East Side Story
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Movie Reviews of East Side Story
Movie Review: A Classy New Coming Out Film with Emphasis on the East LA Community
Summary: 4 Stars
Fresh young talent and a healthy dollop of enthusiasm serve as the springboard of this well written (Carlos Portugal and Charo Toledo), well directed (Carlos Portugal) and well acted exuberant story of those once perceived tightly closet doors of the East Los Angeles Hispanic community. Not that this is the first film to engage the topic of being gay in East LA - QUINCEAÑERA is another superb film on the subject - but it addresses so many other aspects of family and social life happening now that it deserves a wide audience. With a cast of newcomers coupled with some very fine veterans of the screen EAST SIDE STORY comes to life in a highly entertaining fashion.
Closeted schooled chef Diego Campos (a fine debut by René Alvarado) works as a waiter in his grandmother Sara's (elegant Irene DeBari) little Mexican restaurant where grumpy homophobic chef Don Rogelio (Luis Accinelli) presides in the kitchen. Diego dreams of opening his own restaurant but family ties keep him grounded. Diego's campy Aunt Bianca (Gladise Jimenez) returns from Monaco on one of her many expensive sojourns to find a man and changes begin to happen. Diego's equally closeted boyfriend Pablo Morales (David Berón) has been refusing to settle down in a relationship with Diego, claiming that the union is a 'passing fancy'. When Bianca enters, Pablo's attentions turn to the sexy lady and Diego is brokenhearted.
Into this mélange enters a white gay couple who buy a 'flip' house across the street, a signal to the neighborhood that gentrification is just around the corner. The couple - Wesley (Steve Callahan) and Jonathan (Cory Schneider) - meet the morose Diego and a match strikes between Diego and Wesley. Jonathan is assigned all the lines having to do with prejudice and is the one who wants out of the neighborhood as soon as their house is enhanced and their gay friends begin to visit. The white couple move apart and Wesley and Diego begin a courtship dance that is encouraged by Diego's family. How Diego handles his loss of Pablo to his Aunt Bianca and copes with the possibility of being open with Wesley forms the story line. It is all the hilarious and not so hilarious sidebars that share the space of the 'outing' that make the film so personal and successful.
Carlos Portugal is clearly a talent to watch, as are his attractive and talented cast members. EAST SIDE STORY is a fine companion piece to QUINCEAÑERA and should enjoy the same degree of popularity for all the same reasons! Grady Harp, December 07
Movie Review: should you pursue your dreams or stay and help out your family?
Summary: 4 Stars
Very few low-budget films are worth watching that deserves recommendation to friends. It's rarer to find/view films that addresses or contains gay Latinos.
Diego is a waiter/chef, who is stuck, by familial obligation, working for his grandmother's small Mexican restaurant. In addition, Diego has to deal with the homophobic head chef, whose rantings increase as more and more gay people are moving into the neighborhood. Diego wants to leave and pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant but his grandmother insists that he stays.
His life is pretty much monotone, including occasional trysts with Pablo. Diego wants to announce their relationship but Pablo doesn't see himself as gay. Pablo just enjoys an occasional man-to-man "bonding".
However, things change when heart-broken (& broke) Bianca returns home from Monaco. The grandmother suddenly takes off to her homeland for a visit, entrusting Bianca to help out Diego at the restaurant. Pablo dumps Diego for Bianca, who soon abandons helping out Diego.
Meanwhile, a new gay couple, Wesley and Jonathan, has moved into the neighborhood. Well, actually, they came to flip a house, which they'll move on to a new project. Wesley is truly interested in the neighborhood and tries to get to know Diego. Jonathan is a stereotypical character who thinks lowly of Latinos and is irked that Wesley is friendly with them, especially Diego. The different treatments of Latinos soon put their relationship to the test.
*East Side Story* is an enjoyable film that addresses homosexuality, sex, love, family and diversity.
Movie Review: Latino Romance in East LA
Summary: 4 Stars
"East Side Story" has the feeling of a home-made production which is almost standard for TLA releases. The quality of acting is so so at best (and mostly uneven) and it is the story that either saves or kills the effort. "East Side Story" fortunately has a plot which should keep the viewers (gay viewers most likely) interested.
Diego works in a family restaurant owned by his grand-mother Sara. He is gay but he believes that nobody knows about it except his closeted lover Pablo. He is obviously wrong. His affair with Pablo goes sour when he refuses to continue playing his friend's erotic games. Fortunately, his neighbourhood begins to change and as a part of the change a gay couple moves next door.
Pablo makes an attempt to turn straight and marry Diego's crazy aunt Bianca/Blanca but Diego stops her short of taking the vows. In the meantime Diego starts falling for his neighbour Wes but Wes moved in with his BF Jon who only dreams of leaving the barrio and cashing in on the price increase (remember, it's 2006!). In the process Diego changes his restaurant into a fashionable haunt for the newly gentrified neighbourhood and Wes sends Jon away and... See for yourself!
If you can't find the title on the list of Academy Awards nomination (let's not set our hopes too high...) it's not by chance. This is just a feel-good movie with little ambition. But sometimes it's good to have a few of them handy.
Movie Review: Overcomes poor film technique
Summary: 4 Stars
Set in east LA about a gay Latino man, Diego, and his coming out who has hidden furtive encounters with Pablo, a successful real estate broker who lives in denial and loves roleplaying. Anglo homo's are moving in and gentrifying the neighborhood to the concern of many folks. Bianca (formerly Blanca) breezes in from Europe and everything is in place for the free-for-all.
It was interesting, and frustrating, to watch the back and forth nature of the plot: Two characters get together...break up...back together... There is some tension between one GWM (a twink from Mississippi) and a hilarious moment with an AA group meeting in his house. Even with the predictability of the plot several characters grew on me, notably the sister who I was ready to kill at the beginning and hug at the end.
The movie could have used a better lighting engineer, there were many scenes that were difficult to see because low light was ill aimed. However, it wasn't a deal breaker.
Movie Review: Great film on the struggles/pressures of different cultures on coming out
Summary: 4 Stars
If you liked Mambo Italiano, this film has quite a lot in common with that one. Replace Italian culture in Montreal with Latino culture in East L.A. and you've got the jist of it. For those of you who struggled with acceptance from your non-Anglo families and the pressures around machismo for men and generally negative perceptions of LGBT folk, this story is for you. The only flaw in the script is the one dimensional character of the white boyfriend who is so racist. We all know people who say this stuff about other races, in closed company, but it's drawn a bit broadly when he says it in front of the main character. But then again, I've seen some pretty stupid/racist fags in my day, so it's plausible that this happens. It just didn't ring true for me in either the screenplay or the performance. The cast is otherwise quite good for a low budget picture. Well worth it!