Road Dogz

I could hear the pitch: "It's Boyz 'N The Hood meets Blood In, Blood Out, with a sprinkle of Saturday Night Fever thrown in for good measure with a vision by Spike Lee if he was Mexican-American instead of an African-American." But despite my cynicism, of the three Hispanic-themed in-the-hood movies I have seen in the last two weeks, this is the most professional production with a nice 35mm print and director of photography who knew what he was doing behind the camera. This was not an amateurish, half-ass attempt as I have seen till now that plagues this genre. But what I do agree with the reviews here is that this is not really an original screenplay. Yes, we have seen this storyline in many other movies such as those that I have cited earlier, but for some reason, I liked it more than I thought I would. I felt ALL the actors did a good and believable job. The three main characters are likeable in their confused, on-the-cusp of adulthood identities, though some of the scenes were repetitive between them. What I felt lacking though were the depth of the female characters. They had a breezy presence which could have added to the story if used correctly. (General question here: In movies, why can't Hispanic males wanna go to college and better themselves? Why is it that only Latinas have this ambition?) I did notice something which I felt added to the overall story arch sublimally: everyone seen onscreen was a Mexican or Mexican-American. I hope film producers will make more of this homogenous society in East L.A. I imagine there are so many stories out there as long as they do not fall into the trap of ethnic stereotyping or cliches, even if the makers are Hispanic themselves.

A good story and fine direction combine to make for a very worthwhile indie that should make it to wide distribution. Powerful performances by Jacob Vargas and Emilio Rivera, as well as other notably strong roles, bring the audience into the film with the characters to intimately feel their experiences. Deep insight into the plight of young adults trying to develop themselves in the midst of negative influences and vivid depiction of the fragility of their life styles.

I dont know why so many people on this site knock this film, though some aspects were seen in other hood movies. but who cares? its the quality of movie that counts and this one was, to me, an al-list. i thought Raymo was interesting with his dilemas, Alfonso funny with his hillarious perversity, and Gramps scary with his protrayal of the drug dealer. It helps if you see past the negative aspects of the movie and focus on the good ones, than you'd enjoy it, just lay back and relax then take it like a man!

While browsing T.V. late at night, I came across "Road Dogz", a film which I passed off as a typical "homies" movies. But, I was very surprised when I watched it and became very interested in it. Maybe it's because I can relate, and because I've grown up around these things that I found the film to be so intriguing. Or maybe it's because I consider Clifton Collins Jr. to be a great actor. No matter what the reason I thought this film was well written and executed, especially to be on a such a low budget. The actors were great, and so was the story. To sum it up, I thought that "Road Dogz" was a great movie and one of which I would be more than happy to go out and add to my collection of movies.

This is similar to a lot of the other movies out there, yet i still found it enjoyable. Its about 3 young men dealing with their lives in the ghetto. One a sex-craving addict deals with relationships when he meets a certain female character. The other, a wise talking kid who falls into the wrong hands when he starts doing drug deals. Then the main character who tries to make a decent living, in a dump of a neighborhood. The movie had all around good scenes, and some very good words of wisdom. Although, i feel the ending was similar to a lot of the "gangster" type movies. Other than that, i felt it was a good movie to watch on a Friday night when you have nothing better to do. I gave it an 8/10.