This is a film of two halves, the first showing this single Puerto Rican dad (Alan Arkin) raising two boys in the gritty world of Spanish Harlem. There was a palpable sense of realism in its on-location footage which was great, but the plots points were silly and rather tedious, e.g. Arkin struggling comically with a corpse. Then we have the second half down in Miami, which wants us to believe a guy would send his small kids out to sea on a small boat with no food or water so that they can pretend to be Cuban refugees, which is absolutely crazy, and disagreeable even if viewed as political satire. I just couldn't get over this concept.
I think the heart of the film was in the right place, as it certainly had an empathy to immigrant parents and their sacrifices. Unfortunately, the execution was clunky, starting with the casting of Alan Arkin as a Puerto Rican. Maybe he's not literally in brownface, but I found the performance with all its shouting rather stereotypical, and in any event, lacking in warmth. The slaps he doles out to his kids are part of a larger theme, that of tough love, but they're difficult to watch, and the relationship didn't seem believable to me.
There is commentary on Cuban immigrants being treated better than Puerto Ricans in the wake of Cold War and anti-Castro maneuvering, and commentary on how political figures and the media try to capitalize on this story in contrast to their neglect of people already in the country. I appreciated what I thought it was going for, but felt it was undermined by how it went about it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Rita Moreno, whose appearance was what drew me to the film in the first place. At 38 years old this was an important role for her and she's fabulous of course, but unfortunately there wasn't nearly enough of her. The scene on the rooftop when she confronts Arkin and he grabs her throat, telling her not to tell anyone of his crazy plan, is a strong one, her eyes so full of emotion. The film would have been stronger had her character been fleshed out, and more believable if he had moved to Brooklyn with her. That's what immigrant parents do, struggle but keep their families together, not launch their kids into the ocean.
I think the heart of the film was in the right place, as it certainly had an empathy to immigrant parents and their sacrifices. Unfortunately, the execution was clunky, starting with the casting of Alan Arkin as a Puerto Rican. Maybe he's not literally in brownface, but I found the performance with all its shouting rather stereotypical, and in any event, lacking in warmth. The slaps he doles out to his kids are part of a larger theme, that of tough love, but they're difficult to watch, and the relationship didn't seem believable to me.
There is commentary on Cuban immigrants being treated better than Puerto Ricans in the wake of Cold War and anti-Castro maneuvering, and commentary on how political figures and the media try to capitalize on this story in contrast to their neglect of people already in the country. I appreciated what I thought it was going for, but felt it was undermined by how it went about it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Rita Moreno, whose appearance was what drew me to the film in the first place. At 38 years old this was an important role for her and she's fabulous of course, but unfortunately there wasn't nearly enough of her. The scene on the rooftop when she confronts Arkin and he grabs her throat, telling her not to tell anyone of his crazy plan, is a strong one, her eyes so full of emotion. The film would have been stronger had her character been fleshed out, and more believable if he had moved to Brooklyn with her. That's what immigrant parents do, struggle but keep their families together, not launch their kids into the ocean.