Long Way Home

If I had known this movie was about teen sex I never would have gone. Fortunately, I didn't, because I would have missed a rather remarkable film at Sundance. Raising Victor Vargas is about a non-traditional Hispanic family in New York's lower east side. Victor Vargas is a hormonally charged teenager with one thing on his mind. (If we believe the film, every young male in Spanish Harlem is preoccupied with similar thoughts.)

Then Victor meets Judy. Unable to make a sexual conquest, the relationship develops into something more meaningful for both of them. It is this process of discovery which is so encouraging and uplifting, as Victor learns, with the help of a firm and loving (if sometimes misguided) grandmother, a deeper set of values-genuine caring, friendship and family. As his façade of cultural expectations wears off, the vulnerable but inherently well-meaning Victor emerges with a more mature outlook, strengthened principles and firmer moral grounding. You might argue that the transition is a bit forced and happens too suddenly. Nevertheless, it is cause for celebration.

This is not to say that the movie is a propaganda piece for pre-marital abstinence. There is enough promiscuity to make parents think twice about letting their teens see the film. But the over-riding theme of the movie builds the case that the sexual preoccupation of youth is selfish and immature.

Director Peter Sollett employed inexperienced actors with an improvisational style, and managed to elicit extraordinarily real and believable performances from Victor Rasuk (Victor) and Judy Marte (Judy). By focussing intently on the individual, and encouraging freedom of expression, Sollett is able to capture truth on film, without too much embellishment. He takes us to a world where we expect to find despair, and leaves us with hope and faith in the spirit of youth.

RAISING VICTOR VARGAS – 9.3/10

Director: Peter Sollett

Writer: Peter Sollett

With an unknown cast and coming from a debut director, the film turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Raising Victor Vargas is a 'coming of age' film, if one might call it that, but in every sense of the word, extremely mature. With no special effects or dazzling visuals, Raising Victor Vargas is a must watch for sakes of storytelling and scriptwriting.

The film revolves around the story of a youngster Victor Vargas, a Dominican teenager, played exceptionally well by Victor Rasuk. Victor, who is out to regain his image after word of his affair with a 'fat' girl leaks to the neighborhood. To rise to his old glory, he must win over the pretty Judy Marte ('Juicy' Judy Gonzalez). For most parts, the story is just that. While detailing it any further would lead to spoilers, watch out for the most interesting aspects of the film, which in this case are precisely those parts which seem least relevant.

The film manages to charm, delight and appease with the smallest of details, ones that are almost always overlooked in films seeking to be larger than life. It is as though the writer/director has understood the simplest secret of storytelling. He deals with nuances of the youth, the teenagers and their daily lives in a very refined and mature manner. Not succumbing to obvious temptations of problems facing the youth, the director dodges all the clichés, from drugs to violence, from rape to vengeance.

There isn't really much to say about the film. It is shot in a few locations, with limited characters and resources. Yet the performances are fantastic, the script is simple and funny, the acting is outstanding. The film flows from one scene to the next and very soon without actually realizing it, we are living the lives of the characters, laughing and smiling with them, cheering and hooting for them. Sadly, we haven't seen a lot from Sollett since 2002; hope he makes an appearance soon.

This movie sucks. It is about a Latino teenager whose plight is that he is discovered having sex with a fat girl, and spends the movie trying to win the heart of a pretty girl so that he can restore his pride. Raising Victor Vomitus is in the league of Better Luck Tomorrow - another film which attempts to reveal the intricacies of a cultural group - but which really only makes everyone look stupid. My conclusion after seeing these two really egregious films is that if you are curious about Latino or Asian youths - the best way to satisfy that curiousity is to meet some of them, read a book, or wait until a good movie comes out. However, if you want to waste money, be bored, and learn nothing - get a pedicure. At least you will have something to show for it.

"Raising Victor Vargas" is one of those light, family movies that you can watch and do the N.Y. Times crossword puzzle at the same time. And if you want to go to the kitchen for a taco and a Corona, you don't have to "Pause" the DVD. Just let it roll, 'cause you won't be missing anything really important. No twists, turns, or tension. It's not really an ethnic movie, it's a movie about a poor, struggling immigrant family that happens to be Latino. They could have been any ethnic group. It made very little difference. I've seen it all a zillion times before. Just plug in a Jewish family, an Italian family, a Black family, or an Irish family. Just the accents and names were different. If the Vargas family was named Bush or Clinton and were Presbyterians, the movie would have been a total snooze.

It's funny that the critics here couldn't get the locale straight. Some said it was Spanish Harlem. Some the Bronx, and another Brooklyn. As a life-long New Yorker, I vote for the Lower East Side. And it seemed that the family never met up with anyone except other Latinos. They lived in an insulated/isolated little enclave. Some interaction with non-Latinos might have created some excitement, interest, or tension. Remember West Side Story?

And now for the oft-criticized cinematography. I don't know if it was my TV or what, but all the indoor shots looked very ORANGE to me. The apt, the furniture, and the faces were all ORANGE. What was that supposed to mean? And the apt. did look pretty cramped to me. Somebody here mentioned that the old apt's/tenements had very big rooms. Well, maybe 50 years ago. What landlords have done is to break up one big apt into 2 or 3 very small ones and squeeze as many immigrants as they can into them.

And another annoying thing ....This is the second family movie I've seen and criticized this week that featured a teenage boy "jerking off". Is this private sex act necessary for us to watch? Please spare me! What's up with these directors?

So "Victor Vargas" is a pleasant little movie. It was nice for a change to see young Latino actors given a break and a chance to show their talents, which they did. But the writers let them down, giving them a flat, unspectacular script to work with. Enjoy the show, but keep your fingers near the "fast forward" button.

An inner city neighborhood trial and tribulations put to film of a poor Latino family in New York would seem to be nothing more than a setup for hard ship and perhaps gang violence. However, the beauty of a film like Raising Victor Vargas is it can stick with a simple story of a young mans attempt at coming of age while sidestepping the usual affairs that such an environment is not conducive or even believable to a childhood romance.

We first meet Victor in the room of some young girls apartment. It soon becomes apparent that Victor's reasoning for being in this room is to loose his virginity simply for the fact that when he brags to his friends that he's not a virgin he can finally be telling the truth for once. As a 16 year old this important in the macho culture that pre-dominates around his neighborhood.

It soon comes apparent though, that Victor won't have sex with this young girl, and more importantly Victor discovers a poolside young beauty named Judy that he would like to charm. However, it's up to Victor to prove himself capable of being a decent man as Judy has to endure constant harassment and has given up on the idea of men in general.

Some other relationships develop between some of the other younger kids around the neighborhood and they all feel distinctly genuine. But it's Victor's ability to try to learn how to treat people right while respecting his Dominican grandmother that become the center and highlight of the film. Victor (played by Victor Rasuk) embodies a youthful charm in this film that is so natural and can't be faked. The grandmother (played by Altagracia Guzman) is amazing as the old fashioned family protectorate who has to keep everyone in line. Your heart just aches for this old woman who sees in Victor perhaps her own previous husband and fears only the worst.

Peter Sollet has really worked a gem of a film showing these kids as without much but truly blessed with the gift of caring and that's what makes the film so unique. There's even a great scene where the grandma takes Victor to social services simply to say ‘I have had enough of him, he's trouble, he's a bad influence' and that she just can't take it anymore with his antics. In the end the social worker just tells her to go home and stop complaining. Any other film would instead make it an overdramatic tug of war.

Without spoiling anything, the courting of Judy ends in a way that for the most part works in the context that Victor and the other characters inhabit. It's a wonderful tale of youthful love in a setting that probably happens more often than you think.

Rating 8 out of 10