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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
A documentary-like style of filmmaking is especially suited for “Angel Rodriguez,” which is playing on HBO. This film shows us something rather than tells us something. It is not another earnest urban drama that attempts to explain, in the span of two hours, the lives of “troubled” Black and Latino teen-agers.
By positioning viewers as observers of Angel and Nicole—the white school teacher who is trying to help him—we are able to sit back and watch a day or so in their lives unfold. We can think about them and their actions, and, only if we want to, draw some conclusions.
The story begins on this casual note as Nicole is opening the door to her New York City apartment. Angel is with her and we quickly learn that she is allowing him to stay with her because he has been kicked out of the house by his father. We see that Angel’s face is bruised and we aren’t sure if the explanation given for the bruises—that he was jumped by some boys—is correct but we know he was definitely in some kind of fight.
It is in this way of seeing and hearing that we learn everything—about Angel’s status as a senior in high school who has a talent for computers but a poor track record holding a job; about Angel’s assorted friends: Raymond, the obese video game junkie and Jamie, a gay extrovert; about Nicole’s pregnancy and her fears about it; about Nicole’s own struggling younger sister who seems to need some direction. Newcomer Jonan Everett, in the role of Angel, is convincing as a young man dealing with some issues but not necessarily as a boy from the hood. Rachel Griffiths from “Six Feet Under” renders Nicole with understatement and a seeming sensitivity to her fears and challenges as a mentor and mother-to-be.
Of course, in this deft style of filmmaking by Jim McCay (“Girls Town,” “Everyday People”), it is important to remember that this is not a documentary. The words and actions are scripted and the characters are just that—characters.
As he did in “Everyday People,” McCay has set up a rich yet simple tableau that is marred somewhat by the typical positioning of Whites as do-gooders who are always helping the less fortunate people of color. In Angel’s case, Nicole is the one who immediately offers him shelter from a possible life on the streets. Angel’s angry father wants to force Angel to join the army and “learn a skill” but, with the war ongoing in Iraq, the wishes of Angel’s father sound very much like a death wish. While the scenes that approach any semblance of love, caring and sensitivity include Nicole, the one devastating scene that is most violent and hate-filled involves Angel’s interaction with his father’s Black girlfriend.
What saves “Angel Rodriguez” from this cliché Black-White synopsis, is Angel’s hardheaded insistence on doing things his own way, even if it is a hard way. While Nicole is the person encouraging him to graduate from high school, use his computer skills and possibly go to college, it is ultimately up to him to decide whether he will muster the will to improve his circumstances.
Esther Iverem is founder and editor of www.SeeingBlack.com and author of a forthcoming book on Black film, We Gotta Have It: Seeing Black at the Movies 1986-2006 (Thunder’s Mouth Press)
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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