BORN IN EAST L.A.
A film review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1988 Evelyn C. Leeper
When you head "Cheech Marin," you don't think "romantic comedy with a message," but believe it or not, that's what BORN IN EAST L.A. is. Yes, there are drugs, but Cheech isn't doing them (he accidentally meets up with a couple of drug smugglers). (Maybe it has something to do with the absence of Thomas Chong, Cheech's long-time partner.) So what is this RARA AVIS, this "family-oriented" Cheech Marin movie?
BORN IN EAST L.A. is the story of an American of Mexican origin, but born and raised in East Los Angeles, who accidentally gets caught up in an immigration raid on a factory. So while his cousin, the true illegal alien (played by stand-up comedian Paul Rodriguez), escapes and begins to enjoy the pleasures of life in the United States (occasionally with hilarious results), Cheech finds himself south of the border with no way to get home or prove his citizenship. But Yanqui ingenuity prevails and Cheech manages to find ways to hustle enough money to pay someone to smuggle him back across the border. His life is complicated by a Nicaraguan (?) refugee he meets and falls in love with who is also trying to get to the United States.
As I said, this film also carries a message, a very positive message about life in the United States and what is valuable about it. (It also has the best video to Neil Diamond's "America" that I have seen.) It points out the problems caused by an immigration policy that makes everyone of Hispanic origin an alien until proved otherwise. If you avoided this film in the theaters because you don't like Cheech Marin movies, give it a try now on video or cable.
Evelyn C. Leeper
201-957-2070
att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com
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