Too much of everything

terrible... so disappointed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

What I've discovered in Sangre de mi Sangre, a recent thriller about two Mexican boys who go to New York, is the movie I thought Slumdog Millionaire would be. This is a genuine film about living in poverty and maybe surviving it. Slumdog is an unjust combination of positive thinking and Hollywood clichés that results in a severe lack of authenticity. It may have been an effort to depict India's economic landscape, yet its sanitized, unrealistic story undermines the effort to present poverty holistically. Sangre avoids this simple mistake by showing us potentially real people in a situation entirely conceivable. It also takes place in a wealthy country and forces us to focus our attention squarely on the poor characters.Pedro and Juan are two older teenagers who pay off a good ol' boy to enter the United States. They may be of similar age, but Pedro is much less experienced at being an adult. He's idealistic that he will meet his father in New York City and live the American dream. His father is said to own a restaurant. Juan is less calculated and more opportunistic. He is going to New York because that's where a lot of immigrants go. The two meet on the bus ride up there, and Juan slips away with Pedro's documentation and, thus, his identity.In New York, a distraught Pedro wanders around until he meets another impoverished Spanish speaker in Magda. She has the distinction of being a U.S. citizen that can speak both languages. She originally attempts to have him arrested since it would invigorate her droll life of selling trinkets and sex. The two of them fall into an awkward, survivalist love. As nice as it is to have another person around, you still have to think about yourself on occasion. Pedro is scarcely able to do this and rescues Magda from a pervert who pays him for use of her body. He would've gained fifty bucks too.Juan has no qualms with living ruthlessly in New York. He meets the father character and convinces him he is Pedro. The old man is just an employee at a restaurant and has been emotionally hardened due to years of lonely labor. He doesn't respond the way Juan wants him to at first. Juan preserves and partially fulfills the sueño americano by earning some money and the old man's trust. He now has the money to get laid. Who do you think he consults? Pedro sees him and attacks him, and the fitter boy wins.It is hard not to see the biological influence in this film. It takes place in 21st century New York and Darwin's wisdom still applies. The circumstances have changed, but the more dominant male triumphs over the lesser one. Juan is the narrative's antagonist despite his being the natural hero. It's rare for a domestic movie to be so blunt.The filmmakers do not make a stance as to which side they support. The film is almost a documentary in its unbiased focus on each of its main characters. Pedro's part is more memorable because it provides the human focus needed in this fictional film. Everything in Juan's life is based on his imperative to survive. His parts are rather boring with forced humor about his out of touch views regarding women. We didn't want to see a movie about Juan, but as this film is a dissertation on poverty, he had to be the winner.

I went to see this movie, with a view to getting a grip on the behind-the-scenes real-life struggles in the realm of the rampant illegal immigration. To sum it up, I left the big-screen room, with an embedded emblem in my mind which had inscribed on it "poverty,hunger, and desperation can trigger the barbaric side of us".Some brilliant acting from the four principal characters: Diego, Juan, Pedro, and Magda. In fact, it was their virtuoso contribution that gave the flick its unfolding narrative, which nicely touches upon the dogfight arena that we rarely get to hear about even today. A movie which surely keeps you glued to the screen till the very last second it leaves the screen. Definitely worth its salt.A good job by Christopher Zalla.. From the very beginning, we could see that Juan, innocent as he was deep inside, could not resist the madness inside him that was triggered by his struggle, desperation, hunger, etc, similar to the spontaneous effects of gravity in this universe. Each man for himself. No friendship. If anything similar to friendship, then conditions for cooperation. A nice rule/formula, played out nicely not only in this movie, but also within the real-life framework of the illegal immigrant society, facing deportation the moment they are in the hands of the cops. For them, they know only one language : "struggle", with it's only words :"food","money","shelter".I'd recommend this film to anyone who either has not woken up to the reality of cruelty and hardships which illegal immigrants in the US face, or who questions it in any way. A nice eye-opener for us.

Despite a good cast and great directing, the first noticeable thing about Sangre De Mi Sangre is the improbabilities of the screenplay. Pedro a young man easily crosses over the Mexican/U.S. border with a truck waiting (unhidden) to take illegal immigrants on a rather rapid, non-stop trip to New York City. He is looking for his father who he believes is the owner of a French restaurant by stopping at every one listed in the yellow pages. It's like a series of unlikely events.While in the truck he meets Juan and tells him his story. Juan decides to steal Pedro's identity to take advantage of the situation. Pedro tries to find his father by the help of Magda, a rough around the edges girl who uses her smarts to survive. As dubious as the story may seem, it is never predictable. Pedro doesn't fall in love with Magda but does care for her sincerely. Pedro's father Diego doesn't welcome a deceitful Juan in open arms even after he believes that he is his son. However, Diego comes to love Juan and what's strange is that Juan grows to love him as a father too. The relationship between the two of them is the strongest in the film.Pedro's scenario is more of a story of hard knocks. He learns that he can't trust everyone and how to survive on the rough streets. He must do things against his convictions for money even compromising Magda. He's not as cunning as Juan is and is much more noble. The antagonism between the two characters is apparent even though they are only together for two scenes in the film. The actors elevate the weak material particularly Jesus Ochoa (Diego) who manages to make the most mundane things, like sewing faux rose petals, interesting. Armando Hernandez plays Juan's impersonation of Pedro is so believable that if the film began twenty minutes in; there would no reason to believe that he wasn't Diego's son. Jorge Adrian Espindola's (Pedro) innocence and Paola Mendoza's (Magda) brashness compliment each other. It would have been great to see what they could've done if they had better material.

I saw this film at Sundance -- and was blown away -- it is a fascinating film and extremely well done. There are a lot of different ways to look at the immigration issue, but I think that Chris Zalla chose a unique path. However, what was so beautiful about this film is that it is not an immigration movie -- that is what I loved. It was a human story. A family story. Painful, but uplifting all at the same time. I was riveted by the actors, especially Paola Mendoza, who I think is incredibly talented. I hope that films like this can open up a dialogue about the immigration issue in this country, as I think that it is time for us, as a nation, deal with this problem. I look forward to seeing the film again.