Rating of
3/4
Naturalistic
Franz Patrick - wrote on 10/28/08
I liked this movie from the first to the last scene because it was able to provide a naturalistic feel unlike most independent and (especially) mainstream films. The dialogue is deceptively simple but as I was watching I realized that a lot of the people I knew in high school talked like the characters here. The main problem I have with the picture is that it lacked some sort of purpose. Even though I came to realize eventually that the filmmakers were going for an observation on the way the lives of the characters unfold, it didn’t completely work because it leaves most audiences confused regarding what the story is supposed to be about. Thankfully, the actors are charismatic in their own ways so I was able to stick with it without any problem. I thought the romance between Victor Rasuk and Judy Marte was effective because the film didn’t try too hard to make such disparate characters to like each other; the friendship between Marte and Melonie Diaz (I knew she looked extremely familiar and eventually found out that she was in “Be Kind Rewind”) was interesting because even though they do have their beliefs, they don’t always stick with them; Altagracia Guzman, as the grandmother, was really amusing and wise but the audiences eventually come to realize that she, too, is flawed like her grandchildren. This is an urban drama but a picture that is not melodramatic so it feels fresh. If one is into films that flourishes in natural lighting, acting, and script, this one is highly recommended.
