Raising Victor Vargas (2002)

Director:

Peter Sollett

Writers:

Peter Sollett (story)
Peter Sollett (written by)

Release Date:

30 May 2003 (Turkey)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A Lower East Side teen-ager struggles to find some sanity while surrounded by an eccentric grandmother, a crazy new girlfriend, and a longing younger brother.

Plot Keywords:

Lower East Side | Dominican | Street Life | Ghetto | Friend

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Victor Rasuk	...	Victor Vargas
Judy Marte	...	'Juicy' Judy Gonzalez
Melonie Diaz	...	Melonie
Altagracia Guzman	...	Grandma
Silvestre Rasuk	...	Nino Vargas
Krystal Rodriguez	...	Vicki de la Cruz
Kevin Rivera	...	Harold
Wilfree Vasquez	...	Carlos
Donna Maldonado	...	Fat Donna
Alexander Garcia	...	Al
John Ramos	...	Macho
Theresa Martinez	...	Judy's Mom
Randy Luna	...	Pool Boy #3
Jeff Knite	...	Pool Boy #4 (as Jeff Asencio)
Juan I. Lebron	...	Israel

Also Known As:

Long Way Home (France)
Raising Victor Vargas (Canada: English title) (festival title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

The film's working title was "Long Way Home".

Quotes:

Judy: You're so easy to see through, it's embarrassing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2004 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Casado y Cansado (No Puedo Mas)

Neither well made nor realistic

Someone will have to explain to me why every film that features poor people and adopts a pseudo-gritty look is somehow seen as "realistic" by some people.

I didn't see anything realistic about the characters (although the actors did their best with really bad parts) or the situations. Instead, I saw a forced, self-conscious effort at being "edgy", "gritty" and "down and dirty".

Sadly, it takes a lot more than hand-holding the camera without rhyme or reason and failing to light the film to achieve any of the above qualities in any significant way.

It's a sad commentary on the state of independent film distribution that the only films that see the inside of a movie theater are nowadays all carbon copies, with bad cinematography, non-existent camera direction and a lot of swearing striving to pass themselves as "Art".

It's little wonder that films like "In the Bedroom" or "About Schmidt" get such raves. I found them to be meandering and very average, but compared to the current slew of independent clones like "Raising victor Vargas" they are outright brilliant and inspired.

A few years ago seeing an "independent" film meant that you would likely be treated to some originality and a lot of energy and care, and maybe a few technical glitches caused by the low budgets, nowadays, it means that chances are you'll get yet another by-the-numbers, let's-shake-the-camera-around-for-two-hours attempt at placating the lack of taste of independent distributors. And of course all that to serve characters and situations that are completely unreal and contrived.

Is it any surprise that the independent marketplace has fewer and fewer surviving companies? Not at all when you see films like Raising Victor Vargas that do nothing but copy the worst of the films that preceded them.