Cowboy del Amor is a documentary about Ivan Thompson, aka Cowboy cupid, and his clients.
If you're looking for a wife and have 3,000 bucks and willing to take a 600 mile bus trip into Mexico, Ivan Thompson ,will find a Mexican mate for you. Late in life and out of his own experience, matchmaking became a budding career; Thompson is an unlikely cupid but a likeable old Texan.
Cowboy del Amor is really a quirky documentary that is fun to watch; some strange folks are profiled who perhaps are unsophisticated, but are doing their best; and for who they are and where they are, this way of finding a mate works for them or relatively so.
Sometimes I wonder how documentary makers decide on their subject matter; I would love to question some. The camera follows Ivan and his subjects on their quest like a moving reality show and better by far than most.
Ivan comes across as an honest guy who has a talent for matchmaking. He actually has had some success; and yet, he has been unlucky in love.
Cowboy Cupid lost his own Mexican wife to the American way of life. He says she got Americanized, in other words, she wanted independence and to be the boss. Imagine that, not wanting to cook and clean and wait on Ivan. He divorced her, remarried her, and divorced her.
The documentary, at times, flips back and forth between Ivan and his personal travails, his successes, and about three couples he helped bring together.
Ivan is not the most enlightened matchmaker and often gives the impression throughout the documentary that American women are driving his customers to find a Mexican wife. Still, the documentary has charm.
One guy, whom Ivan helped, was very much an introvert, but seemed to really luck out with this sweet and wholesome little bride. He came across as kind and generous and eventually brought his choice to the U. S. where they were married. What I smiled about was this guy's family. Literally, the camera captured the bewilderment on their faces, " What did you do? What is this?"
Ivan also paired an older guy( who looked like he was ready to "hit the trail") with an older woman; as a viewer, I was really happy for them. His bride said that, in general, "American men give women more attention and see their mates as equal whereas Mexican men just want to use women." This guy said there would be no fighting in his new relationship because he was not going to learn Spanish and his new Mexican wife would not learn English. What a novel idea to stop fighting! Works for me!
As a budding documentary film maker, I thought this was a good example of an interesting subject that, ordinarily, one might not see. Rent it. Quite amusing. Two parachutes. GEW.
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