Review of Feel The Noise (2007) by Chads. — 04 Jan 2008

"Feel the Noise" is an odd duck. Shot on a shoestring budget, this gritty-looking film has very little profanity, or sex. The music is authentic, but the environment it hails from isn't.

In spite of this bifurcation, "Feel the Noise" gets by with some very appealing performances. We know Victor Rasuk and Melonie Diaz from "Raising Victor Vargas"(the latter is heartbreaking in "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"), but we didn't know who Zulay Henao was.

We do now. She's a knockout. "Feel the Noise" has a storyline that is mind-numbingly predictable. The story about a troubled boy who leaves the ghetto for a better life feels familiar. Instead of joining a drumline, Rob(Omarion Grandberry) is indoctrinated into the world of reggaeton.

He and Javi(Victor Rasuk) form a band. They're good enough to record a demo in New York, but Rob breaks the deal when their producer America-nizes their Puerto Rican sound. Since Javi has some Hispanic blood in him, he's the one who should make the stand against compromise and selling out.

Early in "Feel the Noise", their father(Giancarlo Esposito) acts as a mouthpiece for the film's agenda of showing how the colonized rises up against its colonizer when he talks about Puerto Rico's status as the oldest country under colonial rule.