Mano was a terrible character and ruined the film

Mano’s character nearly ruined the entire film. The actor cast to play Mano seemed wooden and had no chemistry with the lead playing Jack, everything felt forced and Mano himself was actually quite unlikable and as seemingly obsessive as the now infamous "overly attached girlfriend."

An example of this is Mano showing up to the hospital to see Jack. Jack and Mano didn’t even get through their first date, and Jack doesn’t feel it’s important to call Mano and even let him know what’s up with Tara, or where in the hospital Jack is, but Mano still shows up, b/c Mano calls Jack’s friends to learn the all the details. Mano then not only shows up with food and coffee but brings some of his own clothes for Jack to change into, stating that he observed they were the same size. If all that doesn't seem a little bit to stalkerish to you, then consider that Mano even brings Mya clothes, though he's never met her to even know what size she wears and he never mentions where he got her clothes from.... were they his too? did he buy them? did he call one of Jack's friends to find out what size she wears?

What bugs me most about Mano's character however was his hypocrisy about family & friends. All of his conversations with Jack came to this subject at some point and he was always telling Jack how important friends and family are, yet Mano doesn't even have hasn't seen or talked his father in years, and other than Jack, Mano apparently has no friends except for Sam. At the art gallery he's sitting by himself, and he's by himself again at Sam's party until Jack arrives.

Mano also seems to do nothing but drive a wedge between Jack and Allie, Mya, and Tara.

In Allie's case for instance, Mano knows that Jack and Allie are best friends and he also knows about the predicament she and Jack are in, yet Mano does absolutely nothing to get to know her and does everything he can to make sure Jack spends as little time with her as possible even though it puts her and Jack at risk. Even when there was opportunity for Mano to relate to Allie he specifically chose to go the opposite way and put more tension between them. At the dinner party when Allie shares that her father had basically abandoned her for a new family. Mano could have shared that he too knew what it was like to be shunned by his father, or at least say he was sorry to hear about her situation. Instead he tells Allie her father had to do what made him happy, even if it meant abandoning her and that she should be happy for him. This indicates exactly how Mano sees himself and Jack and everyone else in Jacks life. Mano feels that Jack should choose him over everyone else.

With Mya and Tara it was even more bothersome b/c back in the hospital Jack specifically told Mano that "this is my life." That with Jack, came Mya, Tara, Allie, etc, and Mano tells him that it's ok and that he likes the sound of Jack's life. Later Mano even recognizes that Jack is basically Tara's father, and tells Jack so, that Tara is the girl she is b/c of Jack.

However when Mano decides he needs to move back to Spain to take care of his ill father, he tells Jack that even though his father had rejected him he had to go back "because he's my father, my flesh and blood." However Mano wants Jack to move with him Spain, even though that would mean Jack would never be able to permanently live in the USA again, and would have to leave Tara who is Jacks flesh and blood niece/surrogate daughter behind. When Jack brings this up and not wanting to leave his other friends and family behind, Mano asks Jack "who's life are you living anyway?" which is a direct contradiction to the "I like yourlife" bit he told Jack earlier.

The film's story also gets weak around this point b/c in order for Jack not to seem like an ass for leaving, suddenly every character is totally fine with it. Mya who previously said "you mean the world to me and Tara" and called Jack Tara's father is totally down with Jack leaving. So are Sam and Allie, the same Allie who said she only stayed this long in NYC b/c of her friendship w/Jack. Tara is also completely ok with it, even though in reality no 7 year old kid would be that indifferent to losing a father figure. Even Craig, Jacks friend with benefits who was totally disheartened when Jack didn’t want to spend time with him earlier in the film, now doesn’t want to get to know Jack any better.. Thus leaving Mano as Jacks only option.

But to bring the overly attached/obsessive girlfriend argument to full circle, the film starts off with Jack living NYC, a vibrant, bustling, city of 8.5 million people. We meet his family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances… and then Mano comes into the picture and one by one all the others start fading out of Jacks life and by the end of the film Jack is alone with Mano in remote, rural area of Spain unable to return to the USA. It doesn’t help that Jack doesn’t speak Spanish which means he won’t be able to make friends for quite some time or even get a job. He will just be sitting in the middle of nowhere with Mano taking care of Mano’s ill father. I can totally see this film continuing with Mano killing his parents and trapping Jack in the chateau so they could be alone together forever