Mi vida loca

"Mi Vida Loca" is a documentary-like approach to examining the lives of Hispanic girls in Echo Park. The film is never over-dramatized. The dialogue is authentic, and never stylized, and so are the performances. The story never takes the predictable Hollywood route. However, it still could've used more structure. At first I thought the film's focus was on the character of Sad Girl. About 15-20 minutes through, the focus changes to another character and the same pattern occurs throughout the film. So I didn't feel as connected to the film as I expected. If the characters and situations were unrealistic, I would be totally disengaged, but that wasn't the case and as a result, I was still entertained and moved. Almost all the scenes take place in apartments, sidewalks and parks, so it's obvious that the film was made on a low-budget, but that small budget was put to good use and I give Allison Anders much credit.

My score: 7 (out of 10)