Lowriders

Lowriders has a couple of things working against it right off the bat. First it's a Blumhouse release, which makes one think horror film. Two, the name implies it's a movie about cars, in the vein of The Fast and The Furious franchise. Lowriders is neither of these things.

What the movie is, is a family drama centred on a Mexican-American family in LA. The father owns a car shop, and is prepping to enter into a car competition for low-riding cars. These lowriders are portrayed as part of the culture down there, though I don't know enough to know how true that is.

Daniel, the main character in the movie, is a teen trying to find his way. He's a street artist (graffiti), but gets no recognition. His older brother, Francisco a.k.a Ghost just got out of jail, and recruits Daniel away from the father.

These different tensions are well played out and acted, and it's easy to get invested in the characters. Knowledge of the culture isn't necessary to find the good in the movie.

Good film but could've been better.

Too many camera close ups on people's faces. It was constantly happening in scenes and taking you out of situation/moment & away from the tension of the situation.

I enjoyed the lowrider cars. That was something different. Something unusual in films. All the cool cars and the great designs.

The cast was great as well. Demian Bechir. Theo Rossi. Melissa Benoist. Eva Longoria. The main character / actor was a bit weaker than the rest of the cast but he was not too bad.

The plot / story / family drama was solid but nothing we haven't seen before.

Overall, a bit more to the story and better camera angles / shots would've made this a much better movie. Even so, a solid movie.

For a low budget movie this is pretty well made and acted. cinematography is well done. Sure it's cliché and cheesy at parts or maybe even a bit heavy handed at others... compared to a B.S. garbageathon movie like the Fast and Furious franchise (after part 1)this actually has heart. This is not Oscar worthy but Worth a rental for sure.

Normally I wouldn't watch this flick because it's really about the lowrider culture famous with the South American people living in the USA. Not that the culture is bad but is really is filmed in their language but what tricked me is that Eva Longoria and Melissa Benoist are in it, famous from Desperate Housewives and Supergirl.

Eva is recognizable but Melissa is harder to recognize. So I picked it up and I must say that it really is a good flick, a bit cliché here and there, you know son being prisoned and the father ignoring him and it all explains itself throughout this flick but ion the other hand the cars shown, and there are a lot, are a must see.

So if you dig muscle cars rebuild into lowriders then this is a must see.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

"Lowriders" is a solid redemption drama wrapped in a celebration of a car culture that frankly doesn't often get the respect and attention it deserves. With all the fast and furious stuff going on out there, it's a breath of fresh air to just appreciate the art of the low and slow.

Directed by Ricardo de Montreuil, set against the backdrop of the lowrider society in Los Angeles, Southern California, Gabriel Chavarria plays a talented young graffiti artist, Danny, who's caught between the lowrider world inhabited by his old school father (Demian Bichir) and his ex-con brother (Theo Rossi). Co-starring Eva Longoria, Melissa Benoist, and Tony Revolori.

Last year you had a look at L.A. from the much vibrant musical point of view through "La La Land," well, "Lowriders" gives you a different angle, and not the stereotypical gang turf war either. It's a clash between father and sons, about sins of the past and what they define as self-expression. I think the story blends the car culture and the family drama really well, the mix of those two makes sense in this film, and it speaks about the characters as well. There's plenty of conflict to go around, well-performed by all the actors involved.

You don't have to come from that background or from that neighborhood or you don't necessarily even have to know much about cars to be able to relate to "Lowriders." It's one of those situations in which you can always tell beauty when you see one, whatever shapes and sizes, and so that's the kind of art that "Lowriders" offers. A lot of people look down on graffities, some of their reasons may be justified, but a lot of the times they also don't take the time to truly look at the work and try to understand what it's trying to say. Street artists may not have the same reputation that gallery or exhibit artists do but that kind of freedom is what "Lowriders" puts a spotlight on. It's a film that does the culture justice.

-- Rama's Screen --