Feel the Noise

Imagine being bored out of your mind while sitting on a bus or train listening to random strangers talk about absolutely nothing. Or walking past a group of people having mindless chit chat. Now imagine you're not watching a movie and instead picture every character on screen as some annoying, clueless person you know in real life. And there you have it: For starters, the performances are so amateurish that one might think this was the first time any of them had ever been on the big screen. There is also no real acting going on here. It seems as if the actors are simply saying their lines without any real emotion. The story begins with Rob,(Omarion) a young aspiring rapper who lives in Harlem with his mother Tanya.(Kellita Smith). After getting into trouble with local thugs, his mother sends him to Puerto Rico to live with his estranged father Roberto, a musician played by Giancarlo Esposito. Rob meets his brother named Javi (Victor Rasuk)and the two quickly bond over their love of music. Javi introduces Rob to raggaeton, a mixture of hip hop, reggae and Spanish beats and they soon decide to create a demo. Rob meets the lovely CC (Zulay Henao)an aspiring dancer and the two quickly take a liking to each other. Pretty soon, Rob, javi and CC head to New York to pursue their dreams but they quickly realize that the price of fame can be costly.

One of the things that makes this film so bad is the horrible acting and dialogue. Unfortunately, these actors just don't have anything good to work with here. I often wondered whether Chomski was trying to capture the essence of urban street life. Although not a bad idea, this concept would've been great with stronger dialogue and better character development. The majority of the film is very similar to other films of its kind which makes the plot seem very bland and formulaic. I could not understand why veteran, seasoned actors such as Kellita Smith, Giancarlo Esposito and Malik Yoba would agree to star in an atrocity of a film. What a complete waste of good talent !!! Victor Rasuk ("Raising Victor Vargas", "Lords of Dogtown" has done better acting than this and unfortunately Zulay Henao ("Fighting") barely acts and comes across as just another pretty face with a great body.

Last but not least,, Chomski's terrible sense of direction doesn''t help either. Watching "The Mayor" (Yoba) frantically run from the cops as Rob helps him get away is dreadful to watch. Not to mention Rob going against ex crew/gang members after returning to New York. Horrendous !!! Chomski makes an attempt to wrap the film up neatly with ending it at the Puerto Rican Day parade. JLO whose also the producer of the film makes an appearance.

I feel I should first of all say that I am definitely not in the target audience for this movie - I am a Caucasian who is middle- aged. However, all the same I have a strong feeling that the target audience for this movie won't find much that's engaging here. The main problem with this movie? The script. The script rehashes so many elements from past youth-oriented movies that you'll be several steps ahead of the story and characters at every point. But that's not the only problem with the movie. While the movie attempts to introduce a new style of music, the problem is that the music we get to hear is only adequate at best. It's not catchy or exceptional at all.

The movie is not without merit. Director Alejandro Chomski does manage to build a surprising amount of atmosphere in both the Puerto Rican and New York City locations. And the cast does give decent and likable performances, though they can only go so far with that aforementioned script. All the same, most viewers will probably be feeling for their remote in order to change the channel not long into watching this.

The movie started very awful. I know Omarion is more a dancer than a rapper, but as they say... "gotta try'em all" To start good i give this movie a fair 5. Some of the viewers might contest my rating, but if you were part of a world like this you would understand. This is the worst movie for someone who eats movies for breakfast, and the best movie for a reggeton dancer. And since I'm caught right in the middle, i justify my grade. The music is very cool comparing to the movie, I've actually paused the movie in mid "action" to look for the OST online :) The one thing you can't say about music is that it S.U.X. because it doesn't. Just because some of us you don't line one king of music. This doesn't mean that if this movie was about heavy metal, you would have seen a rating of 1 and a post saying that the music is bad, not from me at least. My advice to all of you is watch the movie, and if you don't like it, grab a camera and do your own.

If you are looking at this film to learn about Puerto Rican culture and ethnicity, you will not find it here. In fact, all this film offers is a Hollywood-stereotypical of Puerto-Rican-American generic. And, the generic is offered on the 'cheap', with a low-budget film that is anything but authentic. A cameo appearance by J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez), at the end of the film, does not legitimize the film. As for the music, it starts out okay at the start of the film, but then goes from bad to worse. The dancing is okay, but disappears by the end of the film. A song entitled 'Puerto Rico', which (I guess) was sung at a Puerto Rican festival in New York City, feels more like a commercial than a movie. But, the film fails to promote anything but garbage.

There does not seem to even be a plot--and, as someone has suggested, I would not even bother to write what may be a plot (quoting the suggestion) "on an envelope." It would be a waste of an envelope that can be better-used elsewhere. If there is a script, it certainly must be brief and threadbare. Did anyone ever both to do any research, at all, on Puerto Ricans? If so, the research findings do not find their way in this film. In fact, this film appears to be a poor remake of "West Side Story" gone bad (the Jets and the Sharks even get lost).

The film is more like a nightmare on Upper-West-Side's Main Street. And, the script is filled with a Caucasian's misconception of what the writer blindly sees as a Puerto Rican Yellow Brick Road. The script needs lots, and lots, and lots of work. And, the actors and dancers are like a "Peter Pan" that just does not know how to fly. Also, the film's creators need to re-write a more-believable, if not more-authentic, workable kind of formula.

Do not even listen to, or watch, the dialog or music from the film. Or, at least take two aspirin, after you get a migraine headache. Do your homework, or go to Puerto Rico, to learn about what it really is to be a Puerto Rican. All you will get, from the film, is plenty of chaos, confusion, noise, and static.

The film is so awful that it deserves a zero, but the lowest rank is 1 out of 10. Due to 'extreme awfulness', the film is not recommended. Keep the adults--and the children--home.

Once in a while a Movie comes along that really stirs you. Inspires you to go out and realise your dreams. Or at least makes you glad to be alive. Unfortunately,this was not one of those Movies. I did make it through to the very end. Though this was mainly due to the batteries in my remote control having died and me having a bad leg. It was so instantly forgettable that when my partner came home and asked me what i'd done all day i was able to recall the ironing and clipping my toenails,but any semblance of having watched a Movie had completely disappeared from my mind. I only remember it now to write this because i've just had a phone call from the video store telling me it's overdue.