BOB TREVINO LIKES IT

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Storyline (warning: spoilers)

In Bob Trevino Likes It, directed by Tracie Laymon, there are two Bob Trevinos. Robert Trevino (French Stewart) is a narcissistic father, one who holds love at a conditional arm’s length and provides his daughter with an itemized list of every expense it took to raise her. Lily (Barbie Ferreira), his daughter, is a bubbly, wandering soul. Her high-spirited personality masks a muddied, traumatic childhood that she proudly own. Her mother, a drug addict, left at an early age, and her father, a neglectful manipulator, raised her solo.
Working as a live-in caretaker for the charmingly caustic Daphne (Lauren Spencer), Lily faces the world with light despite lacking a community of wires to help ignite her. Desperate for an unlikely, inopportune change of heart for her father during his latest silent treatment, she searches his name in Facebook and stumbles across a blank profile for “Bob Trevino.”
The second Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) is a timid construction manager, spending his days wishing for a raise and supporting the scrapbooking habit of his melancholy wife. He’s gentle. When he accepts Lily’s friend request, what begins as a simple inquiry into whether they’re related evolves into a pillowy tale of chosen family. The chemistry of the duo is palpable and heartwarming. From an evocative moment of healing at an animal shelter to a sarcastic romp at the basketball court, the two live in the rolled eyes and tender embraces of father-daughterhood that Lily has always longed for.
Lily, Bob, and Robert have unambiguous dynamics–healing and toxic; stable and volatile; easy and hard. Laymon plays with your heartstrings easily on account of this, and while it’s moving, it’s also sanitized. But whether it’s Daphne pondering how much of their friendship is occupational obligation, or Lily’s ex repeatedly texting her messages meant for another woman, Laymon’s script desires depth. It even baits the viewer with thoughtful initiative on the social conventions of relationships in the era of unbridled online access.