Martinez (Clifton Collins Jr.) lives in East Los Angeles, California. Martinez is in love with Celia Obregon (Mercedes Ortega), the girl next door, however, she is unaware of him or his feelings. Leaving his apartment he is followed by a strange man. Martinez gets cornered in a blind alley by the stranger. The stranger brings out a measuring tape and begins sizing Martinez. The man tells him his name is Gomez (Joe Mantegna) and then drags him to a local pool hall where two other men, Dominguez (Esai Morales) and Villanazul (Gregory Sierra) are hanging out. Gomez tells the others that Martinez is the exact same size as they are. All four men are the same height with the same body build and are similar in weight. Gomez is excited about this information and tells Martinez the reason he was plucked off the street.
Gomez tells Martinez about a beautiful glowing white summer suit that is for sale at “Zellman’s Sunshine Suit Emporium”, run by Zellman (Sid Caesar) and his assistant, Leo (Howard Morris). He calls it an ice cream suit, and it is one-of-a-kind. Not having enough money to buy the suit he has convinced his friends that if they pool their money together, they can buy the suit and take turns wearing it. The suit costs a hundred dollars. According to Gomez, if they own the suit, they will look sharp and get what they want in life. Gomez believes that the suit grants wishes.
Together the guys have only eighty dollars, but the suit costs a hundred dollars. They need another man, the same size as them, to have enough to buy this white summer one-of-a-kind vanilla ice cream suit. In comes, Vamanos (Edward James Olmos), a homeless garbage picking vagrant who smokes and hasn’t had a bath in years, but he does have twenty dollars and is the same height, weight and build as the other four men. Gomez is not happy about Vamanos being part of the gang, because he doesn’t want the suit ruined, but he really wants the suit. He finally agrees and they buy the suit.
Once they have the suit, they are all anxious to try it out. They had planned on each wearing the suit one night a week but since it is their first night with the suit they decide to take turns, each man having an hour with the suit. Dominguez will wear the suit from eight to nine, Villanazul from nine to ten, Martinez from ten to eleven, Gomez from eleven to twelve and then Vamanos at midnight, provided he take a bath. Things go wonderfully and the guys have a great night until midnight when it is Vamanos’ turn to wear the suit. That’s when all hell breaks loose.
“The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit” was released in 1998 and was directed by Stuart Gordon. It is an American direct to video comedy musical fantasy. The story was based on the 1958 story “The Magic White Suit” written by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury wrote the story, the play and the screenplay.
The movie is slightly farcical and a bit off the wall but that’s part of the charm. The suit doesn’t exactly make wishes come true, but it does instill confidence in the wearer that allows them to fulfill their own wishes by believing in themselves. The movie is a fairytale with Latino flare. It’s not bad but it is a little silly. It’s sort of a buddy, buddy, buddy, buddy, buddy movie with mariachi. Lots of dancing, lots of music entwined with a bit of a moral.
Supposedly Ray Bradbury has a cameo as a pawnbroker, but I couldn’t find him. Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, who plays the landlord, and Clifton Collins Jr., who plays Martinez, are grandfather and grandson in real life. This was Gonzalez Gonzalez’s last screen performance. Of the five main characters in the film, only two, Olmos and Collins have any Mexican heritage, although Collins’ father was German. Mantegna is Italian but Morales and Sierra are Puerto Rican.