Lily (Barbie Ferreira) explains to the new counselor her side of the story. This is how the episode Bob Trevino Likes It begins. We hear only fragments of the backstory that she weaves out for them in this strange yet exciting way. And yet, even minimally, we can assume that it is depressing: “I think it is not all my fault,” Lily states about having her mother leave when she was four. What makes it even more striking is how she seems so unaffected while saying this — she speaks like a woman who has lived with this feeling cemented deep within her for a long time.
Lily is happy after finishing with the hug but is surprised to see the counselor has fainted. At the end of the pitch, the counselor seems to be getting over sad truths about Lily. And yet that tantalizing juxtaposition is Bob Trevino Likes It in a nutshell. Like its central character, the stand-up can be very cheerful, energetic, and even quite funny. And as with all the great comedies, it has a good emotional core, and it is most moving when it has to be at its most tender.
Of course, its heroine has plenty of reasons to mourn. In fact, the very first shot in the first scene has her crying over a text her boyfriend sent that was meant for somebody else. Enraged she writes “LOSER, DON’T CALL ME AGAIN.” She erases the message instead, saying “no prob! :)” In the course of the plot, it becomes clear that her submissive character is the result of long exposure to her father directed by French Stewart’s performance — an arrogant man who does not let the girl forget that it is her horselife whose existence caused him to suffer the loss — or that she allowed herself to be an aggressor.
However, Bob Trevino Likes It is not here to revel in the depths of despair that is the case of Lily. Films don’t work by allowing their characters to suffer; they work by allowing them to overcome and begin the process of recovery. After a particularly aggressive dispute with her father, lily attempts to locate him on facebook, in the process, she finds a middle-aged contractor with the same name. Gradually, Lily comes to see Bob (John Leguizamo) as a father figure and Bob starts treating Lily as the daughter he never had. They become mutually beneficial as each assists the other recover from the catastrophic events that have changed their worlds for the worst.
While Bob Trevino Likes It, a film based on one of Tracie Laymon’s life experiences, has some strong aspects, the fact that the relationship between Lili and Bob is oddly comfortable for them both is a bit bothersome. They tend to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, and Lily’s character progression occurs without the many hiccups and regressions that are characteristic of most growth’s in people even in the most ideal circumstances. As far as Bob is concerned, a very close to a perfect being who is consistently capable of doing or saying everything that is required to guide Lily in a right direction is how he is depicted As the story unfolds, a handful of other characters indulge themselves in the lives of an apparently apathetic Daphne (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer), who is Lily’s in-house employer, Jeanie (Rachel Bay Jones), who happens to be Bob’s wife, Bob, and most notably Lily, in their development without any motivations of their own.
And yet it is difficult to make a case that Bob Trevino Likes It would have benefitted in any way from being more unpolished or more bleak or more of a sprawling work. As it stands, it works quite well as a love letter or perhaps a thank you note, which is perhaps what the filmmakers intended all along and that is, success on its own terms. Even if Bob and Lily’s relationship is somewhat idealized, Laymon still manages to create moments which are real and spontaneous, where performers are believable and don’t hit a false note. Ferreira shines as Lily, a bundle of love who is likened to a puppy — overly excited but hesitant to show her true self. She is made tense, not stressed, Leguizamo, who portrays the character with some decency and even melancholy. Bob’s character is friendly, but there is something in his behavior that gives away that his life is incomplete in some way, though it is not clear how exactly. Leguizamo and Ferreira act with resolution, and their on screen chemistry complements the pitch black sky that blankets them on their characters’ meteor strewn camping experience.
The film features a great cast, including its two leads, but even more impressive is its simplicity. At first glance, the relationship between Bob and Lily may appear to be rather banal. He appreciates her updates on Facebook because no one else seems to notice them. They both share their childhood stories, with her asking about his and him talking about hers. Bob almost instinctively decides to go and repair the broken toilet at her house. Strokes of greatness these are, although not very dramatic ones. But from the looks on their faces, it is evident how important it is to them to give and receive such little things. Every time Bob Trevino Likes It client pm fells down their walls, he literally brings down most of them. By then, I was sobbing almost as hard as Lily while watching the puppy’s doting on her. It was like a cautious exercise imposed by Bob to get over a traumatic experience from Lily’s childhood.
As time goes by, a stronger Lily who has never had the privilege of a father’s love that is nurturing and unconditional, learns to heal the wounds that were left by her dad. The same applies to Bob, who has been woken up from his emotional coma and is all set to express the unbearable feelings that were harshly bottled up for several years, first to Lily and then to Jeanie. Life has dealt with Lily a few more blows as showcased in the emotionally charged conclusion of Bob Trevino Likes It, however this important feminine character is closing the pages of the worst chapters her life for now. She is confident enough to agree with what Bob told her- “We’re all a bit broken. But you’re gonna be fine.” These words must have taken a few therapy sessions to the girl’s story- how else could one make a therapist cry?
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