Cowboy Del Amor

One thing that is constant in all normal human beings is the need to find a mate. Although there is a saying that there is a match for everybody many times finding that special person is a bit problematic. One profession that goes back to the dim prehistoric times is the matchmaker. This person, for a financial consideration, will help you find your mate. Normally, the matchmaker is an older woman. In the case documented in the film ‘Cowboy del Amor’ the matchmaker is Ivan Thompson, a middle aged man better know to his clients as the Cowboy Cupid. Michèle Ohayon looks at this man and his unusual calling with humor, pathos and creativity.

For over sixteen years Thompson, a former horse trader, has been matching gringo, white American males, with Mexican women looking for a spouse in the States. For seventeen and a half years Thompson was married to an American woman. When the time came for him to remarry Thompson decided to look south of the border for the next Mrs. Thompson. He placed and advertisement in a Mexican newspaper and to his surprise he received some 80 responses. The letters were from attractive, professional young women. You might think that the only responses would be from women looking for a quick green card but Thompson discovered that many serious Mexican woman wanted to marry and American. Thompson made his decision, a Mexican woman with three children and not only was a new marriage formed but Thompson, now in his sixties, moved from the "horse business" to the "woman business".

For a fee of $3,000 a week Thompson will place ads in Mexican newspapers, accompanies his clients to Mexico, arrange for an interpreter and offer his advice in the fine art of classified driven dating. The film follows two of his clients. The first is Rick, a divorced long distance trucker. The second is Dave, a used car salesman, divorced three times, who is sullen and almost completely silent. These men are displayed as ones who have been burnt romantically by American women. What they want is a wife who is there completely for their husband. More than a cultural issue their search for love south of the border is more because they have not found much success in this country.

The women that Thompson finds are not the bare foot and pregnant type. Many have a better education than their perspective spouses. In the case studies presented Dave winds up with a dermatologist who runs her own clinic. She wants a down to earth man; he wants an intelligent and loving woman. It’s a win-win situation and Thompson can smile as he cashes the check. There is some aspect of the man wanting a live in maid with bedroom service and the woman wanting American citizenship but the documentary does not dwell on that aspect. After all its not like marriages between American citizens is not without such details. After all no man has ever married a woman to be a housekeep and no woman has ever wed for financial security, right? It is difficult to image why a dermatologist who want to become a house bound sex slave if the darker motives where the only ones in play here. To be honest here the men are not exactly the type I would want my own daughter to marry. If she brought home any of them I would spend my retirement funds on getting her out of the country fast. They are rough, typically uncultured men who are concerned with a woman who is ‘not too fat’. The women on the other hand are a little more of a mystery since there has to be a better way to get citizenship. While the focus of the documentary is not on these provincial attitudes they exist not too far beneath the surface.

Thompson does come across a bit like a misogynist especially when he refers to the women with the same terms he most likely used while trading horses. In one particularly disparaging comment he states that if you can peddle horses you can peddle women. He also wound up divorcing his second wife, the Mexican bride. This is not exactly a glowing recommendation for his services but enough men and women are willing to participate to allow him to earn a living. The same holds for his clientele. Rick divorced his wife when she entered menopause; not exactly the Lifetime watching type. Thompson does have certain rules the participants must follow. No sexual contact is allowed before the wedding vows. As Thompson states he is running a marriage service not a brothel. Since the standards of living are much better here in the States than in Mexico even upscale women are prone to get a less than stellar husband in order to trade up in their life styles.

Director Michèle Ohayon does a reasonably good job here presenting the story without making too many moral judgments. After all the people evolved are adults and no one is being coerced. He does tend to over play the romantic angle of the business. While hopefully love will get there these matches are not made in heaven. The film is well shot; each shot is framed perfectly. The musical score fits incredibly well helping to set the emotional tone of the piece. This is in many ways a sociological study of the somewhat symbiotic relationship between two countries that may be geographically neighbors but worlds apart culturally and socially.

Once again Genius Products comes through for fans of off the beaten track films. They never seem to fail in presenting a movie that most haven’t heard of but is still worth watching. The technical specifications of this little documentary are far better than I anticipated. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is crisp and clear. The color balance is realistic and true to life. The audio is a surprisingly robust Dolby 5.1. The channel separation could have been better. Since this is a dialogue drive film the sound is centered as you would expect. Typical of Genius Productions you also get some interesting extras. There is a section of ‘Ivanism’, little sayings and ‘wisdom’ from the man himself. The director provides an insightful looks into the process the subject and the business. There are also a few deleted scenes just to round things off. This is an offbeat documentary that will amuse and entertain.

Posted 01/16/07