Director – Taylor Hackford

Miklo (Damian Chapa) is a half-guero kid who is in utter denial. Favoring his roots, he splits back to East Los Angeles to live with his chicana mother. In East Los, he reunites with his two full blood cousins, Cruz and Paco, both members of the barrio gang Vatos Locos. There is no doubt in Miklo’s mind that he is chicano, and the mild ribbing and hostility of Paco and Cruz only serve to strengthen his resolve to do stupid dangerous shit and earn his placazo. Rival gang Tres Puntos violates Vatos turf right on cue, and Miklo energetically sinks to the occasion. He is proven in the fires of the street, but his real test may be his own unquenchable feelings of gringo inferiority which continuously lead him to posture and ruffle like an over caffeinated monkey on a leash. Ample opportunity soon arises, and a hilltop scuffle turns into an exchange of gunfire and Miklo is shot, but kills 3P leader Spider, earning him a ticket to the big show.

Normally a person might consider prison a negative thing, confinement in a federal penal institution and all. Miklo initially wishes to leave, but any opportunity to continually squelch or exploit his genetic pallor is never wasted. In San Quentin things operate far different. Regardless of outside rivalries, Chicanos stick together under the clandestine umbrella organization La Onda which accepts Miklo only after he greases a honkey.



He finally gets parolled, but damned if he doesn’t step in it again. Once again what might be perceived as a detriment to anyone else, Miklo takes as a blessing, and as if he wasn’t already twisted up enough, he becomes even more ruthless and determined to fill the void, at the expense of what little humanity he may have missed last time he scraped the jar. It’s really not even a measure of pride or honor for this guy anymore; he’s just an automaton of power-lust and I almost can’t remember why. Wait, we’re almost out of time, Hurry up and cram an “ending” in there… On the outside, Paco and Cruz get all mushy with each other and are able to exhibit some of that camaraderie which I think was supposed to be the point of this movie.

What begins a story of three “brothers” really ends up being just about Miklo at the unfortunate expense of the other storylines. Some brief, almost second-thought coverage is given, but not nearly enough, and it dilutes a lot of the potency of the overall unity message of this movie. That said this movie is chingon, well made, and well acted, if a little long, though I think the length serves it well. Even if it’s a little confused and unsure of itself, it’s a good watch, just don’t expect anything too fulfilling or uplifting unless you’re also eating pinto beans. Hey, I’m as white bread as they come, but I can say that because I’m from New Mexico.

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