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The biggest disappointment is that the film was penned and directed by out filmmakers Wash Westemoreland and Richard Glatzer. Though residing in Echo Park, the portrait of the neighborhood that they present is simplistic and one-sided, holding accountable the white bourgeois characters, particularly the gay ones, for the gentrification and decline of a genuine communal life.
Glatzer and Westmoreland have playfully labeled their film as “neo-sink drama,” but it turns out to be a fake label–more of a marketing hook–since the film smacks of overtly commercial considerations at the expense of credibility or realism.
Nonetheless, in spite of the film’s blatantly simplistic ideology, which recalls Gregory Nava’s “El Norte” and “My Family,” the film has considerable charm, particularly in the first two reels. That said, in the last sequences, all kimnds of melodramatic conflicts kick in, though the directrs have slapped a contrived upbeat ending that resolves them in predictable ways.
As the fifteenth birthday of Magdalena (Emily Rios) approaches, her life is consumed by thoughts of her boyfriend, her Quinceanera dress and the Hummer limo that she hopes to ride on that special day. Life seems pleasant in Echo Park neighborhood, where the story is set–that is, until fate delivers a surprise and Magdalena discovers she’s pregnant under mysterious circumstances that cannot be disclosed here.
Bewildered boyfriend Herman (J.R. Cruz) and his mom don’t take it lightly, and neither does her religious and moralistic father (Jesus Castanos-Chima).
What’s a girl to do? Expelled from home by her rigidly strict preacher dad, Magdalena moves in with her liberal great granduncle Tio Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez), a kind, old-fashioned man who still sells soft drinks out of his old cart, and her seemingly tough Cholo cousin Carlos (Jesse Garcia) who, as it turns out, is in the process of coming out.
Soon, Carlos befriends the upscale handsome gay couple (David W. Ross and Jason L. Wood), who live upstairs and own the building. After participating in a three-way sex, he goes on to have an affair with one of them, unbeknownst to the other partner, thus violating the rules of their bond.
Predictably, Tio, Carlos, and Emily, the film’s three misfits, go on to form a makeshift family unit that must fight social stigmas and encroaching urban gentrification that threatens to kill the old and beloved communal life.
As noted, the gay characters are portrayed in a narrowly distorted way. The gay couple seems to suffer from several vices: Greed, as far as real estate is concerned, lust after Latino boys for sex, and perhaps even driving a cool convertible. In a social scene, all we hear from the gays’ conversations is cheap gossip and trivia.
In contrast, the Latino characters in the movie are viewed with exceptional warmth and affection, including Magdalena’s cousin Eileen (Alicia Sixtos), her mother (Araceli Guzman-Rico), and even Carlos, who begins as a petty thief, but gains humanity and responsibility after a tragic loss in the family.
Glatzer and Westmoreland are obviously subtler and more sophisticated than what’s indicated by the nature of film, which goes out of its way to be liked. I have no doubts that they have deliberately made a broad film in order to gain commercial appeal, particularly after the failure of their previous outings, the ultra-modest Grief (which played at Sundance Fest in 1994) and the 2001 Flapper, an unfunny, superficial look at the gay porn industry.
At Sundance, Quinceanera divided my colleague critics between those who praised the yarn as spirited, unpretentious, and charming, and those who dismissed it as simplistic, inconsequential, and charming (my view).
Let me elaborate: Quinceanera is a calculated movie that’s meant to offer “something for everyone.” The movie deals with abortion (sort off), but it takes the easy way out by making the subject non-controversial. It also means to tackle the life of gay Latinos (sort off), and to address the issue of Latina girls that are not exactly slender (sort off) in a way that recalls the equally simplistic and charming “Real Women Have Curves. And as if matters of race, religion, and sexuality are not enough for a 90-minute film, they also throw into the mix the evils of gentrification (sort off), caused by greedy guppies.
Cast mostly with nonprofessional actors, the film benefits from the natural performances of the characters, particularly Garcia and Cruz in the teen roles.
Best of all, however, is vet actor Chalo González as Tio Tomas, an older man who continues to live in his tiny garden apartment, and represents the soul of the neighborhood, even when it is threatened with decline and demise.
I liked the film’s casual look into Latino adolescence, gay and straight, but I wanted to see a more illuminating narrative, done in a more realistic–and less sentimental and soothing–manner.
As a portrait of a distinct community, which is facing inevitable socio-economic changes (read: negatve), while trying valiantly to cling onto its traditional (read: positive) values, Quinceanera leaves much to be desired.
Cast
Emily Rios as Magdalena
Jesse Garcia as Carlos
Chalo González as Tio Tomas
J.R. Cruz as Herman
David W. Ross as Gary
Alicia Sixtos as Eileen
Jesus Castaños-Chima as Ernesto
Jason L. Wood as James
Araceli Guzman-Rico as Maria
Credits:
Directed, written by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Produced by Anne Clements
Cinematography Eric Steelberg
Edited by Robin Katz, Clay Zimmerman
Music by Victor Bock, Michael B. Jeter, J. Peter Robinson, Micko Westmoreland
Production: Kitchen Sink Entertainment
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release dates: January 23, 2006 (Sundance); Aug 2, 2006 (US)
Running time: 90 minutes
Budget $400,000
