our family and friends. With The Valet, writers Bob Fisher and Rob Greenberg, along with director Richard Wong, explore the mashup of two vastly different worlds and cultures with a Hollywood star and a valet to showcase how even the unlikeliest of people can find mutuality in each other and become friends and family.
Olivia Allan (Samara Weaving) is on the edge of success with her production company’s first big feature on Amelia Earhart about to be released. To add more stress she gets photographed by the paparazzi with her married lover and real estate tycoon, Vincent Royce (Max Greenfield), with whom she was trying to break up. The next day when the photograph and headlines hit, Olivia hires Antonio (Eugenio Debrez), a valet and the other man in the photograph, to pose as her boyfriend to cover up the affair and a potential PR disaster. When you see Antonio and Olivia together it feels like reverse Cinderella with no fairy godmother to transform Antonio into a prince. That is why it becomes indigestible not only to Anotnio’s friends and family but most importantly to Vincent’s wife Kathryn (Betsy Brandt) to believe Oliva and Antonio are dating each other. As she hires Stegman (John Pirruccello), a PI to follow them and find any evidence to prove that it’s all a ruse.
The Valet reels the audience in with the basic rom-com trope, leading the audience to expect Olivia to fall in love with good-hearted Antonio. But instead the movie steadily, and successfully with a lot of heart, diverts into exploring a meaningful platonic relationship between them. This is what makes the movie unique and stand apart.
The moments between Olivia and Antonio start with humor and awkwardness at first, given how vastly different their worlds are. Not only culturally, but in class too. The writers build upon those differences by showcasing family structures and even how the city changes from the glittering and lavish Beverly Hills to the south of Los Angeles where Antonio lives with his Mother (Carmen Salinas) in a small apartment complex. But at the same time, those differences are what eventually become an important part of Antonio and Olivia’s friendship to bloom. When Olivia meets Antonio’s family she feels the love and care she has been missing since she started her journey towards stardom. She has no one in her life she can really talk to. Whereas Antonio can’t escape any of his family members as he even shares a bathroom with his mom. Antonio never tries to run away from his family, even when he feels overwhelmed. Rather he gives all of his love and respect to the hard work his mother did to bring him and his sister Clara (Noemi Gonzalez) to America. It’s very heartwarming to see how he takes care of her, bringing her a box of mint chocolates and even spending time with her watching television every night after work.
The Valet also sheds light on the Latino working class community and how immigrants are the backbone of America. Through Antonio’s job as a valet we see how he is treated by customers who don’t even look him in the eye while handing their keys to him. He becomes a mere invisible figure in the background. That becomes one of the core components of the movie as Antonio confronts Olivia about how once their arrangement is over she will move back to her shining life of being a Hollywood starlet and forget all about him.
Leading The Valet in a brilliantly heartfelt performance as Antonio is Derbez. His character has such an innocence and touch of kindness that you can’t help but fall in love with him. While Derbez shines high and bright in his comic skills, it is his dramatic scenes that stay with you and make you emotional. Co-leading Debrez’s Antonio is Weaving’s Olivia. Her character exists within a whirlwind of craziness, and she is in desperate need of normalcy. Weaving takes control of her character, steadily peeling off layers of Olivia’s superstar persona to show her real self with Antonio’s help. The MVP of the movie is Salinas who plays Antonio’s mother. She brightens up the movie with her hilarious performance and her relationship with Mr. Kim, played by Ji Yong Lee, is so sweet to witness.
The Valet succeeds in creating a wholesome family movie that makes you laugh, smile with joy, and for a brief moment cry. It’s a funny movie with a lot of heart which sheds light on important issues like immigration, class, and culture. It is a movie you can’t miss as it stays with you long after it ends.
