Road Dogz (2000)

Director:

Alfredo Ramos

Writer:

Alfredo Ramos (writer)

Tagline:

Some friends are closer than brothers.

Plot Keywords:

Latino | Coming Of Age | Independent Film

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Raymo Serrano
Greg Serano	...	Alfonso Carrasco
Jacob Vargas	...	Danny Pacheco
Lobo Sebastian	...	Gramps
Priscilla Garita	...	Lucy
Danny De La Paz	...	Torneo
Emilio Rivera	...	Big Joe
Rudy Ramos	...	Canto
Jenny Gago	...	Ana Carrasco
Yelba Osorio	...	Chespi
Ruben Moreno	...	Abuelito
Pete Leal	...	Mr. Ochoa
Mike Gomez	...	Antonio Carrasco
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roberto Enrique	...	Omar
Emiliano Torres	...	Supporting

MPAA:

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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Shooting Star Pictures

Quotes:

Alfonso Carrasco: [about Chespi's pregnacy] It's not like she got my nuts in a glass jar!
Danny Pacheco: She got one of them.
Raymo Serrano: But you still got one left.

It was okay for an assemblage of other plotlines

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.