Friday, September 13, 2019
American Me
- Commentary: This movie (as is the next, above), is a necessary addition to my DVD library. I have a "thing" for gang-movies and if I don't own them, I check them out of my library system on a regular basis. It's grittier than Blood In Blood Out, not nearly as colorful and produced with much less hubris than the former. In addition, the fellow who plays the older "J.D." in this movie (William Forsythe) plays "Cockeye" in one of my other favorite gang-movies, Once Upon a Time in America.
Considering how many times I've seen this movie, I was surprised when, upon first receiving it, I watched the movie so intently, rewinding moments and scenes, stopping the film to investigate something on the internet that I noticed in the movie ... seeing as how it's not unusual for me to do this, I'm surprised I'd not previously done it with this movie.
I can't really say which of my gang-movies is my favorite. All of them are intense in a way that I favor and, to me, so different. Now that my collection of gang-movies is expanding, though, I think it might be time to add this as a category to my labels. I'll start with this movie.
By the way, Roger Ebert was so impressed with this movie, even though he gave it 3 1/2 stars, rather than four, that he interviewed Mr. Olmos about the movie. It's an interesting interview. In case you are further interested in Mr. Olmos' accomplishments, his Wikipedia write-up is here.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Edward James Olmos Montoya Santana William Forsythe J. D. Pepe Serna Mundo Daniel A. Haro Huero Sal Lopez Pedro Santana Vira Montez Esperanza Santana Danny De La Paz Puppet Daniel Villarreal Little Puppet Evelina Fernández Julie Roberto Martín Márquez Acha Dyana Ortelli Yolanda Jacob Vargas Paulito Santana
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie is here.
Release Date: 1992
Directed by Edward James Olmos.
Labels: drama3, edward-james-olmos, gang-movie, historical1, political1, violence1, war1
