El padrino (2004)

In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo ... See full summary »

Director:

Damian Chapa

Writers:

Troy Barker (screenplay), Troy Barker (story),

Stars:

Damian Chapa, Sal Lopez, Emilio Rivera

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Damian Chapa	...	Kilo
Sal Lopez	...	Loco
Emilio Rivera	...	Rudy
Jennifer Tilly	...	Sebeva
Faye Dunaway	...	Atty. Gen. Navarro
Ismael 'East' Carlo	...	Manny
Joanna Pacula	...	Jessica Lancaster
Robert Wagner	...	Paul Fisch
Gary Busey	...	Lars
Stacy Keach	...	Gov. Lancaster
Brad Dourif	...	Cyrus
Ralf Moeller	...	Special Agent Kurt Meyers
Melora Hardin	...	Jane
Rachel Hunter	...	Newscaster
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Judge Scorsi

Storyline

In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper in the drug world, and his new life as a dealer begins. Starting off small, dealing to the high school and college market, Kilo discovers the drug business to be very profitable. With a little help from the well-connected and seductive daughter of a Colombian gangster, he becomes a drug kingpin with a nationwide monopoly on drug running. While conquering the drug world, Kilo falls in love with a local Latina who quickly becomes pregnant. Shortly thereafter, Kilo is involved in a drug deal with a wired frat boy that goes bad, and he is imprisoned. His exciting and stylish life as a drug lord seems to have come to a halt. But prison life does not stop Kilo from running his operation. He enlists the support of other prisoners including Crips, Bloods, and a very powerful ...

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | gangster | prison | drug dealer | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

The only color on the street is green

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and language, drug content and sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

El padrino: The Latin Godfather

Filming Locations:

East Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Padrino LLC, Heartless Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the party scene at Kilo's house, music is being played. This is supposed to be the late 1970s but instead of using music from that era, modern techno music is heard.

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Quotes

Sebeva: I may be a whore, but I'm a loyal bitch.

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Connections

Followed by El padrino 2 (2008)

User Reviews

Dreadful, Lame and Cheesy Film

In 1964, in San Francisco Valley, the smalltime drug dealer Manny Vasquez (Ismael 'East' Carlo) leaves his wife with his son Kilo and the boy participates of his illegal activities. Manny is arrested and Kilo returns to the care of his mother. Years later, Kilo Vasquez (Damian Chapa) grows up and begins his own business dealing drugs to high school and college students. Kilo forms a gang, associates to the whore Sabeva (Jennifer Tilly) that has many contacts and becomes a powerful drug lord. His girlfriend Christina (Ileanna Simancas) gets pregnant but Kilo is framed, arrested and sentenced to prison with his two great friends Loco (Sal Lopez) and Rudy (Emilio Rivera). Meanwhile the daughter Molly (Penny Hamond) of Governor Lancaster (Stacy Keach) is found dead in a van and the serial-killer Lars Vincent Truman (Gary Busey) is sentenced to life in the same prison as Kilo. Governor Lancaster proposes a deal to Kilo and his men to kill Lars, and they are released. Kilo becomes more powerful than before and the Governor and the General Attorney Navarro (Faye Dunaway) decide to eliminate the gangster with tragic consequences.

"El Padrino" is a dreadful, lame and cheesy film that tells the saga of the drug pin Kilo, a sort of hero without cause or explanation. The story and the ham acting is absolutely unconvincing and the lead actor and director Damian Chapa is awful. I have never seen or heard anything about Damian Chapa and my impression with his ridiculous work could not be worse. The shootout in the end is hilarious despite the intention of Chapa is to have a dramatic conclusion and not a stupid joke as it actually is. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "O Padrinho" ("The Godfather")