Raising Victor Vargas

RAISING VICTOR VARGAS – 9.3/10

Director: Peter Sollett

Writer: Peter Sollett

With an unknown cast and coming from a debut director, the film turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Raising Victor Vargas is a 'coming of age' film, if one might call it that, but in every sense of the word, extremely mature. With no special effects or dazzling visuals, Raising Victor Vargas is a must watch for sakes of storytelling and scriptwriting.

The film revolves around the story of a youngster Victor Vargas, a Dominican teenager, played exceptionally well by Victor Rasuk. Victor, who is out to regain his image after word of his affair with a 'fat' girl leaks to the neighborhood. To rise to his old glory, he must win over the pretty Judy Marte ('Juicy' Judy Gonzalez). For most parts, the story is just that. While detailing it any further would lead to spoilers, watch out for the most interesting aspects of the film, which in this case are precisely those parts which seem least relevant.

The film manages to charm, delight and appease with the smallest of details, ones that are almost always overlooked in films seeking to be larger than life. It is as though the writer/director has understood the simplest secret of storytelling. He deals with nuances of the youth, the teenagers and their daily lives in a very refined and mature manner. Not succumbing to obvious temptations of problems facing the youth, the director dodges all the clichés, from drugs to violence, from rape to vengeance.

There isn't really much to say about the film. It is shot in a few locations, with limited characters and resources. Yet the performances are fantastic, the script is simple and funny, the acting is outstanding. The film flows from one scene to the next and very soon without actually realizing it, we are living the lives of the characters, laughing and smiling with them, cheering and hooting for them. Sadly, we haven't seen a lot from Sollett since 2002; hope he makes an appearance soon.

An inner city neighborhood trial and tribulations put to film of a poor Latino family in New York would seem to be nothing more than a setup for hard ship and perhaps gang violence. However, the beauty of a film like Raising Victor Vargas is it can stick with a simple story of a young mans attempt at coming of age while sidestepping the usual affairs that such an environment is not conducive or even believable to a childhood romance.

We first meet Victor in the room of some young girls apartment. It soon becomes apparent that Victor's reasoning for being in this room is to loose his virginity simply for the fact that when he brags to his friends that he's not a virgin he can finally be telling the truth for once. As a 16 year old this important in the macho culture that pre-dominates around his neighborhood.

It soon comes apparent though, that Victor won't have sex with this young girl, and more importantly Victor discovers a poolside young beauty named Judy that he would like to charm. However, it's up to Victor to prove himself capable of being a decent man as Judy has to endure constant harassment and has given up on the idea of men in general.

Some other relationships develop between some of the other younger kids around the neighborhood and they all feel distinctly genuine. But it's Victor's ability to try to learn how to treat people right while respecting his Dominican grandmother that become the center and highlight of the film. Victor (played by Victor Rasuk) embodies a youthful charm in this film that is so natural and can't be faked. The grandmother (played by Altagracia Guzman) is amazing as the old fashioned family protectorate who has to keep everyone in line. Your heart just aches for this old woman who sees in Victor perhaps her own previous husband and fears only the worst.

Peter Sollet has really worked a gem of a film showing these kids as without much but truly blessed with the gift of caring and that's what makes the film so unique. There's even a great scene where the grandma takes Victor to social services simply to say ‘I have had enough of him, he's trouble, he's a bad influence' and that she just can't take it anymore with his antics. In the end the social worker just tells her to go home and stop complaining. Any other film would instead make it an overdramatic tug of war.

Without spoiling anything, the courting of Judy ends in a way that for the most part works in the context that Victor and the other characters inhabit. It's a wonderful tale of youthful love in a setting that probably happens more often than you think.

Rating 8 out of 10

Why anyone would rate this unfavorably is beyond me? Loved this movie. All the talk about ethnicity I think was out of place. To me it was more a story of a grandmother trying to raise kids going into puberty yet still holding fast to her values, though she learns eventually to be flexible. And for those too crass or wounded to remember what innocence was like and coming to terms with trying to mature as a teenager, maybe they should watch this film till the'penny drops'and they 'get it!' Superb film, especially from a filmmaker just starting out.

Judy Marte was extraordinary. Her eyes captivate and her face gives off this air of mystery. I found myself wanting to delve more into the character she was portraying by her acting. I hope more good roles come her way to showcase her talent. The entire cast were enjoyable.

This movie sucks. It is about a Latino teenager whose plight is that he is discovered having sex with a fat girl, and spends the movie trying to win the heart of a pretty girl so that he can restore his pride. Raising Victor Vomitus is in the league of Better Luck Tomorrow - another film which attempts to reveal the intricacies of a cultural group - but which really only makes everyone look stupid. My conclusion after seeing these two really egregious films is that if you are curious about Latino or Asian youths - the best way to satisfy that curiousity is to meet some of them, read a book, or wait until a good movie comes out. However, if you want to waste money, be bored, and learn nothing - get a pedicure. At least you will have something to show for it.

i like it a lot.i like it more because i am latin and its not many latin show out there. But the real reason why i like it because it was a great movie and it was well written. Also because it show how most people live in ny and what happens in family, how older people try to raise young kids, how young kids co-with trying to have a relationship and the part how the brother is teaching his sister and his brother about what happens while you growing up to your body and about sex. You dont see that in any movie or tv show.But what i would like if the writer will turn that into a tv show like the soprano or sex in the city something like that i know i watch everytime and i know a lot of people will watch it, it be a hit on tv. It would be a hit because the cast,that cast was great and they're latin. So if you can do the latin people a favor and make it a tv show and with those same people and that kinda writing. thanx