Refreshing! Burst the post-Almodovar gay-ghetto movie bubble with unflinching honesty.
- Village Voice

An amusing and touching film about reinterpreting the idea of “family,” Bear Cub tells the engaging story of Pedro (José Luis García-Pérez), an attractive gay dentist living an active single life in Madrid. He offers to take care of his adorable 9-year-old nephew Bernardo (the remarkable David Castillo) for two weeks while the child’s mother travels abroad with her latest “hippie” boyfriend.

When Mom suddenly becomes detained in India, however, Pedro must become the boy’s caretaker. And to further complicate matters, the boy’s grandmother Dona Teresa (Empar Ferrar), previously exiled from all of our beloved characters’ lives, wants custody of the young boy and will do anything (including hiring detectives to shadow Pedro to take incriminating pictures and threatening to expose Pedro’s HIV status to all of his clients! (THE BITCH!) to achieve her goals and begins a custody battle for the child.

Never overly sentimental or sensational, director Miguel Albaladejo (Manolito Four-Eyes) isn’t shy in showing frisky sex, deep intimacy and complicated human relationships. He has crafted a funny and charming audience pleaser that inspired the Chicago Tribune to proclaim the film “striking and refreshing.”

Bear Cub is one of the first feature-length narratives to feature “bears” and their community, many of them quite “woofy.” Pedro is a handsome gay dentist with an active, shall we say “social life.” Pedro modifies his behavior by hiding all his porn, scolding his friends for rolling joints in the house, and abstains from his usual steamy, sexual hook-ups for the benefit of his nephew. But Bernardo is quite mature for his age and loves his uncle unconditionally.

There is amazing chemistry between the charming Pérez and shining youngster Castillo. They form a new family unit that builds a wonderful emotional foundation for the film.

Spanish with English subtitles. One word of warning, y’all need to read FAST, those subtitles zip by along with the snappy dialog. Ta’s tired ol eye could hardly keep up! Ah had to hit pause to catch mah breath!2004, 98 min

A.K.A.: Cachorro

Country: Spain

Studio: TLA Releasing

Cast: José Luis García Pérez, David Castillo, Diana Cerezo, Arno Chevrier, Empar Ferrer, Mario Arias

Director: Miguel Albaladejo

Screenwriter: Miguel Albaladejo, Salvador García Ruiz

Rating: Unrated