Hangin' with the Homeboys

To me, this movie seems less of a "comedy which makes you think", and more of a powerfully in depth character study, which is always making you laugh. But enough pigeon-holing.

This movie is all characters. The key element, for mine, is the symmetry between them. Four guys. Two black guys, two Hispanic. Two with (pathetic) jobs, two without. Two with more than women on their minds, two without. Because the symmetrical dynamic is always switching, we are always privy to meaningful dialogue, and witness powerful confrontations. That is, the director doesn't just make his point in the first 30 minutes, but is always reevaluating his characters, and their struggles.

Each viewer will no doubt have a favourite character, and his journey will be of most interest and focus. The beauty of this movie, however, is that none of the characters are developed at the expense of another. All are richly detailed, and, if you are like me, your focal character may change with every viewing.

None of the characters are overly likeable; we are always confronted with scenes which really demonstrate their failings and shortcomings. Herein lies the strength of the film. Unlike so many other "cool" and "wacky" comedies, these characters have real depth, and we can't. as honest viewers, think any one of the characters are summed up by the words "cool" or "wacky" or any other simplistic assessment that can easily be applied to characters in so many other movies (and fairly, too). They are all distinct in many ways. The most notable example is each character's technique in dealing with the inherent racism of their society. The most fascinating character here is Vinnie, as he chooses rather than confronting this difficult problem, to deny it even applies to him: "He thinks he's Italian".

My only request when seeing this movie, is not to fall into the trap of missing an appreciation of its depth. Sure, it's got a "cool" title, they just cruise around doing cool stuff ("Jose sent me" is such a good idea!), and they say cool one liners. But beyond that, the characters are at once frustrating and liberating, enjoyable and unlikeable, but most of all, they are all very human, very real.

Watched this only because of high user ratings, that's generally a good sign for something you've not heard about. It's not really comic in the laugh out loud sense, but keeps you giggling and smiling all the way through. But there's far more to it than that, " Because I'm black " is the line you'll take from this film as it exposes this as an excuse for not even trying. It actually interests you in the characters, all well played, because they have so many faults. Why better than Spike Lee, because it stands alone without any racial undertones.

This is one of the few comedies that I absolutley love! Everytime it comes on TV, i still got enough nerve to always watch it. Its that good! Sadly, we're not able to see what Vazquez (the director) would have went on to do. But he left us with a well made comic motion picture that will stand the test of time! ****

This movie is a sure classic. Vasquez manages to touch many aspects in society. When dealing with race, jobs, and friendship he makes it easy to put it all in one day. There are many movies that consist in one day, but not all of them are successful. Vasquez manages to make every character totally different. Though 2 of them are Puerto Rican and the other two African American, each one has a strong role opposite to the same race as them. This is big part in the film since tension comes from everyone, and not just racially focused on the typical black and white. The filming is good also with night on night shots that depict a true night life in New York. Vasquez used slow close ups at points for tension and meaning. I really looked forward to more from this director also writer of the movie. It is rare we get voices that relate to a movie behind the scenes of it.

I have to agree with Jason's review, Hangin' with the Homeboys is an excellent and extremely funny film.

It is very reminiscent of Spike Lee's early movies in that it has a very personal feel. I noticed that in the end credits Vasquez appears to send a 'shout out' to friends he grew up with who I assume he had lost contact with. I suspect that Vasquez based a number of the characters and incidents in this film on his neighbourhood pals.

The strength of the film is that despite the fact that Vasquez deals with some very important issues, he balances everything perfectly with great expertise. This is not just a comedy (although it is extremely funny), it is also a very intelligent and thought provoking film and it is clear that Vasquez would have had a bright future.

The acting is excellent and despite this being a loud and brash film at times, there are some very subtle moments that will result in you remembering moments from this film weeks later.

This film deserves to be seen and enjoyed by more people.