Savage Roses

This is the first time I've seen a movie so horrible that I felt I should write a review to warn others of it!

You might think I'm kidding or exaggerating here but I assure you, I'm not. I rented this movie with the hope of finding some kind of underground gem similar to Blood In Blood Out, only with females. Boy, was I wrong!

My main problem with this film is that I can't suspend my disbelief that even one of these girls is in a gang, or even tough for that matter. I've seen many "B" movies where this is the case but this one goes far beyond. Even the scenes when someone is getting jumped or beaten up are done so horribly, it made me hate the movie even more. I could go on about how the camera work is also subpar, along with the soundtrack and dialogue, but I won't. I can only pray that I never see any of these actresses in another movie until they've finished their acting classes.

Tania Galarza is the closest thing there is to eye candy here, but that's not saying much either. I give this movie 1 out of 10, only because I can't go lower.

My one line summary says it all. I agree with the reviewer who compares the acting to a porn movie. It's just horrible. No ifs, ands or buts about it, this movie could not be worse even if I had made it.

It went out of it's way to try to prove women are the stronger sex, physically and mentally. You won't find one positive male figure in this movie. Usually they're either a real jerk or a stereotype of some kind.

My recommendation to anyone who sees this movie sitting on a shelf somewhere is to AVOID AT ALL COSTS! You couldn't pay me to watch this bag of monkey crap again! I'm surprised I got through it all the first time.

Locas 4 Life is very dynamic with its range of sometimes camp humor to serious deep moments. It makes me laugh, cry, get angry and smile. It is full of many real emotions and actions of rebellion and transformation, all of which draws the viewer into the reality of these everyday local thugs.

It is refreshing that this movie does not play into stereotypical gangs in which there is nothing but bloodshed and sex. It depicts a gang of young, impressionable women who have not yet crossed the lines of being strictly hardcore thugs. They still have an innocence about them. Some are trying to find purpose, knowing that eventually gang life will bring them only death. Some bring conflict and fight against any threat of change to the way things are. An abused woman helps to break the cycle. She brings change and new opportunities that even she could not foresee- a love affair with the leader of the gang. All of the women take serious risks challenging each other and the choices they have made, some times breaking the rules and gang loyalty. Locas 4 Life delivers a powerful message about life.

The actors did a great job portraying these women in the societal roles in which they ended up. The producers did a wonderful job with what they had to work with! Even though this movie had almost no budget, I still recommend it!

Needless to say, I sat through the entire movie, hoping for some kind of payoff in the end. It never came. I was bored before I got through the first 15 minutes. I actually feel ripped off for paying the $3 to see it I can't say enough at how bad the acting is. Not one person in this movie stood out as an actor or actress worth my time. Tania Galarza was supposed to be the lead female, or, well, the lead feminine female. The whole movie was pretty much cast as female. If a male showed up, he was a stereotyped male pig or a weak male which the girlie gangsters could easily rough up, and I use that term loosely. Anyhow, Tania was supposed to be the beautiful woman with whom the lead male, in this case Misha Gonzales, would fall for. Tania could not even convince me that she was just a normal girl. That's how bad her acting was. And don't get me started on the even worse Misha.

One last complaint... It seemed as this movie was made for some kind of a school project or something. I doubt anyone got paid and all the scenery shots were re-used over and over and over. I got tired of seeing the same train tracks with the same train rolling by at the exact same time. If there's one thing this movie lacked, it's professionalism. That's it for me. I've wasted enough time on this already.

I can't think of one movie I've seen this year that's worse, and I saw Gigli. The acting was horrible, as if they never rehearsed. The story was even worse so it's possible that even the "actresses" and "actors" didn't believe in what they were doing. I sure didn't. I don't think most of them had any other work before or after this movie, so that makes sense. I'm trying to think of something good about this movie, and the best I can come up with was the camera work didn't bother me, as I have heard that it was subpar but looked OK to me. Pretty bad stuff if you ask me.

Director James Tucker has made some other movies, and I am promising myself I will steer clear of anything else he has done or will do. By the way, this movie is hiding in Blockbuster as Locas 4 Life so don't be fooled! I gave the movie a 1 of 10.