Filled with crude comedy, adventure, and romance, “No Manches Frida” is a  cheesy and heart-warming story about an ex-con named Zequi (Omar Chaparro). Zequi was hired as a substitute teacher at Frida Kahlo High that couldn’t keep their teachers from quitting after a few months.

Zequi’s sole purpose for being at the school was to dig up hidden money located underneath the gymnasium. He did not plan to meet the overachiever and idealist Lucy (Martha Higareda).

As Zequi hurries to retrieve the money to pay off his debt to a few no-good men, he also needs to teach a bunch of pranksters that are so insolent and uncontrollable that all the other teachers stopped trying in the past.

With Lucy’s guidance, Zequi does the impossible and somehow connects with his students like no other teacher before. He helps them transform into good citizens and in the process learns to become one himself.

Lucy and Zequi’s endearing romance added another enticing layer to the story, especially since their relationship strays away from being cliché. They are rude, hard-headed and use vulgar language with each other, discovering that they are better together than apart.

Lucy is studious and law-abiding in contrast to Zequi’s recklessness. His influence shows Lucy how to bend the rules to get her way. In return, Lucy teaches Zequi the importance of education despite being taught by his previous teachers that he was a lost cause.

Lucy’s charm attracts Zequi’s mind with decent career-focused goals that ultimately help him evolve into a better person.

What caught my attention about the film was the subtle message behind Lucy’s encouragement of young adults and the importance it has on their development.

Teachers mold the minds of their students at a young age and shapes their future. As Zequi was growing up, he was also an insolent prankster like his students. However, he didn’t have a teacher that cared about him intellectually like Lucy, thus leading him to believe that he was a lost cause.

Zequi’s failure in school led him to a criminal lifestyle. It wasn’t until Lucy’s patience and guidance that Zequi uncovered a whole new perspective, one filled with hopes and dreams.

“No Manches Frida” will make most people laugh hysterically. As you might have expected, the whole movie is in Spanish. However, most of the subtitles provided in the movie do not accurately translate what may have been said, but the gist is there.

A highly recommended romantic-comedy, “No Manches Frida” is still in theaters.