East Side Sushi

Stop me if you've heard this before: aspiring chef wants to make it to the top. Sure, we've seen those films. Now stop me if you've heard this one: aspiring Latina wants to become a top sushi chef. Wrong race. Wrong gender. Ambitious goal. Lead actor Diana Elizabeth Torres delivers an outstanding performance as Juana, the barrio fruit cart vendor who aspires to better things.

Walking by a sushi restaurant one day, she spies the food and marvels at the look of the food. After all, for sushi the look is as important as the taste and the mouth feel. It's an edible art form unlike the rolled burritos and fried tacos she's used to making.

Juana also spies a help-wanted sign in the window of the sushi restaurant and gets a back-kitchen position. However, she dreams of making sushi out in front behind the sushi counter. The movie's story is all about her efforts to get there despite many obstacles at the restaurant and at home.

This is a very inspiring film of grit and determination. If it were a western, Juana would be wielding a gun and a Bowie knife. Instead, it's a sushi knife.

Do yourself a favor and go see this film. It was filmed in Oakland on a shoestring budget by an indie filmmaking company and writer-director Anthony Lucero but I think it's as good as anything you'll see from Hollywood.

I really enjoyed this movie and found it very thought provoking. It's not every day that a movie comes out that addresses race, gender inequality, and low-income families. The movie starts a little slow but is totally worth the watch and I would recommend watching this with your daughter and discussing equal pay, gender discrimination, and diversity once it's over. I was a little suspicious that the movie may be too cheesy but it turned out to be a very nice flick. The characters felt very authentic and since I live in Maine it exposed me to some ways of life that I am not familiar with. I also think this would be a great classroom movie that could inspire a lot of great conversations and a discussions.

I'd like to to give this a better review, but I have to hold back. The story and message are important, but to me, the execution was lacking.

I understand that this film had an extremely low budget, so they did a good job at producing something of merit with their limited resources. But I can't help but feel that this underdog story has been told many times before.

Yes, iterations of these stories are important, and they can shine a light on important social issues.

Especially in the Trump era, this sort of intercultural celebration hits home and is encouraging to see. I also really liked the celebration of learning in this film as well: learning languages, cultures, cuisine, and the interpolations of a hybrid Mexican-Japanese-American dynamic.

But for me, the acting, music, and writing veered more towards ideas that have already been explored, and less towards unique perspectives on the important social aspects that should always be showcased.

Just my 2 cents.

I saw this movie with about 7 new friends. I did not expect much. Boy, was I wrong! From the moment this movie started I identified with Juana (myself being a single mother) and how hard it was to move up in the business world. I remember being paid at least 25% less than men doing my same job (and I mean the EXACT same job).

This movie is a combination of the Karate Kid, Rocky, and a Cooking Contest. That may be oversimplifying it. Truly inspirational for anyone.

Good thing I remembered to grab a handful of Kleenex because I needed at least 3, the girl next to me and the girl next to her. There was even a guy sitting below us who was crying.

I liked everything about the film, the location specific aspect of it, the directing, writing, acting, and the excellent cast. Have recommended it to my friends to be on the lookout to watch back in my hometown of New Orleans.

Can't wait to go see it again.

Love the uniqueness of the story... I mean how many non-male, non-Japanese sushi chefs do you see? I loved that the lead is a very strong female (Hispanic!) character (all too rare these days).

Wonderful acting, writing, editing, directing.

Beautiful sushi and watching it being made was fascinating.

This film brought tears to my eyes many times and I left the theater wanting a sushi dinner! Definitely the best movie I've seen all year... actually I've seen it twice and can't wait to see it again! Brought friends the second time I saw it who all felt the same :)

I can't wait to see this movie again.