American Me
- Director: Edward James Olmos
- Writer: Floyd Mutrux
- Producer: Lou Adler; Sean Daniel
CGiii Comment
Tough men watching Woody Woodpecker - erm, this starts off with impact and then rapidly runs out of steam - with the exception of a few violent vignettes.
The poetry really does get on your nerves after a mere few lines.
Respect, racism, code, apologies and bum-fucking are all featured (as per usual in any prison drama with a sense of reality).
The music, at times, is too much, overpowering.
It is raw and, at times, realistic and definitely shows that serial prisoners are all just a bunch of gay men who prefer going into a cell rather than walking out of the closet.
Intriguing stuff.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
This epic depiction of thirty years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles focuses on a teen named Santana who, with his friends Mundo and the Caucasian-but-acting-Hispanic J.D., form their own gang and are soon arrested for a break-in. Santana gets into trouble again and goes straight from reform school to prison, spending eighteen year there, and becoming leader of a powerful gang, both inside and outside the prison, while there. When he is finally released, he tries to make sense of the violence in his life, in a world much changed from when last he was in it.
Cast & Characters
Sal Lopez as Pedro Santana;
Vira Montes as Esperanza Santana;
Roberto Martín Márquez as Acha;
Dyana Ortelli as Yolanda;
Joe Aubel as Tattoo Artist;
Rob Garrett as Zoot Riot Bystander;
Lance August as Young Sailor;
Cody Glenn as Older Sailor;
Don Pugsley as Police Officer;
Panchito Gómez as Young Montoya Santana;
Albert Joe Medina Jr. as Street Mechanic;
Alex Solís as Street Mechanic;
Raymond Amezquita as Abuelito;
Steve Wilcox as Young JD;
Richard Coca as Young Mundo