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Review #218 of 365
Film: Wassup Rockers [R] 111 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 17 August 2006
Time: 5:35 p.m.
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DVD | soundtrack |
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Just over a decade ago, first-time director Larry Clark was labeled one of the USA's most controversial directors when his raw, candid, independent film Kids hit the Indie circuit. When I saw the film I remember thinking, "There is no hope for our nation if this is anything close to how kids are today." His latest film, Wassup Rockers, so entitled because this is the question asked of his band of Hispanic characters by the Black teens of South Central Los Angeles when they skateboard around town in their very tight-fighting clothes with their long, black hair flowing mightily, catches us up with teen behavior on the opposite side of the country and financial spectrum. Unfortunately, what he presents is even more disturbing, cynical, and dire than his debut delivered. The film begins with a long, pre-credits, shirtless interview of a character named Jonathan (Jonathan Velasquez), age 15, who summarizes events in his life and introduces us to his circle of friends, a band of would-be brothers who are connected in that they like the same things, come from the same area referred to as the Ghetto of LA, and share similar, Hispanic heritages. His friends include: Kiko (Francisco Pedrasa), Milton (Milton Velasquez), Porky (Yunior Usualdo Panameno), Eddie (Eddie Velasquez), Louie (Luis Rojas-Salgado), and Carlos (Carlos Velasco). Turns out, at age 15, that thin, tousled haired, scrubby moustached Jonathan is quite the ladies man attracting girls wherever he goes. He's not shy about his female magnetism, and his friends are thoroughly intrigued by it. So, the film then begins with sort of two days in the life of Jonathan's crew. They are forced to wake up by hard-working mothers who then must leave them to their own devices to get to school. One by one the gang gets larger as they pick each other up on skateboards. We see nothing of what school is like only that before school they have a racist altercation with some Black teenage girls and after school they skateboard around and end up at somebody's home where they play rock music, drink malt liquor, and fool around with two different girls—one of whom is particularly alluring to the group and ends up convincing Kiko that they could have some fun together. The next day, the boys try to drive to Beverly Hills where they've heard there's a great place to board near the high school. Unfortunately, bicycle cops confiscate their borrowed car (which incidentally has Jonathan in the trunk with a girl) as no one driving or riding in the car has a license. Two buses later, they arrive in Beverly Hills where their skateboarding antics attract the eyes of two local sisters who live nearby in a mansion who invite them over 'anytime'. The boys continue to skate until a Beverly Hills cop catches them. The ensuing altercation ends with all but one of the boys escaping. The film never reveals what happens to him. The rest of the boys skate off to get away and inadvertently stumble upon the mansion to which they had been invited. Needless to say, they decide to exercise the invitation. The sisters have their ways with Kiko and Jonathan until the brother and his friend arrive, toss Kiko into the pool off the second story balcony, and nearly beat Jonathan up. Again the boys narrowly escape. Over the course of the next two hours, they are involved in the accidental deaths of two adults and one more of their crew is lost to a Dirty Harry wannabe as they are cutting through his yard to escape. The boys take the light rail train home.
"…two days in the lives of the Wassup Rockers were something we could have lived without."
It isn't easy to comprehend the point of the film just as it was with Kids. Is Larry Clark trying to get parents or politicians to wake up to the kinds of lives that USA kids are leading these days? It's unclear if his commentary is cynical or just observational. Is he making a social statement or a documentary-style film that leaves the conclusions to the viewers? So far, I've seen three of his films, and all three have made me want to throw my arms in the air and say, "Well, I give up on kids in America." These films do not motivate a call to action. I found it incredibly ironic that some have described this film as a comedy. And others have said that Clark has lost his edge because this film is not as controversial as his others. First of all, I would say it's just as controversial. Less actual sex is shown, but even more is implied. Worse, these boys treat sex as if it's just another of the activities in their daily schedule. In no way is it about love. In watching these kids one has to wonder what on earth they will do for jobs. They have no interest in anything but skateboarding (which they are not that good at), messing around with girls, drinking, carousing, mischief, and chilling. They have no interest in school, their English is broken and smacks of poor education, and they have, at most 4-5 years of free education left to get skills to be gainfully employable. The idea of college, certainly, isn't in their realm of comprehension. Meanwhile, by all accounts, their life expectancy isn't very good. A distant friend of theirs gets shot two days before the action of the film in bloody, gang-land style, and one of their own gets shot and killed during their antics. I don't know what Larry Clark is getting at. Certainly, this film will promote no social change, no social awareness, and is likely, in fact, were this film to reach the mainstream conservative audience, to promote anti-immigration legislation more than anything. Fortunately, most people will never see this film.
The kids in the film do a decent, occasionally amateurish job with their roles which actually adds to, rather than detracts from, the authenticity of the film. The directing is fine—full of stereotypes including a swishy, Beverly Hills, yuppie, theme party put on by a mansion-owning photographer of nude young men who also has an eye for Jonathan, of course. Not to worry, he gets his just desserts. In the end, though, two days in the lives of the Wassup Rockers were something we could have lived without. If even just one of the boys had shown any redeeming qualities, I might have felt differently.
The kids in the film do a decent, occasionally amateurish job with their roles which actually adds to, rather than detracts from, the authenticity of the film. The directing is fine—full of stereotypes including a swishy, Beverly Hills, yuppie, theme party put on by a mansion-owning photographer of nude young men who also has an eye for Jonathan, of course. Not to worry, he gets his just desserts. In the end, though, two days in the lives of the Wassup Rockers were something we could have lived without. If even just one of the boys had shown any redeeming qualities, I might have felt differently.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Wassup Rockers [DVD] (2005)
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Wassup Rockers Review-lite [150-word cap]
A decade ago, Larry Clark was labeled one of the USA's most controversial directors when his raw, candid, independent film Kids hit theatres. When I saw it, I remember thinking, "There's no hope for the future." His latest film, Wassup Rockers, catches up with teen behavior on the opposite coast and financial spectrum. Unfortunately, what's found is even more disturbing, cynical, and dire than his debut delivered. Documenting two days in the lives of seven, South Central L.A.-dwelling, Hispanic friends: Jonathan (Jonathan Velasquez), Kiko (Francisco Pedrasa), Milton (Milton Velasquez), Porky (Yunior Usualdo Panameno), Eddie (Eddie Velasquez), Louie (Luis Rojas-Salgado), and Carlos (Carlos Velasco) as they accomplish their goal of skateboarding near Beverly Hills High, the film is awash in stereotypes. If Larry Clark is trying to get parents or politicians to wake up to the kinds of lives that USA kids are leading these days, I'm afraid he doesn't succeed.
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