Mister Lonely Makes Me Muy Sad

Okay, I have a confession to make: the only reason I wanted to see this film was because Diego Luna stars in it and, well, I kinda fell in love with him in Y Tu Mamá También. So you can imagine my surprise when he popped up on-screen looking not nearly as attractive as a hardcore Michael Jackson impersonator with face-lightening makeup, a stiff wig, high-waters (his signature black pants that are ready for a flood) and all. What he lacks in looks, he makes up for with perfectly mastered Jackson moves that his oddly cute, innocent infatuation with the King of Pop inspires.

His character's lonely life performing on the streets of Paris suddenly becomes more exciting when he meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) during a gig at an old folks home. Monroe convinces him to follow her back to a strange commune in the Scotland highlands where she lives with her possessive husband (a Charlie Chaplin impersonator played by Denis Lavant), her daughter (Shirley Temple played by Esme Creed-Miles) and a close-knit community of OCD-suffering impersonators that include Sammy Davis Jr., Little Red Riding Hood and even Buckwheat (slightly racist).

What slowly transpires is a story about an overly eccentric group of people who have an eerie passion for being someone they're not, while simultaneously living out their lifelong dreams. Although somewhat depressing-shifts in the storyline take you to an unknown jungle in Latin America where a priest, accompanied by nuns, drops food to poor communities via helicopter-the movie, directed and written by Harmony Korine (of Kids and Gummo indie fame), allows for reflection about the meaning of life and the inevitably of death.

Mister Lonely opens Friday, May 9 in Los Angeles.