Mi Vida Loca (1994)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

"Mi Vida Loca" is a documentary-like approach to examining the lives of Hispanic girls in Echo Park. The film is never over-dramatized. The dialogue is authentic, and never stylized, and so are the performances. The story never takes the predictable Hollywood route. However, it still could've used more structure. At first I thought the film's focus was on the character of Sad Girl. About 15-20 minutes through, the focus changes to another character and the same pattern occurs throughout the film. So I didn't feel as connected to the film as I expected. If the characters and situations were unrealistic, I would be totally disengaged, but that wasn't the case and as a result, I was still entertained and moved. Almost all the scenes take place in apartments, sidewalks and parks, so it's obvious that the film was made on a low-budget, but that small budget was put to good use and I give Allison Anders much credit. My score: 7 (out of 10)

Sadly, this film really didn't do much for the budding Mexican cinema. While some might think this is a good reflection of Mexican culture, it is more like a Mexican version of Smoke Signals, which also portrayed its target demographic in a rather odd way. Nonetheless, this film did have an early incantation of Salma Hayek, which I will give it props. Beside that, it's best you stay away.

It is so much like the world I grew up in during my high school years that there isn't a character in the movie I can't identify with. Everytime I watch it, it's like I'm watching a home video of me and my old friends....

My name is Jacquelin. I'm 17 years old, and currently attending Arts of living. Which's an alternative school for pregnant women and new moms. I have a 5 month old baby boy name Tali. I'm ambitious, determined and out going.The movie Mi Vida Loca is about a girl-gang in Echo Park, and basically it shows you the reality of gangs now a days. It shows you what these young teens face. From being a teen mom, a drug dealer etc..I really enjoyed this movie a lot. I can actually relate to this movie because I'm a teen mom. I use to hang with gang- bangers, but having a baby can really change someone. I recommend this movie to every teen that's in a gang or hangs out with gang-bangers. So they can see how dumb they look for one, and for two so they can realize what they're risking. This movie has a great lesson behind it. Which's be careful what you do because What goes around comes around.