Review of Nuyorican Dream (2000) by Alejandro R — 19 Jan 2014

This move was so heart-wrenching and gripping for me, partly due to my experience of the massive gentrification of Williamsburg, Brooklyn where I was born, raised and still reside. I also wonder what has happened to many of the Brooklyn Boricua families like the one depicted in this film. Where are they and how are they holding up in 2014? I really wonder about the family in this film and how they must be today.

The kids are very cute and despite everything so full of hope that things will get better.

The ending scene with the great matriarch of this clan was so powerful and touching. Tears couldn't even really express what I truly felt as I identified on so many levels with the grief, the desire for a change in circumstances and the fight to try to make that happen.

This film depicts a struggle with heroes, casualties, despair and hope all at once.

I HIGHLY recommend for all Boricuas wanting to understand a tragic slice of the Nuyorican saga that still has a hero at the end of it. More heroes like this one are needed in our community.

Robert Torres is the real-life hero in this 2000 movie filmed from 1995-1999 and today he's still in education and has even spoken at TEDx. As the eldest of five, he was trying to be a role model for his own family, as they desperately needed one. Since then he's gone on to get a PhD and still educates.