El padrino

Some weeks ago, at a movie theater, I saw a movie poster of El Padrino (2004) with the tag "The Latin Godfather". How lame have we become, I thought, Latin just because he is a Mexican? Let me remind you that ANYTHING Latin comes from or is related to Latium, Italy, So the original guy in the Godfather movie is more Latin than the Mexican Godfather and this is why: We are called Latin-American people because we speak Spanish, a language based in the Latin language that originated in Rome now Italy. So to place a tag in a movie poster like "The Latin Godfather", is not just ignorant, of course if we are trying to related this movie to the original Godfather, but a desperate and uncreative attempt to get some credit by copying the title of a movie classic. Now about the movie, I just hate overacting so from 1 to 10 I guess is 3 the most.

This movie was great i loved it. i especially loved Damian Chapa he was great in this movie and played his character great.so did all the other actors like jennifer tilly who played her character like it was her.the directing in this film was perfect as well as the writing .the movie was off the hook in action i mean great chase scenes,great gunfire scenes and great acting.i put it on my list of all time great movies, I'm waiting for el padrino 2, this movie was storytelling to the max ,i almost thought that i was watching a documentary because it was so real.perfect 10

In 1964, in San Francisco Valley, the smalltime drug dealer Manny Vasquez (Ismael 'East' Carlo) leaves his wife with his son Kilo and the boy participates of his illegal activities. Manny is arrested and Kilo returns to the care of his mother. Years later, Kilo Vasquez (Damian Chapa) grows up and begins his own business dealing drugs to high school and college students. Kilo forms a gang, associates to the whore Sabeva (Jennifer Tilly) that has many contacts and becomes a powerful drug lord. His girlfriend Christina (Ileanna Simancas) gets pregnant but Kilo is framed, arrested and sentenced to prison with his two great friends Loco (Sal Lopez) and Rudy (Emilio Rivera). Meanwhile the daughter Molly (Penny Hamond) of Governor Lancaster (Stacy Keach) is found dead in a van and the serial-killer Lars Vincent Truman (Gary Busey) is sentenced to life in the same prison as Kilo. Governor Lancaster proposes a deal to Kilo and his men to kill Lars, and they are released. Kilo becomes more powerful than before and the Governor and the General Attorney Navarro (Faye Dunaway) decide to eliminate the gangster with tragic consequences.

"El Padrino" is a dreadful, lame and cheesy film that tells the saga of the drug pin Kilo, a sort of hero without cause or explanation. The story and the ham acting is absolutely unconvincing and the lead actor and director Damian Chapa is awful. I have never seen or heard anything about Damian Chapa and my impression with his ridiculous work could not be worse. The shootout in the end is hilarious despite the intention of Chapa is to have a dramatic conclusion and not a stupid joke as it actually is. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "O Padrinho" ("The Godfather")

It's amazing that this no talent actor Chapa got all these well known stars to appear in this dismal, pathetic, cheesy and overlong film about a low life gangster who looks white but is half Mexican, much of the acting is bad and many of the well known stars in this trashy movie are given a script that seems made up by a 16 year old, i'm sure this movie is the career low point for actors such as Dunaway, Wagner, Keach, Tilly and Busey who i'm sure are very embarrassed that they ever appeared in this turkey of a film. I doubt many people have ever heard of Chapa and after this terrible movie i'm sure he will disappear into oblivion where he belongs.

I'm not sure when I last saw a film as spectacularly crap as "El Padrino". I'm also not sure when I last laughed so hard or had so much fun. It's for exactly these reasons that I'm giving this film 10/10. "El Padrino" is bad film-making of the highest order and truly belongs in the crap hall of fame. Damian Chapa - I salute you! It's hard to pinpoint exactly why this film transcends its own pomposity to become a hugely entertaining, so-bad-it's-good masterpiece. But I think most of the credit lies with the casting of Jennifer Tilly as Sebeva. Jennifer Tilly is one of my favourite actresses. This woman has it all: looks, talent and obviously a fantastic sense of humour. That's the only reason I can think of why a classy lady of Asian heritage (one of Jennifer's parents is Chinese) in her 40s would choose the role of a young, drug-running Columbian prostitute.

The character of Sebeva really has to be seen to be believed. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I first saw Jennifer dolled up like a Latina drag queen on crack but Sebeva's wardrobe is nothing in comparison to her appalling dialogue and Jennifer's tremendous over-acting. Just when I thought it couldn't possible get any better, Sebeva would say something like "I may be a whore, but I'm a loyal bitch" or roll around on a table in, what I assume is meant to be, an erotic manner. I also defy anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the Spanish language not to fall on the floor laughing when Sebeva comments en Espagnol, complete with Jennifer Tilly's breathy, American accent.

Apart from Sebeva, this film has a couple of interesting action sequences and a completely ludicrous serial killer subplot to pad out the rather dull father/son drug dealer scenario. After working over the drug cartels with this epic, it seems Damian Chapa's next opus will tackle the IRA. I, for one, can hardly wait!