Washington Heights
May. 22,2002 R
"Washington Heights" tells the story of Carlos Ramirez, a young illustrator burning to escape the Latino neighborhood of the same name to make a splash in New York City's commercial downtown comic book scene. When his father, who owns a bodega in the Heights, is shot in a burglary attempt, Carlos is forced to put his dream on hold and run the store. In the process, he comes to understand that if he is to make it as a comic artist, he must engage with the community he comes from, take that experience back out into the world, and put it in his work.
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Reviews
The Age of Commercialism
Absolutely amazing
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Washington Heights is geared toward the Latino community. A nice movie about a small community inside a giant New York city. Much like its audience, the movie itself was made by the efforts of Latinos. While the movie focuses on the main character and his interactions with his friends, enemies, parents, and girlfriend, the movie's strongest link is the side story of the Father. It is the relationship between the Father and the Son that keeps many audience members interested in what is going to happen next. Instead, the story jumps too much between the side stories of the friend who wants to go bowling, his girlfriend who is making dresses, and the neighborhood that jumps in and out of everybody's lives without warning. In the end, a nice story that hits home on many levels. The story about a father and a son who were never Father and Son is the strongest link in this movie's chain.
I have mixed feelings about a film whose production values are staunchly (read poor quality) independent and its subject matter is extremely standard; almost Hollywood conventional. I had the feeling that the only risk the filmmakers took was shooting the story on Digital. This is not a ground breaking film. But it is an excellent calling card for its Director to direct larger Hollywood conventional movies. He shows a facility for handling actors and juggling several plot lines. Not a memorable film. But not an atoricity like virtually every other American film in the past year.
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS (2003) **1/2 Tomas Milian, Manny Perez, Danny Hoch, Jude Ciccolella, Andrea Navedo, Bobby Cannavale, David Zayas, Callie Thorne, Judy Reyes. Well-acted morality tale about a talented illustrator (Perez) with dreams of having his own comic book finds himself trapped in the titular neighborhood where he is forced to aid his recently stricken father (Milian) to run the family bodega. Conflicts and conscience run high with the feel of early Lumet or Lee thanks to newcomer Alfredo De Villa's use of digital video to give the film a feeling of intimacy and closeness that parallels the claustrophobia felt by the main characters. Familiar yet watchable.
"Washington Heights" is a gritty slice of life and death in a New York City neighborhood near the George Washington Bridge. A young artist and illustrator is struggling to find his place and work and has female problems as well. After his father, a bodega owner, is shot and paralyzed by a robber, the artist must take over the store, and discovers other problems, one of which shows him some direction. A good storyline, editing, and performances make this film a success. I did not feel like a distant observer--I was drawn in quickly--a good sign.
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