Cruzando (2009)

What do you do if the day your first child is to be born is also the same day your father is to be executed? If you're MANNY, you use your father's impending execution as an excuse to flee the daunting responsibility of fatherhood. There's only one problem: Manny lives in Monterrey, Mexico and his father sits in on death row in Texas. Against his wife's wishes, Manny embarks on an ill-planned quest to cross the border to see his father, hoping that the trip will buy him time and insight into his upcoming responsibility. CRUZANDO is a road-trip tale about friendship, fatherhood, and self-discovery that winds itself through the distinct culture of the Texas-Mexico border. The film combines off-beat humor with pathos in showing a young man discovering who he is and what he is meant to be. Accompanied by his childhood best friend, he embarks on a journey in which he crosses paths with luchador coyotes, renegade cowboys, desert angels, and a host of others along the beautiful, surreal, and unforgiving border region known as El Valle. It's the story of Manny - a man who must confront his past in order to move forward, a husband who must overcome his fear of responsibility, and ultimately, a son who must learn to become a father. Crossing a border is never easy.