MI VIDA LOCA
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
This is a heart-breaking story of the boys and girls, the young men and women who live in the barrios of East Los Angeles. It would seem like a hopeless existence with a dead end. Their world is tattoos, and guns and hanging around with nothing to do but get into trouble.
MY CRAZY LIFE shows that existence, that entrapment. Two of the women, best friends "Sad Girl" (Angel Avilas) and "Mousie" (Seidi Lopez) each is pregnant by Ernesto (Jacob Vargas), a drug dealer. Even their names, "Sad Girl" and "Mousie" reveal that they are lost. What do they know about rearing babies and where will they get the money? And what life lies ahead for their children?
What keeps this from being a better film is that it is an apologia for the gangs. It is made to appear as if the gangs are innocuous, formed to bond newcomers and friends who are harassed by other gangs and the police. But people get shot in drive-bys. And there is a fear that permeates their lives. Even Giggles (Marlo Marron) who goes to jail even though her man is the guilty one, ends up without hope. When, in jail, the realization comes that she cannot depend on men; that the men will end up wounded, in jail, or dead, she tries to learn a trade in prison but when she gets out and looks for a job, the ads ask where she studied, what experience does she have and has she ever committed a felony. No hope.
And when the women realize they have to depend on their own wits, the film ends tragically, negating the hope that the women can make it on their own.
As a film, it is engrossing, well-acted (many are first-time actors) but perhaps it should have been an outright documentary rather than a fictional film based on real lives.
Written and Directed by Allison Anders who herself was a teenage runaway, has done time in jail, and is the single parent of two childen.
2.5 Bytes 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
ben.hoffman@bcsbbs.com
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