Cowboy del Amor

Plot

Ivan Thompson is a 60-year-old former horse breeder who found his calling and career as The Cowboy Cupid. His business is match making. Specifically, introducing American men who are interested in finding love and marriage to Mexican women intent on the same.

For $3000 USD, Thompson will escort you to Mexico and upon arrival arrange introductions with eligible ladies. The success rate is high. But before the client is accepted and before a trip to Mexico can be made, the client must first pass Thompson's "smell test".

The film chronicles his attempts to set up three men. The first is a 48-year-old truck driver who lives on a mobile home next to his parent's house, whom he successfully introduces to a 20-year-old seamstress from Torreón. They marry and have a child. Another client is an American used car dealer who does not hit it off with a Mexican doctor. The last is a toothless veteran who marries a Mexican laundress. Finally Ivan quits the business and decides to go town to town in Mexico to pursue his own quest to find love.

Critical reception

The film won 5 awards at various film festivals including the South by Southwest Film Festival. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the film a 57 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

From Marrit Ingman of The Austin Chronicle:

I've seen a lot of documentaries lately, but this pick from last year's South by Southwest film festival (and winner of the Documentary Feature award) is a shining example of how the format can use character as a prism... The result is a lyrical contrast of two contiguous cultures, worlds apart in their definitions of family and love but brought together by mutual awe and basic human need.

From Elizabeth Weitzman of The New York Daily News:

It's both a compliment and a criticism to say that Michèle Ohayon's scrappy documentary ends much too quickly. Every moment of this story - about America's unlikeliest matchmaker - is fascinating. We just need more of them.