La Mission (2009)

A single-parent ex-con in a tough, minority neighborhood finds his personal values challenged when he discovers his son is gay.

Director:

Peter Bratt

Writer:

Peter Bratt

Stars:

Benjamin Bratt, Alex Hernandez, Christopher Borgzinner

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Benjamin Bratt	...	Che Rivera
Alex Hernandez	...	Smoke
Christopher Borgzinner	...	Nacho (as Chris Borgzinner)
Jeremy Ray Valdez	...	Jes Rivera
Cesar Gomez	...	Gummy Bear
Neo Veavea	...	Kenny
Cathleen Riddley	...	Shell
Martin Cantu	...	Store Owner
Xochiti Guzman	...	Fine Mission Mamacita
Marco Serralta	...	Chuy (as Marcos Serralta)
Talisa Soto	...	Ana (as Talisa Soto Bratt)
Jesse Borrego	...	Rene
Max Rosenak	...	Jordan
Ramon Ovando	...	Little Man
Tatiana Maricely	...	Nadine (as Tatiana Rivas)

Storyline

Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown.

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Plot Keywords:

ex convict | candle | gay | recovering alcoholic | lowrider | 

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Taglines:

...from the thorn emerges the flower

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

19 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mission Street Rhapsody

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,046, 11 April 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,040,000, 1 August 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

5 Stick Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Talisa Soto who plays Ana and Benjamin Bratt who plays Che are married in real life. They met on the set of Blood In Blood where Rene played by Jesse Borrego stars alongside Benjamin Bratt.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, Che is shown putting the poles of a trolleybus onto electric wires above. When the bus pulls up to the bus stop, Che is driving one of Muni's Hybrid/electric buses, which runs on its own power and does not have trolley poles.

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Quotes

Che Rivera: You know what you are?
Lena: I do, actually, but if I ever need a second opinion, I'll be sure to ask.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

Machete
performed by Santero & Orlando Torriente
Music courtesy of Round World Music

User Reviews

Different portrait of San Francisco and the Hispanic community

My family was from the Mission District when it was primarily an Irish neighborhood. Its main claim to fame was it has the nicest weather in San Francisco. I grew up during the transition from Irish to Hispanic, and had a front row seat on the ethnic diversity that took root during the late 1940's/early 1950's. While much has changed since then much has remained the same. Still has great weather and a beautiful park in its midst, right next to Mission High School and Mission Delores. The film perfectly captures the Mission District of today with its hugely Hispanic influence. It is a refreshing change from the yuppie San Francisco we usually see in movies with an emphasis on the Marina, Union Square, and Pacific Heights. The Mission is still where the working class live as it was back when I was growing up. This is a movie about working class values, family values, and machismo, with a San Francisco backdrop. The cinematography is first class with good use of closeups of people, cars, and interesting houses. The movie of course is mainly about the class of Hispanic male culture versus the gay experience in San Francisco, and it pulls that off by presenting a sympathetic view of each culture. That is not easy to do. I enjoyed this movie not so much because it was so well made but because there are so few movies that even attempt to capture a human sized story with a story about a working class neighborhood in a world famous city. This movie was different in a very good way. It was also nice to see a movie about Hispanics not centered either in L.A. or New York. The cast was uniformly excellent. There wasn't a false note in this movie. Kudo's to the Bratt brothers for having the tenacity to make this movie.