Acapulco ai-i-i-yi, Acapulco ai-i-i-yi! Technically, Acapulco begins at the end. On a sunny, cloudless day in Southern California, Maximo Gallardo (Eugenio Derbez) admires the ocean from his chic estate located on his own island. On this day, financial tycoon Maximo meets his 14-year-old nephew Hugo (Rafael Alejandro), who has a birthday. While celebrating his young relative’s holiday, Maximo entertains him with a story about himself and his youth when he first started working at the luxury Las Colinas Resort in Acapulco, Mexico. He tries to share his life experience and prepare Hugo for adulthood.
The action mainly takes place in the form of a retrospective story. In 1984, a young Maximo gets his dream job at a luxury hotel in Acapulco. The people of Acapulco are mostly hardworking people, working hard to get better and richer. Maximo wants to buy his mother new glasses so she can see again, and lift the family, including capitalism-hating and metal-loving sister Sarah, out of poverty.
At the resort, staff are not allowed to speak Spanish, so most of the series takes place in English. However, when the main characters are at home, they easily switch to Spanish. Bilingualism is no longer an obstacle to mainstream success. 80s locations are a bright, bold visual delight. Everywhere there are pink and yellow colors, a bright palette that reflects the cheerful view of the series on life, love and wealth. Maksimo's pussy enthusiasm forces the local manager, Don Pablo Bonilla, to hire him and his best friend Memo after a sentimental exchange of memories around a matchbox that Don Pablo once gave to a little boy from his street where he himself lived and lived.
Despite the clear goal of reaching as wide an audience as possible, Acapulco does not sacrifice its cultural identity for this. The cast is full of Mexican TV stars, with as many dialogues in English as in Spanish. When Máximo playfully rebukes his nephew Pocho for not speaking Spanish, it's not hard to understand his concern that Hugo is unrelated to his culture (although obviously Mexican culture consists of much more than fluency in Spanish). This is one of the many details that make the series attractive and interesting.
However, this undoubtedly good-natured series is not afraid of conflict. Maximo's naivety shatters the longer he stays in Las Colinas. For Don Pablo, success has cost him dearly. Julia, an aspiring fashion designer, begins to see her boyfriend Chad (the hilarious Overstreet Chord) in a new light. We gradually learn what Nora's fears are based on that the resort will corrupt her son. Acapulco allows these contradictions to grow naturally – never achieving a happy solution, but not exacerbating them. This is a well-balanced series with a charming play not only of the main characters, but of supporting actors, each of whom gets enough screen time, and many even storylines that are uniform and allow you to feel how times and mores change in the hotel. A sense of generosity pervades all storylines, even when they focus on characters like Chad or his aerobics impresario mom Diane (Jessica Collins).
Intrusive storytelling can quickly spoil the fun of even the most successful story, but Derbez is an incredibly charismatic storyteller. Much of the series takes place in the past when young Maximo finds out what he wants out of life. However, when a contemporary Maximo realizes that this chapter is far from over, it gives the comedy an intriguing boost. It's an exciting series. As befits the last 10 series leaves many questions, and the intrigue persists. We're waiting for season two!