Raising Victor Vargas: I just wrote about 8 Mile's limited story. I guess the same could be said about this one; but it never felt like that, not for a moment. I heard about it at the same time that I heard about Thirteen, and I put them both in the tough-to-watch category. Why? Kids, young adults, struggling to find themselves. It's tough stuff, and a part of my life I don't enjoy reflecting on. (I haven't seen Thirteen yet, by the way.)
What can I say about this movie? Well, I'm shocked that this was a lot of the cast's first time acting. This was not an easy movie to act: most of it was shot very tight to the actors to create emotional attachment; it worked wonderfully, but any lack of sincerity in the eyes, any momentary loss of concentration, would glare on the screen. Having said that, at no point was I not completely absorbed in this movie. There was a camcorder feel to the shots as well; I'm sure it only added to the feeling that we were watching home movies, that Victor (Victor Rasuk), Vicki (Krystal Rodriguez) and Nino's (Silvestre Rasuk) life really was this crazy.