I'm having hood trouble on my 91 mustang?

the hood release thing does NOT work. we attempted using a screwdriver to manually do it, but we failed. my friend says theres a piece of plastic that seems to be blocking the way, he thinks cutting through it might help. is that ok to do? he is a mechanic, and he had his other mechanic friend look at it and suggest the same thing. they both haven't worked on a mustang before though and they aren't 100% sure what is holding the hood down and where is it exactly.