AllMovie

A genuine original, Juan Pablo Villasenor's award-winning debut feature (international and Mexican jury prize at the 1997 Guadalajara Film Festival) offers a deft blend of humor and sentiment as it chronicles the road adventures of a group of elderly musicians who escape from a Mexico City nursing home and play in numerous clubs on the way to Tijuana where their leader hopes to fulfill his lover's dying wish. For over a decade, bandleader Bruno has endured condescending and authoritarian treatment at the hands of the nursing home staff and management. His lover Rosita finds her situation there so depressing that she finally commits suicide, but not before asking Bruno to see that her ashes are returned to Tijuana, her hometown. After the cremation, Bruno steals her ashes and hits the road to search for Rosita's niece Margarita. Unfortunately, she is a seedy character who cares nothing for her aunt's desires. While Bruno wrangles with Margarita over the ashes, his four cohorts back at the home find his courage and daring an inspiration. To this end, they too escape after a performance at another nursing home. By the time they find Bruno, he has begun falling for the troubled, much younger Margarita who still mourns for a lost love. To make matters more complicated, Margarita's elderly neighbor Diana makes passes at Bruno and his band's lead singer Oscar. The band's real adventure begins when the sleazy club owner they have been working for sends them packing to Tijuana with instrument cases filled with illegal drugs.