WASHINGTON HEIGHTS Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Alfredo de Villa Producers: Luis Dantas, Tom Donahue, Alfredo de Villa Writers: Nat Moss, Alfredo de Villa Director of Photography: Claudio Chea Cast: Tomas Milian, Manny Perez, Danny Hoch, Jude Ciccolella, Andrea Navedo Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

Share your thoughts on our "no registration required" message boards.

Review by: Ryan Kugler
6/27/02

Washington Heights is an effective little drama clearly influenced by Scorsese's classic Mean Streets (we even get a shot of an extra wearing a shirt with that film's title in big bold letters). While the film has some narrative problems at the end and is a little too unpolished and amateurish in spots, it's compelling cinema and co-writer and director Alfredo de Villa is clearly one to watch.

The story takes place in New York and stars Manny Perez as Carlos, a decent enough guy with a beautiful girlfriend (Andrea Navedo) and lofty aspirations of becoming a successful comic book artist. He figures that his drawings are the only things that are going to get him out of the neighborhood that's been holding him down and he's willing to do anything to get them sold. His best friend Mickey (Danny Hoch) also has hopes and spends his days dreaming about going to Vegas and winning the big bowling tournament, though his tough-as-nails father (Jude Ciccolella) who employs him as an apartment maintenance worker sees things differently.

Carlos seems to be heading in the right direction and he's making the right connections with his drawings, when tragedy strikes. In the blink of an eye, his father Eddie (Tomas Milian), who owns a local liquor store, is gunned down and paralyzed by a burglar. Carlos must put aside the differences the two have had since the death of his mother and take care of the old man, even if it means giving up his dreams and taking over the store.

This isn't a real plot heavy film, more a slice-of-life look at these characters and their neighborhood. A more traditional narrative rears its head at the end and the film becomes a bit contrived and predictable with the introduction of a drug dealer and a large sum of money that goes missing. It's not that de Villa handled this material poorly, just that we've seen this stuff countless times before and it looked like he was successfully heading down a different route during the first two-thirds. I guess I can't blame him for going with the more sensational stuff at the end, I was just hoping for something a little more original.

Most of the acting is marginal, though there are a couple of standout performances. The best-acted moments are the ones between father and son alone in the apartment. Some of these are powerful and explosive, while others are quiet and touching. While Perez had a hard time initially convincing me of his acting skills, in these scenes, he truly delivers the goods that are required to make the confrontations as effective as they are. Veteran actor Milian convinces throughout and turns in the very best performance of the film. He's a broken down stubborn man who's lived quite the life, but in the end, he goes through a transformation and grows as a person. Milian is totally convincing throughout and really adds a touch of professionalism to the proceedings.

I liked the look of the film, which adds to the realism of the story. Cinematographer Claudio Chea shot it on digital video and it has a rough and grungy documentary like look to it. Some of it is a little too close to student film quality and it contains one too many trick shots and jump cuts, but coming from a relatively new filmmaker working with a budget this small, it's forgivable.

In the end, Washington Heights doesn't break any new ground and it's not the most original thing I've seen, but it's well shot, contains a couple of strong performances and is fast-paced (a quick 81 minutes). It makes a fine addition to the long list of titles (including Laws of Gravity and Federal Hill) influenced by Mean Streets (still the baddest and the best).

(A Mac Releasing release. Opens in New York on May 9. 2003. Expands to more cities at later dates.)

(Screened at the 2002 Los Angeles Film Festival)