I noticed that such a high percentage of voters gave this a 1, which means nothing short of "this film was awful and possessed no redeeming qualities whatsoever." Personally, I liked the film, except that the ending may have been somewhat unresolved. Even with this recognized, how can you give it below an 8? If you disliked this movie, why?
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I'm a film savvy person, and I thought I would really like this movie with all the Sundance buzz. But, it ultimately comes across like a bad prime time soap. The plot is too unrealistic for words. The characters are all sterotypes. And, there is over-the-top melodrama elements and predictable outcomes all over the place. Then to top it all of, there is a dredful ending. I gave it a 4/10, and I'm wondering if that is generous. I am genuinely shocked that so many people like this film as much as they do. It is certainly no "Raising Victor Vargas."
A.F. "Tilly" Gokbudak
The only point I can agree with is your attack on the ending, which I would describe more as unsatisfying or unresolved rather than "dreadful." It's a slice of life story with beleivable events and characters. The film is simply trying to shed some light on a culture not frequently depicted in film and what happens when a community undergoes gentrification.
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I probably had really high expectations because of all the Sundance buzz. I guess that'll teach me.
Aside from that, the improbable pregnancy plot, and the fact that all of the characters besides the two leads were wooden, I might have said this fim was okay except the acting bothered the hell out of me. Everyone was so green. Just because you can memorize lines, doesn't make you an actor.
This Jesse Garcia in particular really annoyed the hell out of me. As I watched him, I imagined that his research for the part was based solely on watching other gangster portrayals and rehashing them out for this role.
I don't know, I think all in all, it was a pretentious piece of filmmaking.
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Oh, God. An ALMA award? Carlos Mencia was nominated for one of those. Cameron Diaz and Juaquin Phoenix have been nominated merely because they have Latino sounding names. Hardly a mark of acting excellence.
shareCarlos didn't just "become gay." His family already suspected he was gay when they came across some websites he'd visited. That's why he was not welcome at his little sister's Quinceanera at the beginning of the film and why his father decked him when he showed up.
As to where they lived afterwards- I agree. That was unresolved. It's implied that the daughter just went home to live with her parents once her dad realized she was 'technically' still a virgin but we are left wondering what happened with Carlos' living situation.
The TV job- Another thing that really served no purpose in the movie. I don't think he had any real plans of getting a job in television. How could he without the education for it?
Herman was shipped off by his mother and IMO, we don't need to know anymore about the situation than that. I doubt the child would ever see him again until of age or much later on in life.
She didn't abort the baby because the family was Catholic and did not believe in abortion.
They didn't show the baby because she was still pregnant at the end, when she had her Quinceanera.
Baba mi Ogun modupue
Excellent break-down, except for two details:
1) I think Carlos was going to get a TV job through the younger gay guy, the "nice" one, didn't he work in TV? That relationship was quite complicated, and although ultimately had horrible consequences for Carlos and the family, I think the "boyfriend" character came off as nuanced. The older, blonde character was not as deep, he was justa bad guy, enjoying his "Latin boys" unless and until they caused him any drama.
2)Magdalena's family is NOT Catholic. Her father is a preacher in a storefront church. Although I do not remember if we ever know the name of the little church, these little congregations are often "charismatic" or apostolic Christian churches, but certainly not Roman Catholic.
The blonde guy wasn't shallow. His lover is falling in love with Carlos and that threatens the blonde guy.
sharei liked the movie,the only thing i didnt like was the ending
SPOILER
so her dad kicked her out b/c she got pregnant n he thought she wasnt a virgin anymore so at the end when the mom tells him its a miracle that she is still a virgin her dad forgives her and throws her the quinceanera she wanted
(well we see she got the hummer limo she wanted and a diff dress than her cousins)
I also disliked the ending. He's all "I'll make it up to you. I promise." and then she has all of the things she's ever wanted for a Quinceañera, like she's never had time to learn about what's really important in life. I dunno, seems like she just undid a lot of what she had learned.
I'm not psycho, just a little loopy.
*~Esther~*
Haha why?
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Firstly, how about the overly stereotypical characters. How can someone say they weren't?! The stricly christian father, the nice and confused mother, the bitchy friends who only care about material things, the tough outcast who smokes pot and dropped out of school... the list goes on!
I actually heard someone say this made them 'question their preconceived notions of cultural and societal expectations.' I mean... MI'm sick and tired of seeing this crappy representation of a culture that has a lot more depth and a lot more interesting aspects to it. People say the story was refreshing and realistic, when it was nothing BUT! Every other movie simply has these latinos being the foreigners with the funny accents and the 'really weird' lifestyles and beliefs...
And it had all these 'twists' to it, like the tough guy being gay, and the uncle dying so suddenly (and then the tough guy proceeding to - OH NO! - having feelings! Magdalena's boyfriend acting all nice and then suddenly leaving, the gay couple taking over the house.. All these 'twists' were left unresolved which only emphasised how forced and artificial they were! They didn't add to the story, they were only added to make the film SEEM alternative and 'different' but it was trying waaay too hard.
And to top it all off, it looked like *beep* The making was completely amateur, and a lot of the time the camera work was so shaky I actually felt nauseous. For such a simple story that had almost no depth or originality, you'd expect it to be, AT THE VERY LEAST, well made. But no, it looked like crap. The cinematography, the lighting, the sound, the editing...
Can I also point out that with the OH SO MANY interesting themes and topics it talks about... IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE - MANY TIMES. The whole, tradition vs contemporary, and the family thing, and the conflict and clash of young people trying to be something between their two worlds of family life and whatever life... It's 1. overrated and 2. overdone. I mean, we just read Looking for Alibrandi at school, and it was more or less the same.
Just because the film has homosexuals, teen pregnancy and foreigners, doesn't mean it's good.
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