Così mi piace

Lauren Velez makes a strong screen debut in this little flick about a "dis"-functional Hispanic couple married with kids in the Bronx. "I Like It Like That" is a not too serious charcter-driven, dialogue-intensive film which floats somewhere between sardonic comedy and visceral drama as it looks at the life of the Velez and Seda characters who spend most of their time sorting through a variety of woes with a yell first and think later strategy. An okay flick on most levels, this film tends to wear itself out after a while becoming a sort of monotonic drone of screaming, swearing, and throwing things.

This film, written and Directed by black, female, Bronx native Darnell Martin captures a turbulent time in the life of a Puerto Rican couple in the Bronx, NY. What could best be described as a Latino version of 'Do The Right Thing,' the film tackles many issues such as masculinity, homosexuality, religion, race and capitalism. All wrapped up in the single half Puerto-Rican half Jamaican Lizette, issues of race abound at every corner with a mother-in-law who insists on her family coming from a pure Castillian lineage. The most thoroughly addressed topic is that of masculinity and what decrees a true man. Whether it be the misogynist and somewhat abusive father figure of Chino, or the homosexual 'Alexis,' who essentially rejects his masculinity in order to escape the trappings that Chino represents. This is a film that requires some thought and definitely some effort to go beyond the superficialities of Bronx vernacular and gay humor. This film addresses major issues found in the Latino community, from the perspective of a non-Latino. This is a very good film and if race movies interest you -such as Spike Lee Joints- this should not be missed.

Lisette Linares (Luna Lauren Velez) and Chino Linares (Jon Seda) are married with three kids in the Bronx. While he's in jail, she gets a job as an assistant to music agent Stephen Price (Griffin Dunne). Magdalena Soto (Lisa Vidal) insists that Chino is her baby's daddy. Chino's mother Rosaria Linares (Rita Moreno) hates Lisette.

Everybody is yelling. It's all very stereotypical Puerto Rican New York City. It takes a little while to acclimatize. Eventually it develops a plot which is more than just everybody yelling. At that point, these characters become real characters. The family dysfunction is a little funny and rather compelling especially for Chino and his son.

The TV listings on my DVR showed this to be straight drams. It's not. There is plenty of comedy. It's just not always funny. The listings also show an R rating. Yes, this definitely had to be cleaned up for broadcast TV, and I wouldn't recommend it to kids C's age.

This isn't the sort of movie I would choose, as it turns out, but it does have its good moments.

To some extent, this movie shows positive images of Latinos. Of course, there's just as much that is negative. But let's look again at the facts. Chino shows he cares about his family and wants to provide for them. How he is shown disciplining his kids is no worse than what parents used to be allowed to do. Not any more, anyway. Well, there is one creative solution that some parents might not approve of. It's a great scene. Meanwhile, Chino is willing to do things that aren't quite legal. So are his friends.

Lisette is smart, creative and determined and makes every effort to be successful on her own. Magdalena is everything you would expect from a "Jerry Springer" guest but she is a businesswoman.

C is about like one would expect kids in the 'hood to be. He needs to be raised right or he won't make it. Chino is trying. You have to like him but he's not overly cute.

Alexis seems to be one of the best characters, in the sense she has this attitude, sort of like one would expect from a drag queen, but not over the top.

Rita Moreno is always good. This isn't a real standout role for her but she always does a good job.

I like some of the music, mainly that which has Spanish lyrics or sounds like it should. The movie's title is also in the lyrics of the song playing during the first scene, and I do like it like that. And then there is rap and other styles of music which don't appeal to me.

With the closing credits we see the making of the Mendez brothers' music video at Coney Island, along with Lisette having fun with her family. It's times like this that make me glad I record everything because I definitely had to rewind to see it all at that time.

The closing credits say a real police officer died and is memorialized in a great art work that Chino shows his son as the son needs to be taught a lesson, which is also seen earlier.

Whether it's my kind of movie or not, it's worth seeing.

I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it in the theatre 10 years ago. It had a real fresh quality to it, and you really rooted for the main characters. I was searching for this on imdb, and then looked at its low rating, which is inexplicable to me. And then, I saw that a large group -- perhaps the largest single plurality - voted this a 1 out of 10. That's just a crime to rate is that low.

This film has terrific acting, great characters and a couple - and their young son - who you just root for. Add to that a strong supporting ensemble, and I would unashamedly rate it a 9 out of 10. i do have to see it again, but I remember just really 'digging' this film!