This is your typical indie coming-of-age tale about a teenager, though it’s clearly working with a very tiny budget. Set within a migrant family living in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, the movie digs into how fragile old-school traditions and expectations can be. We follow a teenage son as he goes through the process of coming out and struggles to find acceptance while dealing with homophobia, domestic abuse, and a messy love triangle that involves his own sister. Goyo is seventeen and just about to graduate from high school. Since he’s been a bit more feminine since he was a little kid, he’s always had to deal with emotional and physical transition from his dad, Ramon, who is obsessed with him being "a man." The only real love he gets is from a lady next door who actually respects him for who he is. The family lives in a Mexican community where everyone works on a grape farm, but things get shaken up when a new guy named Lucio arrives. Lucio basically seduces Goyo ...
This movie is set in Havana. This movie is about accepting difference and learning to appreciate other points of view and other ways of life. It's not really a movie about gay men. Its about friendship that takes you beyond sexuality.Diego, a gay activist has huge crush on David, a young Communist party member who is very straight. He lures him into going to his apartment for some pictures but nothing materializes. David realizes that Diego is gay and leaves soon. On his room mates insistence that he might find something with Diego which could hep them in communism, David reluctantly go back there. He makes it very clear that he does not want sex and rather just wants to have friendship with him. Diego accepts it. Diego is smart, knows a lot about art and culture, and teaches these things to his friend. The friendship between David and Nancy, one of Diego's friends, grows as well and they make love at the end of the movie. But, Diego is in trouble after sending a letter that ridicules the government for not accepting his art exhibition and, for this reason, the government kicks him out and he has to leave the country. The movie ends with a touching hug between Diego and David.
There are two themes that clearly exist in this movie: friendship and tolerance. True friendship can only exist when two people accept each other as they are; not only physically, but on the inside as well. The characters are well drawn and it shows that friendship can occur between a gay and a straight man.
An alright film to watch. Plot was good but something special was missing for me. (5.5/10)
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