Review of My Family (1986) by Alvin Y — 04 Apr 2017

My Family, Great Movies.

This movie is by far one of the best Latino stories I have ever seen.

True, the movie does use stereotypes (such as Jimmy and his prison life) Chuco and his gang life which eventually leads to his death, and of course who can forget the backyard wedding and the large family living in a small home. However, this movie is not meant to be a representation of ALL Latino's everywhere, rather its meant to merely tell one families story and struggles in the United States. The comments stating "This movie does not represent Latinos everywhere!!" are absolutely correct. And it does not represent Latinos, but it does help you learn about one family you learn to almost care about by the end of the film. Going back to the story itself, I can honestly say that the movie itself was very well made. Jimmy Smits performance was superb and the movie was very focused on all the family members. The film provides a sense of hope at the end, basically trying to get across that while life is full of problems they are manageable. Also, the fact that the movie also involved a different Latino culture, such as the Central American Isabel helped viewers understand that even among Latino's there are differences in cultures. I would definitely recommend this movie to someone willing to learn about one Mexican American families struggle.