Bob Trevino Likes It

Writer/producer/director Tracie Laymon's feature debut is a cinematic hug that receives critic Alec Toombs' highest recommendation.

Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

---

Sometimes a movie comes along that works like a cinematic hug. You didn’t know you wanted this, but your soul is balmed for having seen it. Roger Ebert once said, “For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy.” “Bob Trevino Likes It” (opening at Landmark Keystone Art Cinema on Friday, April 4) is one of the most empathetic films I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s the cinematic hug I needed in these troubling times.

“Euphoria” alum Barbie Ferriera stars as Lily Trevino, a lonely young woman living in Louisville, Ky. Lily becomes estranged from her Dad Bob (“3rd Rock from the Sun” actor French Stewart, playing way against type) after blowing his date with prospective sugar mama Helene (Debra Stipe, she played Brian Dennehy’s girlfriend in the beloved (to me at least) 1992 boxing picture “Gladiator”).

Lily had a boyfriend, but he treated her poorly and now only checks in via booty call. She also doesn’t have much in the way of friends. The closest she’s got is Daphne (Lauren ‘Lolo’ Spencer, “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), the wheelchair-bound young woman for whom Lily works as a live-in caretaker.

Misguidedly hoping to reconnect with her dickhead of a Dad, Lily friends someone without a profile pic named Bob Trevino on Facebook. Turns out this Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) ain’t her Pop, but rather a kindly construction manager living in nearby Greenville, Ind. with his scrapbooking wife Jeanie (Rachel Bay Jones, a Tony-winner for “Dear Evan Hansen”).

Bob, much like Lily, doesn’t have many friends. He jumps at the opportunity to befriend her first through messaging and then with meet-ups over diner coffee. There’s nothing untoward happening here. Lily sees him as the father figure she always wanted, needed and deserved and the childless Bob takes her under his wing as a friend and mentor. Bob makes it clear to Lily that he’s not her Dad, but he definitely cares.

“Bob Trevino Likes It” is the semi-autobiographical feature debut of writer/producer/director of Tracie Laymon and she’s off to one helluva start. The film won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the 2024 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival and for good reason. Laymon got sensational performances out of Ferriera, Leguizamo and Stewart. Leguizamo, of whom I’ve been a fan dating back to his turn as Benny Blanco from the Bronx in Brian De Palma’s 1993 crime classic “Carlito’s Way,” especially shines. This is a career peak for the versatile performer.

With “Bob Trevino Likes It” Laymon has made a beautiful and moving love letter and thank you note to her real-life friend Bob Laymon. I didn’t like “Bob Trevino Likes It” … I loved it. It’s a stirring reminder to be kind to others and kind to ourselves. This one gets my highest recommendation – just make sure you’ve got hella hankies handy.

In a world of Bob Trevinos be a Bob Trevino.