Die Mission

"La Mission" is a project of love about the barrio neighborhood the Bratt brothers grew up in. Writer/Director Peter Bratt takes time and care to set up a strong sense of cultural pride with Aztec dancers, Catholic rituals, "slow and low" cruising in shiny low riders through the family oriented Mission District of San Francisco.

Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) an ex-con and recovering alcoholic, has worked hard to earn the respect of his community by going straight and being a good father to his college bound son (Jeremy Ray Valdez.) Benjamin Bratt portrays Che as the embodiment of Mexican machismo. The director presents him as a sympathetic character who was brought up to use his fists to survive on the hard streets. Che finds strength for his quest for redemption in his culture and religion. But when he discovers that his beloved son is gay, that homophobic culture drives his negative response.

Enhancing the theme is a multi-racial relationship with Che's black, culturally diverse, social-worker neighbor Lena (Erika Alexander.) Lena sees through Che's violent, macho exterior. Experience has taught her that this kind of man is incapable of changing, but she can't help but be moved by the wounded boy inside.

There is an odd visual metaphor which I believe is meant to show the contrast between past and present Chicano culture: colorful Aztec dancers perform at the shine of a murdered teen with a sign, "No more violence." I found it odd because the Aztec's practiced human sacrifice. Whether intentional or not, the Aztec dancers are a good metaphor for the theme: We need to keep what is healthy from our culture or religion and let go of what is destructive.

"La Mission" isn't perfect. A few scenes were just left hanging - especially in the romantic subplot. I didn't feel the chemistry between Che and Lena. But Benjamin Bratt delivers one of his strongest performances. The brothers have given us an authentic, loving depiction of the culture in the Mission barrio with an important theme for our times.

Movie Blessings! Jana Segal,Reel Inspiration

This underrated movie provides an insider's view of the colorful San Francisco's neighborhood known as the "Mission" - a predominantly Latino enclave in San Francisco. Inspired by real characters, it does not present the usual clichés of the ethnic minority drama by avoiding the romanticizing of this environment; it skews the typical down home ethnic wisdom favored by liberal Hollywood and does not become another histrionic sordid ghetto thriller/soap opera.

Supported by an excellent cast, Benjamin Bratt gives an astonishing performance as an intolerant bus driver, a single father who cannot accept his adolescent only son's homosexuality despite the love and pride he feels for him. The violent machismo that have shaped his life is perpetuated by the next generation of disenfranchised youth who prey La Mission.

The neighborhood is presented as an insular world almost anachronistic in 21st century San Francisco. Working class middle age men turn old cars into souped-up low-riding monsters and make fun of soy lattes and recycling, feathered Aztec dancers fill the streets with color and sound as neighbors try to maintain a sense of heritage with their indigenous past, families place flowers and pray where their children have been slain.

The movie transcends its family drama genre allowing the story to evolve at its own pace with a feeling of authenticity and honesty prevailing in every scene. Without providing easy solutions, it centers on a character whose contradictions reflect the world he inhabits. Highly recommended.

Che has lived in the same apartment in San Francisco's Mission District for 26 years. He has done time but has a garage and restores classic cars, and he drives a bus. He has a teenage son Jes, but we never learn about Jes' mother.

Che is a great guy with a pleasant personality most of the time, and everyone likes him--except Lena, who doesn't want him to work on cars on the sidewalk (did he not have the garage yet?) and just generally seems hard to please. During what free time he has, Che plays pickup basketball with the guys, and he drives one of the many great-looking classic cars in his "low rider" group. He is also restoring a '64 Chevy for Jes as a graduation present.

Jes has a boyfriend Jordan and they go to a loud gay club together. They have a number of photos taken, which Jes leaves lying around. He shouldn't have, because he hasn't told his father. And as cool as Che is, his reaction to his son being gay is not exactly what you would expect. Jes is also bullied by a guy at school who also sees him in the 'hood, and this guy has problems with Che as well.

During the rest of the movie, Che and Jes have to work to resolve their differences. Something does happen that we hope would make everything work out, but it's just not that simple. Meanwhile, Che and Lena started out hating each other, so what do you think will happen with them? Well, not quite what you'd think. Nothing is simple in this movie.

This movie is a quality portrayal of life in a Latino neighborhood, but it is more than that. These people are not merely Mexican. At least some of them, including the bully, are Aztec, and we see the colorful costumes and the dancing of the Aztec culture. We see beautiful art on buildings, and even on that '64 Chevy. Who knew a 60-year-old car could look so good?

Benjamin Bratt gives a remarkable performance with many dimensions. He is not merely this great guy everyone likes. He can be just plain nasty and he can get depressed and withdraw from the world. But overall his is a positive image of Latino culture, because he is genuinely trying to be a good guy.

Another good performance comes from a guy whose name I don't remember. He is a good friend of Che, and he and his wife had a disabled child. This is important in helping Che overcome his prejudices, if indeed he ever does.

And Erika Alexander is worth mentioning as Lena. Jeremy Ray Valdez also does a good job as Jes.

While the movie can be quite serious and controversial, with different types of bigotry, it also has some laughs. One of Che's friends (who is African-American) is able to say "chili chatter" without offending when complaining the others speak Spanish around him when they're in HIS country; they should speak English.

There is some violence and I could tell the language had to be cleaned up a LOT for TV. Amazingly, someone decided the rating should be TV-PG-V. No L, though there are a few words left.

One of the most meaningful parts of the movie is a scene with the low-riders. A new person in the group appears to be warmly welcomed by the neighborhood people. They don't say a word. They just look at the newcomer in a friendly way. Judging from the credits, I would say these are real people from the neighborhood.

It's worth seeing, just in general but also as a Latino-themed movie that is different.

Diamonds are rare and the result of years of pressure on what many of us see as insignificant bits of carbon. Small films shine the brightest because there is enormous pressure on them to succeed and are so rare to find, but one of them bursts through like this film, we'd better be ready to witness pure brilliance and some amazing work.

Much of the success of this piece is having Benjamin Pratt as the propelling force. His perfect portrayal of a complex, tortured conservative (within his cultural boundaries) push him to emotional conflicts he might never be able to handle. The audience knows we are in for tour-de-force performance when the film shows in a very early scene an emotional confrontation between father and son, after Che discovers some hidden baggage on his son's life. The scene is violent, emotional, dark, powerful, and hard to watch, as we see two human beings who obviously love each other react in very explosive terms. Jess is his father's younger version, a strong human young man who is discovering himself is not willing to compromise his belief, much like his father clings to his traditional values. The big exception is that there plenty of darkness and suffering in Che's life. In spite of having been given a second chance, as we eventually learn through scenes that provide some family and friends' back stories. Che has seen plenty of tragedy before, but he hasn't been able to find cathartic release and holds much pain inside. Dealing with his only child's new revelations might just be enough to push him into irreparable damage.

There are some wonderful scenes in "The Mission." We're exposed to facets of a culture that very few people ever see. There are stereotypes, but also much is done to create real character out of many of the supporting characters. Che's brother parallel storyline is subtly presented to show the way this family interacts with each other and the strength of their family bonds. Che's African American neighbor is delightful and refreshing showing a strong and sensitive human being who might be the link between doom and salvation for Che.

The biggest revelation in the film is Jeremy Ray Valdez's performance as the estranged son who might not be able to reconnect with his father. Seldom one can see such a range of emotions so perfectly displayed scene after scene, matching Pratt's nearly perfect performance bit by bit. One looks forward to seeing more of this amazing actor in the future.

"The Mission" is a rich, powerful, and finely detailed movie that shows the inner workings of a segment of society rarely seen through this lens. The film is a small, intimate jewel that is both touching and enjoyable. Excellent!

My family was from the Mission District when it was primarily an Irish neighborhood. Its main claim to fame was it has the nicest weather in San Francisco. I grew up during the transition from Irish to Hispanic, and had a front row seat on the ethnic diversity that took root during the late 1940's/early 1950's. While much has changed since then much has remained the same. Still has great weather and a beautiful park in its midst, right next to Mission High School and Mission Delores. The film perfectly captures the Mission District of today with its hugely Hispanic influence. It is a refreshing change from the yuppie San Francisco we usually see in movies with an emphasis on the Marina, Union Square, and Pacific Heights. The Mission is still where the working class live as it was back when I was growing up. This is a movie about working class values, family values, and machismo, with a San Francisco backdrop. The cinematography is first class with good use of closeups of people, cars, and interesting houses. The movie of course is mainly about the class of Hispanic male culture versus the gay experience in San Francisco, and it pulls that off by presenting a sympathetic view of each culture. That is not easy to do. I enjoyed this movie not so much because it was so well made but because there are so few movies that even attempt to capture a human sized story with a story about a working class neighborhood in a world famous city. This movie was different in a very good way. It was also nice to see a movie about Hispanics not centered either in L.A. or New York. The cast was uniformly excellent. There wasn't a false note in this movie. Kudo's to the Bratt brothers for having the tenacity to make this movie.