Not quite 'Boyz N Da Hood' but a revolution always start out small......
"Ambitious, but ultimately falls into typical Hollywood glut."
While this film has all the ingredients for a respectable
drama-comedy, certain flaws, plotholes, cliches, and
a somewhat limited vision keep it from achieving
"classic" status. However, there's enough caper and
entertainment factor for an easy "cult" fanbase, which
may be enough praise for such an in-your-face movie.
The introduction begins in a mockumentary-esque interview
with the main protagonist, a young 15-year old Guatemalan
skateboarder. With six or seven of his
fellow Hispanic skaters, we see them reluctantly attend high school,
play rock instruments, ride around town, flirt with girls,
and skateboard anywhere worth attempting a kickflip over.
Much like any kid from any suburb, except they hail from
the hardened streets of South Central where blacks are portrayed
as biased, anti-rock "trouble starters", cops are quick to
pull over any teenager, and violence has such
strong presence. The beginning of the movie
sets the theme for such a harsh environment when a friend of
the boys is gunned down in a drive-by shooting. We see
them eventually travel to the upper-class Beverly Hills by bus
(resulting from their car being confiscated by the cops for lack of
driver's license).
The film is ambitious, but ultimate falls into typical Hollywood glut.
Ironically, a good portion of the setting is set in Hollywood/Beverly Hills
where the rich are snob-ridden, the young white girls are rich and
horny for dark-skinned boys with tight-fitted pants, and their
boyfriends are angry, racist preps. The cops are also biased
to the core, bringing up issues of segregation amongst the poor
and the privileged. Somehow, it's just as easy for two of the boys
to get laid with their newfound girlfriends (while finding their
rich-girl mansions in the middle of a city without any real directions)
and jumping over neighboring walls and fences. The boys
eventually crash a party with a perverted, pedophile-type host who
attempts to hit on our main character.
Such events are almost ludicrous and shatter ounces of realism which
pretend to appear in visceral doses. Gunshots fired and cops
chasing them, we see almost no emotion or care when one of their
comrades fall prey to the Beverly Hills setting. Instead, whoever
is left alive keep on trucking for the sake of the story.
In the end, we find a certain solace when the boys reach home after
a very long adventure in Upper Class 90210. The warning gunshots of
African-American neighbors give an extra thump to the viewers
that the boys are back to face segregation, violence, and trouble
in their South Central city....the twist is that the very place
they just ran away from was just as dangerous.
Final Verdict:
6.5/10