East Side Story
by Carlos Portugal
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DVD details
Actor: David Berón, Luis Accinelli, Michael Cassady, René Alvarado, Steve CallahanDirector: Carlos Portugal
Brand: Wolfe
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-12-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Wolfe Video
Product features:
- Set in East LA, EAST SIDE STORY is the story of Diego, a young man working at his family's restaurant and having an affair with a secretly gay real estate agent. As the relationship heats up and the Latino neighborhood becomes more and more gentrified, everything changes for Diego and his family. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR Age: 754703762979 UPC: 7
DVD Reviews of East Side Story
DVD Review: Two-dimensional cliche but fun
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a fun, but heavily flawed, movie. It's charming as eye candy, and the story is light and amusing enough that it certainly passes the time favorably. But sometimes the comedy is too broad, the characters have crossed the line from believable to not, so the entire film suffers as a result of a screenplay and director who needed to take a heavy handed approach, or at least needed to know what the target was. Was the film meant to be a light-hearted romance, or over-the-top nonsense? We've got both here, and that means we've also got characters of little depth.
The villain, and I am referring to the live-in parter, one third of the romantic triangle that has developed, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and is of so little appeal overall that one can't figure out how he's managed to have a faithful, devoted, good guy lover for two years.
We open with an over-the-top homosexual-hating chef who is nearly frothing at the mouth, who after being fired by the part-owner of the restaurant who is himself gay (almost angelically gay, in fact, we nearly envision him with a halo, he is so perfect), the dying chef places a curse upon the place of business with his final words. After that, either because of the curse or more likely the owner's being an outed gay in a neighborhood culture that is vehemently anti-maricon (so to speak) the business starts to fail.
The owner might be more upset about this except he has other worries: his one-time real estate agent lover who has just rejected him after the "I love you" words is now dating his young and vibrant aunt, determined to stay in that closet forever, and out angelic hero is now newly attracted to one half of the gay couple who has just moved in across the street.
The couple across the street are an unlikely pair, if merely because one is so straight-acting, he doesn't seem gay at all, and he seems unaware of the true character of his partner (a deleted scene clues us in even more to how bad the guy is), which means he is not overly bright, yet otherwise seems intelligent and sensitive. The other half of the pair is a snob from Mississippi (that has to be meant as a joke; it's such a contradiction) who isn't very bright but whose best friend is also his letching wealthy boss - but at least these two talk the same language.
The aunt is a real hoot and steals the show. She is vitality plus, and is the one who goes through the greatest amount of character growth through the paces of the film. From a globe-trotting, social-climbing "Blanca who has changed her name to Bianca" we see her begin to own up to her responsibilities to her family and her heritage. In a gay romance story, it's the female who owns the film.
Obviously we're touching on racism and homophobia, and a Mexicana strong cultural vocal rejection of homosexuality. We also have self-loathing types, both the real estate agent who is striving to pass as straight, and a woman who is self-loathing as to her heritage, who obviously wishes she'd been born anything but Mexican, as Mexican probably means she can only rise so far in class, and no more.
Some hot kissing scenes, and definitely good-looking male leads, but nothing too explicit. Just randy, hot guys looking for love and finding their place at the end. If they are all just a bit two-dimensional and cliche, I guess we can live with that.
Description of East Side Story
Called a "feel good movie" by its fans, this appealing debut film of director Carlos Portugal suffers from no freshman errors, as Portugal confidently tells the story of Diego (played by the wonderful and charming René Alvarado), a young, closeted Latino, who helps his grand-mother (standout Irene DeBarri) run the family restaurant while carrying on a clandestine relationship with equally closeted Pablo (the delightful David Beron).Diego has long felt trapped by the conservative culture of East LA and plans to move away and open an upscale restaurant, hopefully with his lover. But Pablo views their situation very differently - a point driven home when he begins dating Diego's spirited Aunt Bianca (hilarious sexpot Gladise Jimenez). At the same time, white gay men like Jonathan and Wesley are moving in, gentrifying the neighborhood. The attraction between Wesley and Diego is immediate and electric, forcing both men to reexamine their state of affairs in this entertaining comedic drama.
A "coming out" story that avoids all the tired cliches and stays committed to telling the stories of these characters, East Side Story examines bias of all kinds and features stirring performances by incredibly attractive actors. This story sweetly appeals to the romantic impulses of us all, gay and straight.
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