Terrific Latino Teens: Raising Victor Vargas
by Jan Aaron

Worth seeking out: Here’s a modest feature full of heartfelt emotion and human foibles. Raising Victor Vargas marks an impressive writer-director debut for Peter Sollett. It’s a perceptive take on teen life, and, while it concerns Latinos, it should appeal to all kinds of filmgoers.

Preoccupied as teens are with sex and status, the movie is more deeply about those new feelings and need for independence that mark the mid-teen years. The picture could promote classroom discussions about such issues as posturing to impress your peers and being your true self.

Set on the gritty Lower East Side where surprisingly kitchen gardens house wandering chickens, the opening at a swimming pool sets the tone. Victor Vargas is teased about his intimate relationship with the upstairs fatty, so he sets his sights on the neighborhood beauty —the haughty Judy Ramirez (Judy Marte), who immediately snubs him. Working a deal with her brother, the two connect and he tries to get her to come over for visit and a burger dinner.

Victor lives with his old-fashioned grandmother (Altagracia Guzman), slightly younger, brother Nino (Silvestre Rasuk) and plus size sister (Krystal Rodriquez). As Victor begins to feel he’s too big to live by grandma’s rules, the old woman, who grew up on a farm in the Dominican Republic, makes sure they know she’s the boss. Grandma (mom and dad are history) constantly reminds them how she wants them to be “good family” and means to achieve this: She takes the kids to church, locks the phone and even tries to turn cocky Victor over to the juvenile authorities.

Little-by-little Judy warms to Victor and the ups and downs on this road to first love allow them to lower their defenses and have a touching and real emotional connection. These lovely scenes convey the newfound feeling of honestly expressing what you feel.

Sollet, who developed the story with Eva Vives, wrote a script, but let the cast of real street kids improvise it, with excellent results. Their behavior is thoroughly believable. Rasuk is terrific and so, in fact, is the entire cast. But Guzman’s grandmother is a scene-stealer. (88 minutes; R, Samuel Goldwyn Films/Fireworks release).

Also tops: Spellbound, the dynamic documentary, about finalists in The National Spelling Bee. It’s not so much about the Bee itself, but about the families, the coaching, and other telling details about the self-assured kids who try to finish first. (95 minutes.)#

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