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By PAUL BRENNER
Writer/director Peter Sollett's inner city romance, "Raising Victor Vargas," has
just been released on DVD through Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment.
The
film concerns sixteen-year-old Victor Vargas (Victor Rasuk), who waltzes around
his Lower East Side New York neighborhood -- shirtless but with a tee shirt
slung over his shoulder like Sinatra's coat -- like God's gift to women. But
Victor is somewhat less than cool and his macho act doesn't get him very far; as
his half-sister taunts him, "You're so stupid. How can you live with yourself?"
All that changes when he spots local beauty Judy Martinez (Judy Marte) at the
community pool. Falling head over heels in love, he devotes himself to winning
her over and convincing her to go out with him. In the process, he learns to
drop his posing and begins to make the first baby steps towards adulthood.
Sollett loves his characters and it shows in every tightly shot frame. And what
a relief to have a film taking place in a Latino community in New York City in
which the characters are not gang members, tote guns, or engage in murder or
mayhem -- the only violent act in "Raising Victor Vargas" is when a telephone is
thrown out of a window. But then it is retrieved and taped back together.
"Raising Victor Vargas" contains no supplementary materials. It is subtitled in
English and Spanish. |
