Family, Tradition, and Rage

A lot of the success of this piece is Benjamin Pratt as Che the conservative ex-gang member turned dad. His nearly perfect portrayal of a complex, tortured traditional American Mexican push him to emotional conflicts he doesn't know how to handle. In contrast is Che's teenage son, Jess, more americanized and smarter than Che. The love is there for each other even though there's an undercurrent of disharmony. Both Che and Jess don't want to acknowledge and the secrets they keep from each other tear them apart.

Early in the movie an emotional confrontation between father and son develops after Che discovers some hidden baggage on his son's life. The scene is violent, emotional, dark, powerful, and hard to watch, as we see two human beings who obviously love each other react in very explosive terms. Jess is his father's younger version, a strong human young man who is discovering himself is not willing to compromise his belief, much like his father clings to his traditional values. The big exception is that there plenty of darkness and suffering in Che's life. In spite of having been given a second chance, as we eventually learn through scenes that provide some family and friends' back stories. Che has seen plenty of tragedy before, but he hasn't been able to find cathartic release and holds much pain inside. Dealing with his only child's new revelations might just be enough to push him into irreparable damage.

There are some wonderful scenes in "The Mission." We're exposed to facets of the Mexican American culture that very few people ever see. Che's brother parallel storyline is subtly presented to show the way this family interacts with each other and the strength of their family bonds. Che's African American neighbor is delightful and refreshing showing a strong and sensitive female who might be the link between doom and salvation for Che.

The biggest revelation in the film is Jeremy Ray Valdez's performance as Jess, the estranged son who might not be able to reconnect with his father. Seldom one can see such a range of emotions so perfectly displayed scene after scene, matching Pratt's nearly perfect performance bit by bit.

"The Mission" is a rich, powerful, and finely detailed movie that shows the inner workings of a segment of society rarely seen in film. Can be found on Netflix or Amazon.com

Eleve Libre (Private Lessons)

This Belgian/French coming of age film revolves around a sixteen year old aspiring tennis pro who floats through life neglecting his education in hopes of volleying his way straight to Wimbledon. He finds his ambitions sidelined when his relationship with his tutor takes a decidedly personal turn who he lives with. Jonas has just failed his exams, but who needs an education when you're a world famous athlete. Unfortunately Jonas hasn't achieved that level of fame just yet, though he's convinced that he's well on his way. When 30 year old Pierre offers to tutor Jonas and the cocky young athlete turns his back on school entirely, the boundaries of their relationship become increasingly blurred. Can be found on Netflix or Amazon.com

To look at me now you might think otherwise, but I’ve never been a jock, at least in the ball-tossing sense of the word. Whenever any type of flying object was hurled at me back in PE class, I’d feign to run after it, but always in slow motion or in the wrong direction so my teammates would get it first. This tactic resulted in a far less humiliating sense of shame than me dropping the object while trying to catch it, chasing the damn thing as it rolled away on the ground like a maniacal rabbit, and then attempting to throw it to a teammate, inevitably lobbing it back into the ground or out of bounds.

Is this a rich team? Well, consider Jennifer Nichols (archery), Shani Marks (track and field), Jennifer Goldsack (rowing), Natalie Golda (water polo), David Banks (rowing) and Emily Silver (swimming). After the opening Kenta Bell (track and field) of the Joanne Dow (track and field), there are both Dremiel Byers (wrestling) and those who would Brian Sell (track and field) until they can buy a Portia McGee (rowing) that will need a Jason Parker (shooting).

Although I was uncoordinated at sports, I picked up at least some coordination and strength as a teenager by delivering newspapers seven days a week. This job required lugging heavy stacks of newspapers door-to-door, pedaling a bike weighted-down by newspaper baskets, and pulling a wagon piled so high that it toppled over more than once from the strain of 100, two-pound Sunday editions. After two or three hours of this, I looked about as jock-like as I’d ever get: sweaty, sore, and smeared with ink stains that I proudly showed my parents as if they were bruises I’d endured on the playing field.

Not long after starting junior high school, I was already overhearing rumors about what high school was like: some kids drove cars to school, students smoked pot in the bathrooms, and everyone was required to take swim class. Swim class would be my worst nightmare. It didn’t matter that I’d flailed and cried through swimming lessons several years earlier, forcing my parents to give up on the idea of me joining the Coast Guard.