A donde el día te lleve

The exploits of the kids in this film are way too real. I used to live on the streets and this film is the first time I've seen street life without the Hollywood polish on it. Granted all the faces are familiar, and everyone in the film is a star, they play the parts with grit and realism. It's really great to see that this lifestyle is portrayed as less than glamourous, because all too often "homeless" movies make it seem like it's easy to get out of it........

A social worker (Laura San Giacomo) interviews King (Dermot Mulroney) about his life on the Hollywood streets as a part of a program for his parole. It's a world of drugs, prostitution, petty crimes, and outright violence. Greg (Sean Astin), Little J (Balthazar Getty), crippled Manny (Will Smith), Crasher, and Brenda (Ricki Lake) are some of his street friends. Brenda brings along new girl Heather (Lara Flynn Boyle). King is out of county looking for his girlfriend Devon who has gone missing. Ted (Kyle MacLachlan) is Greg's drug dealer.

There are a lot of big names from the 90's and beyond. There is also Alyssa Milano, David Arquette, Christian Slater among others. I'm surprised that I've never heard of this movie but these old indies can slip by. It's hard to be ultra-realism when there are so many named actors but this has the simple grim reality. It's not too flashy. The plot is a bit scattered with a lot of different characters. I would like a story with a more distinct direction and more agency. I would make Tommy Ray a more concentration of King's attention and he could be the central target of the plot. Overall, it's interesting to see some of these actors pop up in this indie.

"Where The Day Takes You" is about the homeless youth who come from all over the country to escape their dysfunctional families to live on the streets of Hollywood.It is here that this youth form surrogate families with other homeless youth.

This film chronicles one such family of homeless youth headed by King who is the father figure.A violent confrontation with another homeless leader turns for the worse and King finds himself desperately trying to keep his family together while avoiding the law.

The movie is surprisingly honest about dangers of living on the street and yet portrays the real sense of community that this homeless youth shares with each other.

My only issue with this film was perhaps the Melissa Etheridge music which distracted me.It got more tolerable with repeated viewings of this film but to be fair I am not much of a Melissa Etheridge fan.

If you like movies about Hollywood or films featuring young attractive actors playing disaffected youth then I would suggest this film.

This movie is a classic example of what a bunch of talented actors can do without being showcased. Most of the cast in this film have gone on to become bigger stars (some MUCH bigger as in the case of Will Smith) in far bigger budget movies, but they'll all have this one to look back on as something to be truly proud of. Sure, one can quibble with the fact that these people, despite being "glammed down" for the street look, are better looking than "real" homeless youths, but this is Hollywood after all. A promising feature from director Marc Rocco, who went on to make another movie, and now I haven't seen anything from him for half-a-decade. What happened?

I absolutely love this film but I can only watch it once a year because it makes me so sad, I have never cried so much in a film ever, I'm left a nervous wreck, I don't know if it's because I'm happy or sad the way things worked out, but my hat is off to the writer, director, and all the actors, especially Sean Astin's portrayal of Greg. Very emotional film, I suggest you don't watch it alone, as you need to have someone with you to laugh and cry with! Extraordinary filmmaking!