Mi vida loca

"Mi Vida Loca" is a documentary-like approach to examining the lives of Hispanic girls in Echo Park. The film is never over-dramatized. The dialogue is authentic, and never stylized, and so are the performances. The story never takes the predictable Hollywood route. However, it still could've used more structure. At first I thought the film's focus was on the character of Sad Girl. About 15-20 minutes through, the focus changes to another character and the same pattern occurs throughout the film. So I didn't feel as connected to the film as I expected. If the characters and situations were unrealistic, I would be totally disengaged, but that wasn't the case and as a result, I was still entertained and moved. Almost all the scenes take place in apartments, sidewalks and parks, so it's obvious that the film was made on a low-budget, but that small budget was put to good use and I give Allison Anders much credit.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

This is a very interesting film about the girls who hang out with the gangbangers in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The focus shifts from one character to another, but the story is pretty much always told from the viewpoint of the girls.

This movie is bittersweet to me because it documents much of the tragedy surrounding the senseless killings on the street but it also offers a vision of hope. The characters in the film are shown as real human beings - the director used a mix of actors and real people from the neighborhood. It's sad to see how innocent many of them are yet how easily the violence comes.

Don't think this is just all shootings and beatings. It's mostly about the neighborhood and the people in it, and that's where the sweet in bittersweet comes from. Even amid all the tragedy, men and women hook up with each other, babies are born, life goes on. It's not the melodrama of "West Side Story", it's more a poignant look at life in the Echo.

Production values lag at times but this is still a very fine movie and one of my favorites.

i loved this movie. It shows the life and struggles of young Hispanics growing up in the hood. With this even if it is not acted out to the best of other actors abilities, these actors are real. They may not know how to act very well, but they are true to the character. It shows that no matter how you begin your life you always have a choice and depending on the choice you make it can change your life forever. From gangs to drugs and even guns this movie takes you in the life of some harsh realities. With the good the bad and the babies they do the best they can with what they have. Survival is everything. Similar movies to see are Blood In Blod Out Bond By Honor, American Me, and raising Victor Vargas. These movies also focus on the ups and downs of gangster life.

This movie feels more like a documentary than anything else. You sense the realism in the script, locations and the actors. It helps that you will not recognize anyone here from anywhere else, there is no "baggage" at all with the actors. The movie follows the lives of several women who live on the periphery of a hispanic gang. They live lifes of tragedy and sadness, loathing themselves and the town they are from. They push their children in strollers, watch out for drive-by shootings and wait for the latest news on which of their boyfriends were killed, injured or jailed. The movie also portrays quite well, in the face of their tragedy, the girls have a strong bond within themselves and even though they may have fights over men, they ultimately will stand up for each other. They should, it seems no one else will. Great movie. Recommended as an escape movie. It will take you out of your world to a world you would probably never want to visit. Like life, it is not romanticized and it is not shown in an overly bad light. It just is.

Excellent movie.

This is the birth of hood-rats and the choices to make. "Why you gotta be like this?"

Really? That's the guy and life you want to follow? It's sad cases that you can see happens in real life as well.

Visions of hope and the tragedy mixed in you can see coming a mile away. They think they're the "baddest" girls around, they fight each other, their boyfriends, rivals and just life in general.

It's another world that lives beneath, the urban lifestyle trapping the girls in a place that most people would never want to live in.