BOUND BY HONOR
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 8.4 (B+, ***)
Date Released: 4/30/93
Running Length: 3:00
Rated: R (Violence, language, nudity, sexual situations,
mature themes)
Starring: Damian Chapa, Jesse Borrego, Benjamin Castillo, Victor Rivers Director: Taylor Hackford Producers: Taylor Hackford and Jerry Gershwin Screenplay: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Jeremy Iacone, and Floyd Mutrux Music: Bill Conti Released by Hollywood Pictures
Miklo (Damian Chapa), Paco (Benjamin Castillo), and Cruz (Jesse Borrego) are three Latino friends living in the midst of a 1972 East Los Angeles torn apart by gang violence. When this violence strikes close to home, its irrevocable effects ripple through the destinies of each of the three men. Cruz, an artist, suffers a crippling injury, and the pain from this leads him into drug addiction. Paco, after being arrested as an accessory to murder, is forced to enter the military to avoid jail. This eventually leads to a place in the LAPD. Miklo, the shooter in the killing, is sent to jail where he slowly-but-surely insinuates himself into the ranks of La Onda, the San Quentin Latino Latino gang.
This film was originally called and advertised as BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT. Whether or not the last-minute name change will lead to any confusion is unclear, but apparently the marketing people didn't like the original title. Given the events of the film, however, BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT is a better, if less noble-sounding, choice.
One of the difficulties of three-hour movies is keeping the audience's interest and attention for the full running time. Despite atrocious trailers that seem to predict a boring film, BOUND BY HONOR is mostly successful in this regard. Its pacing is such that there are only a few dull moments, and none of those last more than a couple of minutes.
The story isn't exactly original, but there are enough wrinkles that, coupled with strong character definition, lead to an often-engrossing product. Actually, there are three separate stories that occasionally cross and intermingle but which, after the first thirty minutes, can stand on their own. The one involving Cruz--concentrating on drug addiction and its consequences--is dull and heavy-handed. BOUND BY HONOR probably would have been more effective--not to mention better focused, without it. Paco's tale is scripted with greater intelligence than Cruz's, but is still spotty. Events surrounding Miklo, which get by far the most screen time, are easily the most engrossing elements of the film.
The chronicle of Miklo's rise to power within the prison gang system is reminiscent of Edward James Olmos' powerful 1992 film AMERICAN ME. There are parallels in both plot and character, and there are times when Miklo is eerily similar to Olmos' personae. BOUND BY HONOR's prison story isn't as complex or gritty as that of AMERICAN ME, and its resolution is less satisfactory, but it still packs quite a punch. It's engrossing and sometimes surprising to watch the violent politics that lead to the top rung of a prison clique.
The weakest part of this movie is its ending. The last scene is so silly that it almost undermines much of what was good in the previous one-hundred sixty minutes. It's an ill-conceived attempt to force the movie to have a happy ending when one is not warranted. This is the only part of BOUND BY HONOR that rings false.
The acting by the three principals, as well as that of numerous supporting performers, is solid. They play characters that, while occasionally sketchy and cliched, are at least believable. There are no standouts for either good or bad performances.
It has been said that this is the Latino GODFATHER. While there are many laudable elements in BOUND BY HONOR, it is nowhere close to the quality or scope of Francis Ford Coppola's saga. Instead, this film is a solid story of the forces that work within East LA's Latino community. BOUND BY HONOR has its problems but, on the whole, it provides an entertaining three hours, and that's more than many movies of comparable length can claim.
Note: In response to some requests, all movie reviews written by me may be reprinted provided that they carry the following notification: "Copyright 1993 by James Berardinelli".
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews