East Side Story

'East Side Story' is a cheesy gay romantic comedy. There are some truly funny moments - mostly thanks to Bianca (wonderfully portrayed by Gladise Jiminez), who happens to by one of my favourite characters.

The story revolves around a chef, Diego (Rene Alvarado), who works for his family in their restaurant. His family doesn't know he is gay, but when he meets and falls in love with Wesley (Steve Callahan), he realizes life indeed has a deeper meaning. Only problem is, Wesley is trapped in a loveless relationship with Jonathan, and Jonathan is jealous and possessive over Wesley. (Steve Callahan is SO handsome with such a great body. He quite simply is the most delicious thing on two legs!!)

Many funny moments arise (among other things...). Bianca's relationship with Diego's ex, Pablo, is also hilarious! There's also enough eye candy here to make you drool all the way! The only downside to the movie, was the poor lighting (at times). I found many scenes way too dark. Pity.

Nevertheless, 'East Side Story' is a funny, thoroughly enjoyable comedy sure to entertain. And, if you look closely, you'll even find a few life lessons here too.

Fresh young talent and a healthy dollop of enthusiasm serve as the springboard of this well written (Carlos Portugal and Charo Toledo), well directed (Carlos Portugal) and well acted exuberant story of those once perceived tightly closet doors of the East Los Angeles Hispanic community. Not that this is the first film to engage the topic of being gay in East LA - QUINCEAÑERA is another superb film on the subject - but it addresses so many other aspects of family and social life happening now that it deserves a wide audience. With a cast of newcomers coupled with some very fine veterans of the screen EAST SIDE STORY comes to life in a highly entertaining fashion.

Closeted schooled chef Diego Campos (a fine debut by René Alvarado) works as a waiter in his grandmother Sara's (elegant Irene DeBari) little Mexican restaurant where grumpy homophobic chef Don Rogelio (Luis Accinelli) presides in the kitchen. Diego dreams of opening his own restaurant but family ties keep him grounded. Diego's campy Aunt Bianca (Gladise Jimenez) returns from Monaco on one of her many expensive sojourns to find a man and changes begin to happen. Diego's equally closeted boyfriend Pablo Morales (David Berón) has been refusing to settle down in a relationship with Diego, claiming that the union is a 'passing fancy'. When Bianca enters, Pablo's attentions turn to the sexy lady and Diego is brokenhearted.

Into this mélange enters a white gay couple who buy a 'flip' house across the street, a signal to the neighborhood that gentrification is just around the corner. The couple - Wesley (Steve Callahan) and Jonathan (Cory Schneider) - meet the morose Diego and a match strikes between Diego and Wesley. Jonathan is assigned all the lines having to do with prejudice and is the one who wants out of the neighborhood as soon as their house is enhanced and their gay friends begin to visit. The white couple move apart and Wesley and Diego begin a courtship dance that is encouraged by Diego's family. How Diego handles his loss of Pablo to his Aunt Bianca and copes with the possibility of being open with Wesley forms the story line. It is all the hilarious and not so hilarious sidebars that share the space of the 'outing' that make the film so personal and successful.

Carlos Portugal is clearly a talent to watch, as are his attractive and talented cast members. EAST SIDE STORY is a fine companion piece to QUINCEAÑERA and should enjoy the same degree of popularity for all the same reasons! Grady Harp

My partner & I saw "East Side Story" at NYC's NewFest in June 2006.

The movie is a well constructed take-off on the Italian-Puerto Rican ethnic conflict in the musical "West Side Story". Instead of the historical focus on those two ethnic groups in NYC, ESS dramatizes the current fault line between middle class Latino residents in LA's Echo Park neighborhood and well-off gays & lesbians who are buying up their homes, gentrifying their area, and threatening to displace them. The specific characters and basic storyline are believable and the movie entertains you throughout the movie.

Of the 15 or so films we screened at that NYC LGBT festival last year & this month, "East Side Story" was by far our favorite (We also liked "Forgiving the Franklins", "Coffee Date", "Outing Riley" and "Bubble", a gripping but HEAVY film by the Israeli director of "Yossi & Jagger".).

Question: does anyone have an idea of when / if "East Side Story" will appear in (art) theaters OR be released on DVD? We'd really like to see it again and, if possible, purchase a copy.

If not, I'll contact the NewFest organizers to see if they can answer this question.

East Side Love Story is about Diego Campos and his quest to get out of East L.A. and become a chef in his own restaurant. Along the way he finds that sometimes to get away from home, you just need to stay where you are.

First off, the good parts. I liked the acting and the set design. The restaurant in particular reminded me of some of the places I grew up eating in. To me, that's a bonus.

The acting, while heavy handed at times, didn't seem devoid of heart. René Alvarado (Diego) seemed to finally find his voice near the end of the movie. The rest of the cast were fun, if stereotypical, parts. Pablo, the closeted boyfriend. Wesley, the new neighbor with a problem. Bianca, the crazy aunt (or sister, depending on the writer). The understanding and wise maternal figure, Sara. All played to the fullest and farthest the actor could go.

The bad parts: The acting, while good, was deeply uneven. Most of the actors tended to "sell to the cheap seats" instead of going for smaller actions.

The writing was manic and led to uneven pacing. The whole back and forth between two characters, while building drama, was kind of tedious.

The cinematography. Again, while not terrible, shots seemed to go for more group shots than anything else. Reactions were off camera. In particular a scene between Diego and Westley left all of Diego's dialog being delivered while the back of his head was to camera.

The worst offence is the lighting. Maybe it was the copy I watched, but I couldn't see what the hell was going on some of the time. It honest to god looked like it was being lit by a flashlight ... with a dying battery.

All in all though, I would watch it again. Though, not without a glass of wine first.

Diego (Rene Alvaredo) is almost 30, living in east LA with his grandmother (Irene DeBari), helps run a family restaurant, has no friends and has an unhappy relationship with a VERY closeted real estate agent (David Beron). Diego also is in the closet but wants to come out. Then a gay couple move next door--and Diego falls for one of them (Steve Callahan).

This is extremely light and a little lacking in plot--but how many movies to we see about a gay Latino man falling in love and struggling to come out? It's well-directed, moves very quick and has a very good attractive cast. Alvaredo and Callahan are (to put in mildly) very handsome with nice bodies...but they also can act. Also DeBari is excellent as Diego's grandmother--her and Alvaredo play off each other perfectly. Also Gladys Jimenez (as Bianca Campos--an aunt) comes roaring out full force. She has the funniest lines ("A four way is not an orgy!") and plays them full tilt. I also have to admit more than a few moments had my audience choking up--Diego's wanting to come out is sometimes painful to watch and DeBari's total acceptance of him is very moving.

My only complaints are the plot is kind of sketchy, the ending is way too unbelievable (this one pushes for a happy one) and the two main villains in this (Pablo and Wesley's lover Jonathan) are so vicious it gets uncomfortable. And we're supposed to believe a hot young guy like Diego has NO friends??? Still this is fun, light and also includes some very passionate guy on guy kissing. Recommended.