On the surface this is a story about a fourteen year old girl struggling with that oldest of "sins": the pregnancy! In this case the culture in which the struggle occurs is American-Hispanic. To make matters worse her father is a minister.
As he is the kind of minister who places "sin" above love, she leaves to move in with her Tio, a kindly old man, who knows how to be a true Christian, without preaching! Her boyfriend is initially supportive, but he doesn't have the character to confront his own fear and the ambitions of his mother. Nor for that matter does her mother who, as is usual in macho cultures, caves in to her father's insistence on banishment.
But there is an underlying stronger message about hypocrisy and character that keeps the movie from drifting into the usual predictable territory.
The linchpin is the Tio, who ever so subtly and ever so powerfully leads her and her "gangsta" brother, to confront their place in an uncompromising family, society, and ultimately; world.
In the end the girl is allowed back in through a "twist" that is unfortunately used by the movie makers to tie up the ending.
Another theme touched on is that of homosexuality, but here the movie makers have their knives out, depicting the homosexual lifestyle they chose to focus on as shallow, degenerate, and vindictive.
As he is the kind of minister who places "sin" above love, she leaves to move in with her Tio, a kindly old man, who knows how to be a true Christian, without preaching! Her boyfriend is initially supportive, but he doesn't have the character to confront his own fear and the ambitions of his mother. Nor for that matter does her mother who, as is usual in macho cultures, caves in to her father's insistence on banishment.
But there is an underlying stronger message about hypocrisy and character that keeps the movie from drifting into the usual predictable territory.
The linchpin is the Tio, who ever so subtly and ever so powerfully leads her and her "gangsta" brother, to confront their place in an uncompromising family, society, and ultimately; world.
In the end the girl is allowed back in through a "twist" that is unfortunately used by the movie makers to tie up the ending.
Another theme touched on is that of homosexuality, but here the movie makers have their knives out, depicting the homosexual lifestyle they chose to focus on as shallow, degenerate, and vindictive.