BOB TREVINO LIKES IT (2024)
Starring Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, French Stewart, Rachel Bay Jones, Ted Welch, Lolo Spencer, Tony Milder, Allora Nutter, Abigail Esmena, Takayla Williams Jackson, Ashlyn Moore, Phillip Elam, Debra Stipe, Tristan Thompson, Kristy Calman, Terrance Tocantins, Savio Carvalho, Victoria Edgar, Mike Fallin, Dale Holdren, Victor Keye and Olivia McBride.
Screenplay by Tracie Laymon.
Directed by Tracie Laymon.
Distributed by Roadside Attractions. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Sometimes movies sneak up on you. I’m not going to lie; I had barely heard of Bob Trevino Likes It when a friend recently raved about it. I’ve always been a fan of John Leguizamo’s work, but other than that I barely knew anyone in the cast, although I remembered French Stewart’s sitcom success with Third Rock From the Sun and I had seen Barbie Ferreira in a supporting role in Nope and Lolo Spencer in Give Me Liberty.
So, I gave it a chance and I’m so happy I did.
Bob Trevino Likes It is a small movie, one that tells a sweet and human story about friendship and family. It is buttressed by some spectacular acting and a clever and funny script which is able to skirt potential maudlin pitfalls.
Despite the title, the main character here is Lily Trevino (Ferreira). She is a twenty-something outcast woman with few friends and is rather needy. The closest she has to a friend is Daphne (Spencer), the disabled woman who Lily works for as a help worker. Still, she is not sure where the line between friends and employer/employee lies. Her ex-boyfriend keeps texting her thinking she is other women.
She is also estranged from her father Bob (Stewart), the type of guy who will put together a list of expenses that he has spent on Lily during her entire life. He mainly uses Lily as a prop to try to entice new girlfriends and often ghosts his daughter when he feels that she has disappointed him.
During one of the times that Bob is avoiding Lily, she is desperate to get her father’s attention again. She tries to cyberstalk him and when she finds a Facebook account for Bob Trevino with no picture, she adds him hoping it is her dad.
However, it turns out that this Bob Trevino (Leguizamo) is someone entirely different. He is a fifty-something construction exec who lives about an hour away. He is married, but the marriage has been severely strained by the death of their infant son years earlier. Now Bob and his wife Jeanie live together and yet separately, caring for each other, but there is a distinct chasm between them.
When Lily realizes this is a different Bob, she impulsively messages him, “Are we related?” The two start chatting online, liking each other’s posts and getting closer to each other. Jeanie is a little worried that her husband is being catfished, but the guy recognizes another damaged soul in Lily, noting that her Facebook posts are never liked by anyone else.
Once they meet in person, Bob becomes a true father figure to Lily, and they both help the other heal from their life issues.
This all could get maudlin, but first-time writer/director Tracie Layman deftly avoids those pitfalls in her script, which is loosely based on a similar experience in her real life.
As mentioned earlier, the acting here is stellar, with Leguizamo radiating a calm rationality and creating a strong bond with hyperactive Lily. Even French Stewart is able to make the bad dad Bob somewhat understandable, even though his character pretty villainous.
Sometimes families are not biological, they are just a connection, and Bob Trevino Likes It reminds us of that. Just a warning, though, have some tissues handy for the end.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2025 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: March 21, 2025.
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