Chasing Papi
Directed by	Linda Mendoza
Produced by	Laura Angelica Simon Tracey Trench Forest Whitaker
Written by	Laura Angelica Simon Steve Antin
Starring	Roselyn Sanchez Sofía Vergara Jaci Velasquez Eduardo Verástegui
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	April 16, 2003
Running time	80 minutes
Language	English Spanish
Budget	$9,000,000 USD

Chasing Papi is a Latino comedy film from 2003 starring Roselyn Sanchez, Sofía Vergara, Jaci Velasquez, and Eduardo Verástegui. The women discover that their boyfriend, has been dating all three of them at the same time -- a discovery that leads them on an adventure throughout Los Angeles, California.

Contents 1 Tagline 2 Plot 3 Cast 3.1 Cameos and appearances 4 Critical Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Tagline

• Three women. Three cities. Three times the trouble.

[edit] Plot

This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2009)

The story of Chasing Papi revolves around Tomás Fuentes (Eduardo Verástegui) who is introduced by a cartoon animation re-telling his life. In each stage of his life, there are women fawning over him mainly due to his charm and good looks. The story opens, with Tomás visiting all three of his girlfriends to give them each a gift. A cocktail waitress from Miami (Sofía Vergara), a debutante of New York's high society (Jaci Velasquez) and a lawyer from Chicago (Roselyn Sanchez), all three have fallen for him and given him the affectionate nickname "Papi".

Cici (Vergara) lives a fast paced life full of rhythm and passion, enjoys being the center of attention and has dreams of being what she calls "a real dancer." When it comes to relationships, she's the jealous type and has even threatened karmic retribution on Tomás via a demon called "La Llorona" defined as "a spirit in Latin methodology who haunts naughty children."

Lorena Morales (Sanchez) favors order, appreciates schedules, respects deadlines and puts in extra hours at the office fighting for "the people who have no voice." She buries herself in Tomás' ability to woo her with the intellectual words of famous poets. She enjoys how his ability to whisper sweet nothings in her ear makes her feel sexy, even if she doesn't even know she is.

Patricia Sofia Ordonez Coronado del Pescador (Velázquez) is a member of New York's elite, who's growing tired of her mother's (Maria Conchita Alonso) continuous attempts to marry her off. Tomás gives her hope of escaping all her ordered life, and having instead more spontaneity and a little danger. In spite of her mother's wishes, she continues seeing Tomás and will run away if she has to.

Each one believes she is the only woman is Fuentes' life.

In Los Angeles, we meet a fourth woman Mary (Joy Enriquez) secretary to Tomás at the Olivero & Sanchez Marketing Group, who wishers she was a part of his love life. During a presentation of a new perfume to potential buyers Tomás hallucinates visions of his three girlfriends and the screams of "La Llorona" and passes out. His doctor learns of the love triangle, tries to get Tomás to choose only one woman with no success, he prescribes tranquilizers and advises against driving, alcohol and women.

By strange coincidence the three girlfriends all watch Walter Mercado, Univision's Primer Impacto fortune teller, reading their horoscopes, and for different reasons each is advised go and surprise the man they love, and coincidentally all have an opportunity to go to Los Angeles at the same time.

Cici's business partner, Fala's boyfriend Ricky, needed his car taken to Los Angeles for him since he was in jail. Ricky claims he sold the car on the Internet. Fala didn't even know he had a computer but Cici is willing to take the car since it provides her with a chance to see her Papi. Turns out Ricky was involved in the the "Whittaker counterfeit ring", mentioned on the news before the horoscopes and FBI agent Carmen Rivera (Lisa Vidal) follows Ricky's car (and therefore Cici) in connection with the investigation.

All four arrive at Tomás' Los Angeles home and his three girlfriends each find ways to let themselves in to surprise him. It is revealed Tomás gave them all the same gift of red lingerie. Instead of surprising Papi they surprise each other and begin to argue. They realize they should not fight each other but the man who cheated on them. All three agree to leave and not come back and basically break contact with Fuentes for cheating on them. In their absence, Tomás drives home and takes his tranquilizers with alcohol. The girls each have second thoughts about leaving Tomás cold turkey and return to confront Tomás directly. First Lorena, then Patricia and finally Cici, causing Tomás to drink too much alcohol and take too many tranquilizers between their arrivals causing him to pass out again. During all this, Agent Rivera stayed outside and was reporting back to headquarters about where she was. She is mistaken by Tomás' three girlfriends as "The L.A. woman" after a telephone message from Mary is received.

Scared by Agent Rivera's firearm, the girls now decide to take Tomás out of the house and wait until he wakes up and decide which girls he wants to be with. They load all their bags in Ricky's car, not realizing that there's one more in the trunk. A short chase ensues but, with Cici driving, they manage to lose the "hoochie mama." Upon realizing they're going to need a place to stay, they go in search of a hotel. Patricia suggests a Marriott hotel over Cici's suggestion of a Motel 6. Cici convinces a bellhop to load the unconscious Tomás in a luggage cart with their bags while Patricia gets them a room. Unfortunately, Patricia's credit cards have been canceled by her mother. However, Lorena is their saving grace. The Miss Latina American Beauty Pageant is being held in that very same hotel and Miss Puerto Rico's flight was delayed. Lorena bears a resemblance to the real beauty contestant and takes her place. Cici passes herself off as Lorena's manager and introduces Patricia as the maid. When moving their bags to Miss Puerto Rico's room, the "extra bag" falls off the cart onto the luggage room floor.

In the hotel room, all three girls have dinner, empty three bottles of champagne and share their life stories with each other. They each then have a dream in which they end up with Tomás. Lorena's involves a beauty pageant, which she wins over Cici and Patricia, that ends with Tomás proposing to her. Cici's dream is on stage, where she is the principal dancer over Lorena and Patricia, and Tomás carries her off with a promise to devote himself only to her. Patricia's dream has a Cinderella theme, in which Cici and Lorena are her two evil stepsisters and Tomás is her prince. Even Fifi dreams of Tomás as her new master. However, in all three girls' dreams, they each feel bad in leaving the other two behind.

They oversleep and the temporary Miss Puerto Rico missed her brunch and has to meet the judges. However, the time has also come for Cici to deliver Ricky's car to a man named Rodrigo (D.L. Hughley) who apparently bought Ricky's car. Threatening to reveal the truth about Lorena's identity, Cici gets the girls come to an agreement. They leave Tomás bound with the lingerie but, in their absence, he's taken by Agent Rivera who has followed them to the hotel and used her credentials to get into the room. Upon returning to hotel in Ricky's car with Rodrigo's associate, Victor (Freddy Rodriguez) who is in pain from a recent root canal procedure, the girls discover Tomás is missing and a note that reads, "If you want your Papi back, bring the money to the Don Quixote puppet at L.A. Latin festival at 5 PM. No cops." The girls argue while Victor checks their bags in search of the money, which is what is in the "extra bag". When he touches Patricia's bag, she hits him over the head with a lamp. Cici calls Fala back in Miami for answers but doesn't get any. All that is left is to follow the instructions in the note but they are stopped once again. This time by Costas Delgado, (Paul Rodriguez, uncredited) the director of the pageant, who has been looking for Lorena and needs her to meet with the judges. Patricia finds the bag with the money in the luggage room and Cici gets a map to the festival. Victor calls Rodrigo and both plan to catch the girls at the festival. Outside, it appears that Agent Rivera has left the note and intends to use Tomás and his three girlfriends in order to detain Victor and Rodrigo and is prepared to follow them to the festival.

At the beauty pageant, the contestants are being interviewed by judges. While Miss Mexico is being interviewed, Lorena is having trouble blending in and adjusting to her seat, which is in between Miss Costa Rica and Miss Bolivia. After finally doing so, she unbuttons her blouse slightly to show off her cleavage. Costas helps her with her sash. After Miss Mexico, its Miss Puerto Rico's turn but Lorena is busy adjusting herself but eventually goes up to be interviewed by the judges. During her interview, Patricia and Cici arrive and take their place in the audience. Lorena's political side shows as she proposes entrance exams for all contestants and speaks of the goals of Latina beauty pageants. All is unfortunately for naught as the real Miss Puerto Rico(Nicole Scherzinger)storms in and outs Lorena as an impostor. Cici trips her, allowing all three to escape. Tomás finally wakes up in Agent Rivera's car and believes he is hallucinating. Agent Rivera assures him he isn't, tells him of her plan and follows the girls to the festival as they leave in Ricky's car. On the way, Tomás opens up to Agent Rivera and even hits on her but she doesn't bite.

On the way, the girls' car runs out of gas and they pull into a gas station just as their car breaks down completely. Seeing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Cici and Lorena get the idea to drive it the remaining distance to the festival. The problem is neither girl knows how to drive a motorcycle. Fortunately, Patricia does. Promising the owner to bring it right back, the girls take the motorcycle the rest of the way to the festival losing both the map and Agent Rivera in the process. All five (Lorena, Patricia, Cici, Carmen and Tomás) arrive at the festival at the same time, though, and Carmen is happy they did. Victor and Rodrigo arrive together too. The girls see the puppet is behind the stage. Running through the crowd to avoid the cops, Patricia loses one of her colored contact lenses. Instead of looking for it, she takes the other one out. Cici and Lorena agree she looks "so much prettier without all that money." Victor and Rodrigo spot them and the girls run on stage where Sheila E. is performing and dance to singer Christina Vidal's song, Dejaré regardless of their mixed dance backgrounds. Victor and Rodrigo get closer to the stage, causing the girls to run off mid-performance. They all run to the puppet, where FBI agents surround them and apprehend Victor and Rodrigo and where the girls are finally reunited with Tomás.

Tomás apologizes to the girls for his deception and that he is unable to choose between them. The girls, however, have all found their inner strengths through their adventure and leave Tomás instead. Tomás decides to take Agent Carmen's advice and spend some time alone. But first, he invites Carmen out for dinner. Returning to the festival crowds, the girls are invited to return to the stage where they dance to Christina Vidal's song [[It's All About Nothing]].

The movie's timeline advances five months later and the girls have kept in touch. Patricia has moved into her own apartment with Fifi and has a job at an art gallery. Cici is an entertainer on a cruise liner with her business partner Fala. Lorena is still a lawyer working pro-bono but puts her time off to good use and becomes the self-proclaimed "Queen of Tango". Walter Mercado appears on Patricia's television and Fifi hears her horoscope that advises her to "go outside the door because love is waiting for [her]." The movie ends with Fifi doing just that and finding her "Puppy Chulo."

[edit] Cast

• Roselyn Sanchez as Lorena
• Sofía Vergara as Cici
• Jaci Velasquez as Patricia
• Eduardo Verástegui as Tomás "Papi" Fuentes
• Lisa Vidal as Carmen
• Freddy Rodríguez as Victor
• D.L. Hughley as Rodrigo
• Maria Conchita Alonso as Maria
• Walter Mercado as Himself
• Carlos Ponce as Himself
• Joy Enriquez as Mary
• Ian Gomez as Doctor Chu
• Diana-Maria Riva as Fala (as Diana Maria Riva)
• Ivette Sosa as Gloria
• Barbara Bermudo as Miami TV Reporter

[edit] Cameos and appearances

The movie features several cameo appearances, including singer Carlos Ponce and Primer Impacto news reporter Barbara Bermudo.

Other entertainers who act in the film include ex-Eden's Crush members Nicole Scherzinger and Ivette Sosa, and Maria Conchita Alonso.

[edit] Critical Reception

Critics gave generally negative reviews of Chasing Papi. It received an overall low rating of 33% from Metacritic.^[1] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of only 13% based on 47 reviews.^[2] The film failed to appeal to a mainstream audience beyond its target Latino demographic.

Elizabeth Weitzman from the New York Daily News wrote "The credits on this film are genuinely impressive: Each of the talented actresses is already a popular Latina star, and the film was produced by Forest Whitaker, who directed Waiting to Exhale. No doubt he expected it to speak to an underrecognized audience in the way that one did. Instead, it just speaks down to them and the rest of us." ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chasing Papi at the Internet Movie Database