Route of the Moon

Tito is a deliberate fellow. He won't rush to answer a phone, and he likes the methodic rhythms of bowling. Imagine his shock when he must suddenly travel from Panama to Costa Rica to retrieve his father Cesar, whom he barely knows, from the hospital. Despite his heart condition, Cesar is a disarmingly robust whirlwind of activity. He jogs from his sickbed to the car and insists that they immediately drive the 13 hours back to Panama. Tito is irritated by Cesar's exaggerated machismo, and Cesar is embarrassed by his progeny's albinism and love of bowling. Still, they're in it together, and the two make their way in their sky-blue Lada across the highways and byways of Central America. Cesar, whose animal spirits seem unimpaired by his supposedly delicate health, picks up a free-spirited young woman who comes encumbered with a stray dog. As the clouds roll by the ROUTE OF THE MOON overhead, the Lada and its inhabitants continue their earth-bound trajectory. (In Spanish with subtitles) –B.B.