AMERICAN ME-1992

Director: Edward James Olmos
Screenplay: Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano
Producers: Sean Daniel, Robert M. Young, and Edward James Olmos
Screenplay: Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano
Cinematography: Reynaldo Villalobos
Music: Dennis Lambert, Claude Gaudette

United States, 1992
U.S. Release Date: 3/13/92 (wide)
Running Length: 2:04
Rating: R (Violence, profanity, nudity, mature themes)

Cast: Edward James Olmos, William Forsythe, Pepe Serna, Evelina Fernandez

    A brutal and gut wrenching powerhouse of movie cinema, and a bit distrubing to watch American Me is impressive and purely dramatic as a whole. It's a story of violence and its dehumanizing consequences that, in some ways, is reminiscent of The Godfather, with characters that echo those from the Puzo/Ford-Coppella epic. Director Edward James Olmos, who is a one of my favorite actors, fearlessly takes aim at the culture of machismo which has enveloped so many inner city youths. This is an unrelenting, unallayed condemnation of that lifestyle, a portrait of the sort of brutality that violence begets.

The story centers around Santana (Olmos), a small time hood on the outside who becomes a big time prison gang leader on the inside. Santana supposedly organizes his fellow prisoners in an attempt to improve their conditions, but what he's really after is power. Once he has tasted it, he can't get enough, and those who stand against him are ruthlessly trodden underfoot, often ending up in the morgue.

As powerful as this film is, it has a few drawbacks, the most notable of which is the acting. Many of the players don't have much range, and Olmos, the most-accomplished of them, tries to portray his character over a span of nearly twenty years without ever seeming to age. As a forty-year old, he's believable, but no amount of makeup can make him look twenty-five. There are times when Olmos' appearance detracts from his fine performance, and suspension of disbelief is difficult in a picture so well-grounded in a cruel reality.

Olmos isn't especially interested in giving the audience characters they can sympathize with, and this may be a mistake, since it limits the force of the climactic scenes and eventual resolution. That's not to say that the characters aren't three-dimensional, because they generally are. There simply isn't any emotional empathy created between them and the audience. Difficult as this may be to accomplish, it can be done numerous other films have succeeded (Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs). Here, however, Olmos doesn't try.

American Me is definitely not for everyone. This isn't escapist entertainment. It carries out its agenda with little concern for eliminating the "comfort barrier" that exists between the screen and the audience. Those daring to see the movie should be prepared to be disturbed. American Me is gripping, and not easily forgotten.

9/10 Stars