I saw this movie when it first came out when I was 13, and I noticed then that Morales was the best thing in a group of fine performances.
Now watching it again today for first time in years and Im just as impressed.
I always felt 3 actors got robbed of Oscars...Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple, Denzel Washington for Malcolm X and Esai Morales for La Bamba.
Agreed - I could echo your post word for word, just I was 16 when I went to the theater and saw this just after it was released.
A fine film!
You've got to be kidding! I came to the message boards to see if anyone agreed with me that Morales ruined this movie! He was horrible! I began fast forwarding the movie over his parts. Reason being he cursed too much, brought in violence and sex - ruined what could have been a great family movie. Plus his acting ability is sub par. His timing was off, when acting drunk he was not convincing, he just seemed off on everything!
shareNo way! Esai was phenomenal in his portrayal as Bob!! And the scenes he brought were definitely on the darker side, but if that's how Bob was in real life how awful would that be to portray him any differently?? I think you might be in the minority with thinking he wasn't good in the film.
shareEsai absolutely deserved an Oscar.
In case you're wondering, I'm female.
Esi's performance was o.k. and no big deal.
The mom was the best performance,
Morales gave the best performance in the film and did deserve a supporting Oscar nomination at the very least. Looking at the contenders in this category for 87', there were some big names and Sean Connery won for The Untouchables. Connery was good; but not as good as Morales.
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I agree that Morales gave the best perfomance in "La Bamba". He deserved an Oscar nod. I never saw "The Untouchables", so I can't compare Connery's performance.
shareConnery's presence made the film even better, yet his performance was more due to his own charisma and the emotional impact\shock of one of his scenes. I wouldn't say it was a very layered or nuanced performance. It would have been a walk in the park for him. He won because he was getting older, had never been nominated before and of course, was Sean Connery. It was a nomination and win for sensation only.
Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Albert Brooks and Vincent Gardenia were also nominated for support. I haven't seen Freeman's or Washington's films and I'm certain they would have been very good; but the film's they starred in are pretty much forgotten. La Bamba isn't and like you have mentioned, Morales did deserve an Oscar nod.
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Was Morgan Freeman nominated that very same year? If so, what was the film? Freeman is one of my favorite actors of all time. One of my most beloved movies is "Shawshank Redemption". I have seen it more times than I can count. Morgan Freeman did a superb job in that as "Red" and with the narration, too. If you haven't seen that movie, I'd recommend it highly!
shareFreeman was in a movie called STREET SMART-87' and he plays a pimp. I haven't seen the film yet, but do have a copy at home. He may be even better than Morales was in this. That wouldn't be difficult for Freeman.
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Destinata:💩
Street Smart was an ok movie. Freeman is usually the same in everything else I've seen him in so it was interesting to see him play a very different kind of character. He was good.
Morales should've gotten an Oscar just for the "It's not my first...OR my last" line alone.
DISPLAY thy breasts, my Julia!