Longtime fans of Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal know the magic that happens when these two Mexican actors, childhood friends and longtime collaborators get together on screen. From the sexy road trip adventure of “Y Tu Mamá También” to the heartwarming soccer-centric “Rudo y Cursi” and even the slapstick “Casa de Mi Padre,” the duo brings the best out of each other. So it’s not surprising that Hulu placed their bets on the pair to help them produce their first ever Spanish-language original series to debut during Hispanic Heritage Month.
“La Máquina,” a limited-series about an aging boxer’s comeback with a criminal underworld twist, starts out delivering on that premise. But what you get extends far beyond that.
The show opens in flashy, fast-paced Vegas, minutes before fight night. Saúl (Andrés Delgado) rushes from casino to casino in a frantic search for a bottle of Fresquita-brand tamarind juice — Esteban “La Maquina” Osuna’s (Bernal) lucky pre-match beverage. After striking out three times, Saúl settles for a different brand, which simply won’t do.
“You don’t respect the sanctity of boxing,” Andy (Luna), La Máquina’s manager, says to Saúl as they rush to remove the label off the bottle. It’s a statement tinged with irony coming from Andy, whose own corruption is later revealed to be about as extreme as his addiction to Botox. Kudos to the makeup department for transforming the typically handsome Diego Luna so much that one character later compares his plasticized face to a condom.
When they reach Esteban, he’s visibly anxious about his impending match against a much-younger competitor, and more so once he’s given the wrong drink. But it’s not long before his ex, Irasema (Eiza González), saves the day with a tamarind Fresquita in hand. Despite their divorce, audiences can sense there’s still love between the two.
After a quick pep talk from Andy, a now-smiling Esteban heads into the flashing lights of the arena. The music gets louder, the crowd roars and just as we’re hoping to see what La Máquina (which translates to “The Machine”) can do in the ring, the camera cuts to Esteban inside an ambulance, being rushed to the hospital.
“Did we win?” he asks Andy, who quickly replies, “What do you think, a-hole?”
With this most recent loss, it’s obvious the former champ is headed toward his final days in the ring. As Andy struggles to convince brands not to drop his boxer, we begin to witness Esteban’s own personal demons coming for him. It’s uncertain whether he’s having flashbacks or hearing voices, but the effect is just the same. After a visit to his doctor, we learn that Esteban is not only dealing with anxiety, he’s also struggling to stay sober. Esteban’s addictions, we later find, were the catalyst for his divorce, and his lack of custody of his two sons.
The first episode of “La Máquina” is busy planting seeds for the rest of the series, which is equal parts enjoyable and overwhelming. We find out that Andy and his wife Carlota (Karina Gidi) are trying to get pregnant. We meet Andy’s overbearing and wildly inappropriate mother, Josefina (Lucía Méndez), whose own face is as plastic as Ida Lowry’s in “Brazil.” We also begin to see glimmers of corruption: Andy blackmails João, Protasio’s manager, into setting up another fight with Esteban. He also attempts to pay off the boxing commission to ensure Esteban makes his weight. And all of this is before the 30 minute mark.
By the second half, we finally get to see Esteban in the ring, up against Protasio. After dealing a winning knockout, the crew go out to celebrate La Máquina’s comeback. But it’s in the final minutes that we find out it’s all been a smoke show: not only did Esteban not win fairly, the game’s fixers (referred to as Otras Personas throughout) are now demanding he lose his next match or die. While it seems a bit comical in a way (the threat is projected onto a karaoke screen), by now audiences will be invested enough to want to see where this is all headed.
Episode 2 continues at a rapid pace, following Andy’s attempts to bargain with Otras Personas as well as introducing Irasema’s decision to begin investigating corruption in boxing. It’s an important storyline given how few protections journalists have in Mexico, particularly when reporting on various forms of organized crime. While we see her do some investigating in Episode 2, by Episode 5 (critics were provided five of six episodes), it’s the one storyline that sadly doesn’t get fleshed out enough. In fact, we see more about Andy’s outlandish relationship with his mother, which rivals that of Lysa and Robin Arryn in “Game of Thrones” in terms of improper behavior. In one scene, for example, she exits a tanning bed fully naked in front of him, to which Andy exclaims that she promised to at least wear a thong.
By the third episode, “La Máquina” really hooks you in, though there are a few rough spots. At times, audiences aren’t sure what’s real and what’s a figment of Esteban’s imagination — a sensation that follows audiences throughout the rest of the show. It can be a tad difficult to follow at times, admittedly. There are also a few other threads that simply drop off, like Esteban’s budding connection with a young dancer he meets in the first episode. It can feel like the show would’ve been better off sticking to fewer plot lines.
The last two episodes available for review, however, are where it all really pays off. There are some truly captivating scenes, including one where Esteban’s trainer, Sixto (Jorge Perugorría), makes an attempt to help “fix” Esteban’s trauma and/or hallucinations through the use of interrogation techniques he learned during his time in the Cuban special forces (truth be told, Perugorría steals every scene he’s in). In another, Esteban ends up with his boys in the same worn-down carnival where he first took up boxing with his father. But it’s Esteban’s and Andy’s chaotic bond (and Bernal’s and Luna’s acting chops displayed brilliantly in the final minutes of episode five) that really bring this show home.
While some of the banter may get lost in translation (especially in terms of colorful slang and curse words), the show should be just as enjoyable for non-Spanish speaking audiences. Directed by Gabriel Ripstein (“600 Miles”) and written by Marco Ramirez (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Orange is the New Black”), both of whom also served as executive producers, “La Máquina” proves that Bernal and Luna’s talent transfers seamlessly from big screen to streaming.
“La Máquina” premieres Wednesday, Oct. 9, on Hulu.
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