Home :: DVD :: Drama :: Period Piece  

African American Drama
Classics
Crime & Criminals
Cult Classics
Family Life
Gay & Lesbian
General
Love & Romance
Military & War
Murder & Mayhem
Period Piece

Religion
Sports
Television
Zoot Suit

Zoot Suit

List Price: $9.99
Your Price: $9.99
Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Color
  • Closed-captioned
  • Widescreen


Description:

This is a filmed play, rather than a stage piece reimagined for the movies, which is probably why the general audience never cozied up to this intense picture. But Zoot Suit has a couple of significant attractions. First, it's a landmark Latino work from the pre-indie period, directed by Luis Valdez, an important figure in Chicano theater. Valdez based his acclaimed play on the zoot-suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles, when a group of young Chicano men were railroaded into jail on a murder charge. The director later found a mainstream audience with his juicy rock & roll bio La Bamba, and perhaps a bigger budget might have garnered Zoot Suit the same kind of acceptance. Daniel Valdez, the director's brother, plays the hero and also composed the flavorful songs; but the big draw here is the sensational performance of Edward James Olmos. A brooding actor just beginning his screen career, Olmos plays a flamboyant, hectoring, all-seeing figure called El Pachuco--a Greek chorus with attitude to burn. The wild contours of the zoot suit fit Olmos as snugly as his white shirt and black tie from Miami Vice. --Robert Horton
© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates