The Fluffy Movie

Filmed at the SAP Center in San Jose, Mexican-American comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias regales an audience with routines that are less a series of jokes than several long, well-told humorous stories. Think: Garrison Keillor, with salsa. A dramatized prologue (look for Jacqueline Obradors and Tommy Chong) depicts Iglesias's origins as the result of an impromptu romantic liaison between an abused, unhappy wife and a mariachi singer. At a VHS-era video store, adolescent Gabriel tricks his mom into letting him rent the raunchy comedy-concert feature Eddie Murphy: Raw, which inspires Iglesias to embark on his standup career. Unlike the notorious R-rated Raw, however, Fluffy's brand of monologue here is far milder, hardly even deserving of the PG-13 rating. The once king-sized comic explains his recent drastic weight loss following treatment at an obesity clinic. He also takes us on a wittily observed tour of India, where he finds himself unexpectedly having to play to the tastes of a mixed Hindu and German crowd. And a bit about family life and fathering leads to a recounting of his efforts to reunite his long-parted birth parents, if only for a single photo opportunity. An engaging performance from a talented comic, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)